Agenda item

Attached is a report by Matthew Logan

Matthew Logan, the Strategic Lead for Integrated Commissioning, presented an overview of the support for the adult social care provider workforce. He expressed gratitude for the opportunity to share the progress made with partners and hoped to deliver a positive update.

Matthew highlighted the structure of the adult social care provider market in Bury, noting that there are 93 commissioned providers, with two-thirds being small or medium-sized local organizations. These providers employ 4,600 people in Bury, including 2,500 in care homes. He emphasized the importance of having a robust and vibrant care market to meet the growing demands of the sector, especially with the projected increase in the elderly population.

The government funding received was aimed at market sustainability and improvement activities. To determine the best use of these funds, the Council committed to co-designing the Adult Social Care Workforce Support Programme with providers. The programme focused on three main priorities: attraction, process improvement, and retention.

Attraction involved strategies to bring more people into the sector, including capital support for recruitment. Process improvement aimed to enhance recruitment processes, making them more efficient and effective. Retention focused on creating clear career pathways to keep experienced staff within the sector.

The Workforce Support Programme comprised three main components. The first was the centralized recruitment function, which allowed providers to share their open care roles. A team was responsible for advertising, screening, and developing candidate lists, thus relieving registered managers from the burden of handling numerous applications.

The second component was the Care Development Programme, which involved collaboration with Bury College and health and social care education departments. This programme aimed to streamline the transition of students into social care providers, offering them work experience and training resources. A leadership development programme for registered managers was also developed to support succession planning.

The third component was Bury Flex, a shared workforce initiative designed to reduce reliance on agency staff. Bury Flex provided ready-to-work care and support workers to fulfil urgent demands. Unlike traditional agencies, there was no cost to providers for accessing these staff members.

Matthew shared the positive impact of these initiatives, noting an increase of 400 staff in adult social care in Bury, a decrease in the vacancy rate from 12.9% to 8.5%, and a reduction in the leaver rate from 44% to 27.1%. The use of agency staff had also decreased, and the quality of care had improved, with a higher percentage of good and outstanding care ratings.

Looking ahead, Matthew discussed plans to expand Bury Flex across Greater Manchester and establish a framework for student work experience. The goal was to develop an independent provider workforce strategy for Bury, fostering a culture of collaboration with providers.

A councillor congratulated Matthew for his leadership and the significant improvements achieved. They emphasized the importance of the relationship between the Council and providers and the progress made in workforce stability.

Councillor Brown expressed appreciation for the report and noted the impressive improvement in how Bury has coped with workforce challenges. He asked why people apply for jobs they do not want and how the Council deals with time-wasters and no-shows.

Matthew acknowledged the issue and explained that the centralized recruitment support was commissioned to address it. He noted that improving the efficiency of recruitment processes was crucial and that the Council was working with partners to ensure applications were from genuinely interested candidates.

A councillor inquired whether the strategy included international recruitment, noting its potential positive impact. Matthew confirmed that international recruitment was being actively pursued by several providers. He mentioned that the Council had updated its contract monitoring to ensure compliance with licensing requirements and was working with providers to make the process sustainable.

Councillor Lancaster asked about the start date of Bury Flex and its current status. Matthew explained that Bury Flex had been running for 18 months and had gained traction over time. He highlighted the positive impact it had on filling vacancies and reducing reliance on agency staff.

Acknowledgments of Matthew's leadership and the significant improvements achieved. The committee expressed their appreciation for the report and the positive outcomes from the work done.

It Was Agreed:

·       The Report and Presentation be noted