Use of Agency social workers

The request was successful.

Dear Renfrewshire Council,

Please can you provide the following information under the Freedom of Information Act:
1 - How many qualified social workers were working on a temporary (agency) basis at the Council on Monday 1st July 2019, split by:
a) Children’s Services social work roles
b) Adults’ Services social work roles

2 – What was the total spend by your organisation on temporary (agency) social work professionals during the financial year 1/4/18 to 31/3/19, split by:
a) Children’s Services social work roles
b) Adults’ Services social work roles

3 – Which agencies do you currently use to supply social work professionals?

4 – what was the council’s spend on agency social work professionals per supplier in the past financial year (1/4/18 to 31/3/19)?

Yours faithfully,

Jim Ward

FOI, Renfrewshire Council

Dear Mr Ward

Freedom of Information Application - Acknowledgement IG191143

Thank you for your enquiry, received by the Council on 26 July 2019.

I am writing to inform you that your application for information is being dealt with under the provisions of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act, 2002. Section 10(1) of the Act stipulates that enquiries must be dealt with within twenty working days of receipt. However, we will endeavour to answer your enquiry as soon as possible.

Regards

Renfrewshire Council

Renfrewshire Council Website -http://www.renfrewshire.gov.uk

This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error please notify the system manager. Renfrewshire Council may, in accordance with the Telecommunications(Lawful Business Practice) (Interception of Communications) Regulations 2000, intercept e-mail messages for the purpose of monitoring or keeping a record of communications on the Council's system. If a message contains inappropriate dialogue it will automatically be intercepted by the Council's Internal Audit section who will decide whether or not the e-mail should be onwardly transmitted to the intended recipient(s).

Andrew Connor, Renfrewshire Council

1 Attachment

Dear Jim Ward

 

Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (″the Act″)

 

Renfrewshire Council received your request for information on 26 July
2019.

 

 

Information Requested

 

1 - How many qualified social workers were working on a temporary (agency)
basis at the Council on Monday 1st July 2019, split by:

a) Children’s Services social work roles

 

2

b) Adults’ Services social work roles

 

0

2 – What was the total spend by your organisation on temporary (agency)
social work professionals during the financial year 1/4/18 to 31/3/19,
split by:
a) Children’s Services social work roles

 

Please be advised that our financial system does not capture the level of
detail required for this information request and to extract that data
would require a manual check of each invoice to determine the employee
being charged for and then a further check to determine the post of the
employee to see if they are a social work professional or not. Therefore,
whilst I confirm that the Council does hold information related to this
request, the information cannot be provided as set out under Section 16 of
the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 as the costs of providing
the information requested would incur fees that exceed the upper limit of
£600 specified in section 12(1) of the Act.

 

Please contact me directly if you wish to refine the scope of your request
to within the £600 limit.

b) Adults’ Services social work roles

£45,000

 

3 – Which agencies do you currently use to supply social work
professionals?

+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Agency Providers |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|ASA Recruitment Ltd |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Brightwork Limited |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Macdonald McEwan Ltd |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Randstad Public Services Ltd |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Sanctuary Personnel Ltd |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|The Social Care Community Partnership Ltd |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Tripod Partners |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Service Care Solutions Ltd |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+

 

 

4 – what was the council’s spend on agency social work professionals per
supplier in the past financial year (1/4/18 to 31/3/19)?

 

Please be advised that we are not able to provide the details of spend by
provider as requested and are refusing your request, as set out under
Section 16 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.

 

The reason for this refusal is under Section 33 (Commercial Interest in
the Economy) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002. 
Disclosure of the requested information would be likely to prejudice
substantially the commercial interests of the supplier and the Council. 
It has also been considered whether it would be in the public interest to
disclose this information at this stage.   In all the circumstances, given
the likely prejudice, the public interest in maintaining the exemption
outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information at this
stage.  It is worth noting that whilst the 2002 Act does not define the
term “public interest”, the public interest does not mean what is of
interest to the public, but what is in the interest of the public. 

   
 

 

 

Review Procedure

 

If you are unhappy with the way in which the Council has dealt with your
request, you are entitled to require the Council to review its decision. 
A copy of the Council’s review procedures is attached at Appendix I.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Andy Connor

 

Records Manager

Legal & Democratic Services

 

 

 

Renfrewshire Council Website -http://www.renfrewshire.gov.uk

This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended
solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed.
If you have received this email in error please notify the system manager.
Renfrewshire Council may, in accordance with the Telecommunications(Lawful
Business Practice) (Interception of Communications) Regulations 2000,
intercept e-mail messages for the purpose of monitoring or keeping a
record of communications on the Council's system. If a message contains
inappropriate dialogue it will automatically be intercepted by the
Council's Internal Audit section who will decide whether or not the e-mail
should be onwardly transmitted to the intended recipient(s).