Social worker exodus blamed on cost of living

Buckinghamshire Council currently has 41 vacancies for social workers

A council said its struggle to recruit social workers was partly due to the cost of living crisis.

Buckinghamshire Council was facing "challenges to replace" staff after 33 left their jobs between April 2023 and March 2024, according to a report.

One councillor suggested some had been "forced to move elsewhere" because they could not afford the cost of housing in the county, although a shortfall of social workers is a national problem.

At a meeting on Thursday, council officers said they were working hard to recruit a principal social worker, a post that has been vacant since November 2023.

During the children’s and education committee meeting, officers were questioned by concerned councillors over the significant lack of social workers.

Diana Blamires asked how many candidates had been interviewed and "what was going wrong?"

The council confirmed seven people were interviewed but it was not able to appoint anyone due to the "quality of the candidates".

Children’s social care director Richard Nash said: "We make sure the job description and person specification are right and that it is really clear what we are asking for."

He added: "I don’t think we have missed anything. It is really about doing this again at the right time. I don’t want to be rushed."

Councillors asked council officers whether the cost of housing and living had made it difficult for social workers to stay in Buckinghamshire

A recent freedom of information request revealed the unitary authority currently had 41 vacancies, and one social worker was based abroad.

Several councillors, including Paul Turner, asked questions about social workers struggling to pay their rent and bills in Buckinghamshire.

He told the meeting: "It is not difficult to see that the cost of living will be one of the difficulties for recruitment and retention."

Mr Nash replied: "The colleagues who left the service recently, mostly left because of significant unexpected changes in their housing costs."

He added: "That isn’t, touch wood, something that is continuing. There was a phase of that happening."

The council officers present claimed audits showed its social services continued to perform well and improve, and that all the statutory parts of the principal social worker post were being covered.