As council tax is set to rise in almost every borough across England, local authorities are offering financial incentives to employees who refer friends for adult and children’s social care roles.
Rotherham Council is offering £500 to employees who refer children’s social workers to the council, with the referer getting £250 if the person they put forward is successfully recruited, and a further £250 if the person performs satisfactorily over a six month period.
Offering twice as much as Rotherham, Surrey County Council pledges to give referring employees £1,000 – £500 for the appointment and the remaining £500 if the referee remains in the council’s employment for three months. Interestingly, the lump sums are not tax free. On its page, Surrey County Council refers to the positions as “hard-to-recruit” posts.
It’s an abominable waste of money. Financial incentives have been used for years in the fostering sector, and have done nothing to help fostering which has been all but obliterated, as the government’s recent foster care review confirmed.
These councils would be far better off spending the money on their current social workers, to deliver a hands on service, so these professionals can actually be physically present for the families they are meant to be supporting.
Many thanks to Dana for sharing Surrey County Council’s link with us.
Researching Reform 
If I could afford it I would offer £1000 to each Council for every social worker they sacked but did not replace ! That way perhaps the 2 billion pounds they are talking about would be enough to get rid of the lot of them !!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Getting candidates of the right calibre is a problem for local authorities since few of those on their selection boards are qualified to interview or appoint because too often it is still a question of who – rather than what you know.
LikeLike
Pingback: Cash Strapped Councils Offering Up To £1,000 To Fill “Difficult” Children’s Services Roles. « Musings of a Penpusher
Reblogged this on World4Justice : NOW! Lobby Forum..
LikeLike
Reblogged this on tummum's Blog.
LikeLike
Pingback: Cash Strapped Councils Offering Up To £1,000 To Fill “Difficult” Children’s Services Roles. | tummum's Blog
“These councils would be far better off spending the money on their current social workers, to deliver a hands on service, so these professionals can actually be physically present for the families they are meant to be supporting.”
but if Social workers are getting regular backhanders for winning court cases and getting children Adopted then this aint going to work.
its quite clear from the data that LAs dont want to help families stay together because theres no money in it.
LikeLike