Speaking to CYP Now in advance of the launch of Cafcass’s 2023-26 strategic plan, chief executive Jacky Tiotto said improving working conditions and reducing the social worker turnover rate are priorities for the coming three years.
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Analysis: Councils turn to 'golden hellos' to solve social worker shortage
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Analysis: Factors behind social worker staff retention
Tiotto said that while Cafcass is a “great place to work” offering high quality training, good annual leave entitlements and low caseloads, it is losing experienced practitioners to councils “who can wave golden hellos at them”.
“We’ve got to do something very serious on retention,” Tiotto said. “Our average turnover of social workers last year was 15 per cent. In some places it is as high as 25 per cent. We’re very unhappy with that. We were trending at an average of nine per cent pre the Covid-19 pandemic, half the rate of local authorities.
“We’re capable of recruiting people – our issue is that we train them, they become very experienced and skilled, very credible in court, and are then very attractive to local authorities.”
Tiotto said she is unsure what measures were needed to tackle the retention issue but that talks with the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) – which sets pay rates for court staff – over securing additional resources were necessary.
“We’re capped by the civil service pay rules and that makes it more difficult for me than if I was in a local authority,” she said.
“It is important – and the MoJ have heard this – that…there’s only one marketplace for social workers: Cafcass or local authorities. If I can’t use flexible arrangements and do things, then it’s going to be difficult [to compete].”
Tiotto said that additional resources could be used to fund career progression, retention bonuses, or “for other things that would make us attractive to a social worker” such as support with housing or travel costs.
“It’s a combination of allowing me to be flexible and being able to compete with local authority salaries, and also helping me to create the workforce space that would make somebody want to stay and that’s about having manageable caseloads, enough managers to give supervision, enough flex to afford training days,” she added.
Last month, unions representing 1,700 Cafcass social workers reported management had offered a pay rise of four per cent for 2023/24, which they plan to put to members this month. The offer falls short of the 14 per cent rise demanded by unions.
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Look out for the November edition of CYP Now for the full interview with Cafcass chief Jacky Tiotto
