Social Care Workers

Dear Ms Hughes

Request for Information RFI-8190-24 Re: Social Care Workers

Thank you for your request for information relating to Social Care Workers
which was received on 15 January 2024.

In accordance with the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000
the council will respond to your request within 20 working days, saying
whether we have the information that you want, and if there will be any
charges. 

If, for any reason, we cannot provide you with the information, we will
tell you why.

If we need to clarify your request, we will contact you again.

In the meantime, if you need to contact me about your request, please do
so quoting the above reference number.

Yours sincerely,

Fakhara Qanwal

Assistant Assurance Officer

Walsall Council 

0800 0856018

[1]www.walsall.gov.uk 

[2]Walsall Council, Proud of our past, our present and for our future 

Disclaimer: The information in this message should be regarded as
confidential and is intended for the addressee only unless explicitly
stated. If you have received this message in error it must be deleted and
the sender notified. The views expressed in this message are personal and
not necessarily those of Walsall Council unless explicitly stated. Emails
sent or received from Walsall Council may the subject of a request under
data protection, freedom of information or environmental information
legislation and therefore could be disclosed to third parties. We strongly
advise you not to email any information, which if disclosed to unrelated
third parties would be likely to cause harm or distress. If you have an
enquiry related to your confidentiality or data protection, please visit
the council data protection pages on our website

References

Visible links
1. http://www.walsall.gov.uk/

Dear Ms Hughes,

Request for Information RFI-8190-24 Re:Social Care Workers

I write to acknowledge and apologise for the delay in responding to your
request relating to Social Care Workers. As you know, the council is
required to respond to all requests for information under the Freedom of
Information Act within 20 working days, unless a ‘qualified exception’
applies that requires the consideration of the Public Interest.

Walsall Council takes its obligations under this legislation extremely
seriously and I am sorry that in this case we have not met this timescale.

I would like to take this opportunity to assure you of our best
intentions in this regard. We are working to issue you with a full reply
to your request as soon as possible.

If you have any queries in regard to this process, please do not hesitate
to contact us.

Yours sincerely,

Fahmida Maknun

 Assurance Officer

Walsall Council 

0800 0856018

[1]www.walsall.gov.uk 

[2]Walsall Council, Proud of our past, our present and for our future 

Disclaimer: The information in this message should be regarded as
confidential and is intended for the addressee only unless explicitly
stated. If you have received this message in error it must be deleted and
the sender notified. The views expressed in this message are personal and
not necessarily those of Walsall Council unless explicitly stated. Emails
sent or received from Walsall Council may the subject of a request under
data protection, freedom of information or environmental information
legislation and therefore could be disclosed to third parties. We strongly
advise you not to email any information, which if disclosed to unrelated
third parties would be likely to cause harm or distress. If you have an
enquiry related to your confidentiality or data protection, please visit
the council data protection pages on our website

References

Visible links
1. http://www.walsall.gov.uk/

Dear Ms Hughes,

Request for Information RFI-8190-24 Re: Social Care Workers

Please accept my sincerest apologies for the delay you have experienced in
receiving a response to your Freedom of Information Request. As you know,
the council is required to respond to all requests for information under
the Freedom of Information Act within 20 working days, unless a ‘qualified
exception’ applies.

I am however happy to provide the information you requested below. I hope
this information is still of use to you. Please note that the information
given in this response is as at the date of your request.

If you do have any queries or additional questions regarding the
information that has been provided please do not hesitate to contact me
direct on the details at the bottom of this email.

