Dumfries and Galloway Council social work bosses bracing themselves for staff exodus

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Social work chiefs are bracing themselves for an exodus of important staff members in the coming years.

A significant number of Dumfries and Galloway Council’s workers who run adult services, housing options, and homelessness services for the region are nearing retirement age.

A total of 252 employees – almost one third of the overall workforce in these departments – are aged 55-64.

A further 30 are 65+ already and even closer to walking out the door, according to a new workforce report tabled at the council’s social work committee on Tuesday.

The social work department is already under extreme pressures each year due to a shortage of resources and difficulty in attracting staff such as social workers and mental health workers.

At Tuesday’s committee, Dee and Glenkens Councillor Andy McFarlane asked: “In relation to age, do we have succession planning? What is it and how are we going to implement that?”

Rebecca Aldridge, a senior manager in adult services with the council, said: “In terms of the succession planning, we absolutely understand the challenges that we have in terms of recruitment.

“And we understand the demographics of our working population, so we have things like our in-house social work training for example.

“This is a ‘grow your own’ scheme that we’ve been part of for many, many years, and it’s been very successful.

“In terms of posts that are really challenging to fill – your mental health team would be a prime example – we have our in-house ‘grow your own’ mental health officer scheme that we’re engaged in, and have been for quite some time.

“We’re also looking at opportunities where we can develop pathways into different career choices for care co-ordinators, social care workers etc.

“Myself, along with other colleagues, are very keen in terms of succession planning – and to always develop opportunities for people. We ask people to act up into roles – as opposed to acting down in their roles.”

The workforce report for adult services, housing options, and homelessness services explained that there are 795 members of staff in these departments overall (701 women and 94 men).

In addition to the concerns about an ageing workforce, the average length of service is just nine years.

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