More than half of all social worker vacancies cannot be filled in the London boroughs of Wandsworth and Richmond.

Wandsworth Council’s overview and scrutiny committee has received a report outling the rate of vacancies in the operations division of the council’s adult social care department. The data shows that Wandsworth and Richmond Council – with which it shares staff – have vacancy rates of 51 percent for occupational therapists and 52 percent for social workers.

This meant the councils paid out £6.2 million for agency staff to cover work in their Adult Social Services Directorate for the year 2017-18 alone.

The report states: “Whilst there is a general acceptance that agency costs are currently higher than would be preferable, it is also accepted that there may be occasions where the use of agency staff can be the best solution for the council.”

The councils are not alone. Social work sectors around the country are suffering, and there are fears this could put people who rely on  the service at risk.

Jon Richards, head of local government at Unison, said: “Years of government spending cuts have left social work in a dire state.

“There simply aren’t enough social workers to go round, and most councils have to rely on expensive agency staff.

“Most social workers have huge caseloads too, which means many don’t stay in the job for long, heaping the pressure on those who remain in post.

“The situation requires urgent government attention or vulnerable people will be put at risk.”

A national survey of social worker members of the union this year revealed:

  • 77 percent  had too much work to do.
  • 56 percent reported staff shortages.
  • 82 percent said morale had worsened in the last year.
  • 75 percent said stress affected their work and 72 percent their personal lives.
  • 67 percent were considering leaving their job.
  • 83 percent had faced recruitment and retention problems in the last 12 months.

Wandsworth and Richmond are heavily reliant on agency workers to shore up the gaps in their own staff – a solution which costs the councils about £1,000 a year more for each position.

They have set up an “Operational Recruitment and Retention Board” to try to solve some of the staffing problems, including hiring staff through a government scheme whereby they receive extra support for a year, and also encouraging interim staff to join on a permanent basis.

A Wandsworth Council spokesman stressed that the situation of the two south-west London authorities is not unique.

He said: “Our adult social services department, which serves both Richmond and Wandsworth, directly employs large numbers of social workers and where there are vacancies we contract fully qualified locum social workers to provide cover, to ensure that quality services are maintained.

“Recruitment and retention of staff is one of our highest priorities and we are implementing a raft of measures to improve this which are taking effect, amidst what is widely recognised as an acute shortage of social workers in London and the south east.”