Further to your request for information about Social Care Workers, I can
tell you the following:

1.

a)

i) How many qualified social workers were working on a temporary (agency)
basis at the Council during the financial year 1/4/18 to 31/3/19? Broken
down, specifically:

Children’s Social Services - 131

Adults’ Social Services – 37

i) How many qualified social workers were working on a temporary (agency)
basis at the Council during the financial year 1/4/19 to 31/3/20? Broken
down, specifically:

Children’s Social Services - 105

Adults’ Social Services - 33

i) How many qualified social workers were working on a temporary (agency)
basis at the Council during the financial year 1/4/20 to 31/3/21? Broken
down, specifically:

Children’s Social Services - 80

Adults’ Social Services - 35

i) How many qualified social workers were working on a temporary (agency)
basis at the Council during the financial year 1/4/21 to 31/3/22? Broken
down, specifically:

Children’s Social Services - 63

Adults’ Social Services - 43

i) How many qualified social workers were working on a temporary (agency)
basis at the Council during the financial year 1/4/22 to 31/3/23? Broken
down, specifically:

Children’s Social Services - 65

Adults’ Social Services - 57

2. What was the total spend by your organisation on temporary/ locum
qualified (agency) social workers during the financial years 1/4/19 to
31/3/23? Broken down by financial year, specifically:

Children’sSocialServices

01/04/18–31/03/19-£3,777,187

01/04/19–31/03/20-£3,634,154

01/04/20 – 31/03/21 – £2,447,777

01/04/21 – 31/03/22 – £1,944,066

01/04/22 – 31/03/23 – £2,391,967

Adults’ Social Services

01/04/18–31/03/19-£1,141,970

01/04/19–31/03/20-£1,188,303

01/04/20 – 31/03/21 - £1,200,208

01/04/21 – 31/03/22 - £1,465,606

01/04/22 – 31/03/23 - £1,629,160

3. How many vacant positions were filled through locum temporary/ locum
qualified (agency) social workers during the financial years 1/4/18 to
31/3/23? Broken down by financial year. Broken down by financial year,
specifically: - Children’s Social Services

Adults’ Social Services.

Walsall Council can tell you we are unable to report on this as the data
we have does not cover the specific role mentioned. Therefore, the
specific information you have requested is not held or recorded
information and is therefore exempt from disclosure under section 1 of the
Freedom of Information Act.

This part of the response serves as a refusal notice in relation to this
part of your request only. 

Most of the information that we provide in response to Freedom of
Information Act 2000 requests will be subject to copyright protection.  In
most cases the copyright will be owned by Walsall Council. The copyright
in respect of other information may be owned by another person or
organisation, as indicated.

You are free to use any information supplied to you in response to this
request for your own non-commercial research or private study purposes.
The information may also be used for any other purpose allowed by a
limitation or exception in copyright law, such as news reporting.
 However, any other type of re-use, for example by publishing the
information in analogue or digital form, including on the internet, will
require the permission of the copyright owner.

I hope that the information provided is useful to you. However, if you are
dissatisfied, you should set out in writing your grounds for complaint and
send to: Lead Assurance Officer, Business Change, Civic Centre, Darwall
Street, Walsall, WS1 1TP.

If you are not content with the outcome of your complaint, you may apply
directly to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) for a decision.
Please remember that, generally, the ICO cannot make a decision unless you
have first exhausted the complaints procedure provided by the council. The
Information Commissioner can be contacted at: The Information
Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9
5AF.

Again I would like to offer my apologies for any inconvenience the delay
to your request may have caused you

Yours sincerely,

Fahmida Maknun

 Assurance Officer

Walsall Council 

0800 0856018

[1]www.walsall.gov.uk 

[2]Walsall Council, Proud of our past, our present and for our future 

Disclaimer: The information in this message should be regarded as
confidential and is intended for the addressee only unless explicitly
stated. If you have received this message in error it must be deleted and
the sender notified. The views expressed in this message are personal and
not necessarily those of Walsall Council unless explicitly stated. Emails
sent or received from Walsall Council may the subject of a request under
data protection, freedom of information or environmental information
legislation and therefore could be disclosed to third parties. We strongly
advise you not to email any information, which if disclosed to unrelated
third parties would be likely to cause harm or distress. If you have an
enquiry related to your confidentiality or data protection, please visit
the council data protection pages on our website

References

Visible links
1. http://www.walsall.gov.uk/