About the Workforce East Project
The workstream Workforce Stream is led by Sheila Murphy, Corporate Director of Childrens Service in Thurrock and is supported by a team of HR professional from Southend.
The Eastern Region has had a shared commitment to work collaboratively to address the increasing reliance on agency staff since 2014. They Memorandum of Cooperation commits LAs in the East to;
- a minimum standard from referencing
- proactive use of agency supply chain as a pipeline for the supply of permanent workers
- sharing of data and intelligence for regional analysis
- implement the principle that no Newly Qualified Social Worker will be engaged as an agency social worker
- enforce the “no perm to temp” arrangement whereby no LA agrees to engage an agency worker who has been employed permanently by an LA
- pay within the agreed capped rate and to seek approval for breaches to this
- not permit agency workers to change assignments within the region for pay rates above the max breach rate/ current assignments rate
- work together to develop regional solutions in respect of career progression, recruitment, and retention.
As part of regional collaboration to develop solutions in respect of social worker recruitment a regional microsite was developed and officially launched in October 2023 that promotes vacancies across the region.
