Dear Council,

This freedom of information request concerns the use of agency social work teams -- meaning when teams of social workers are offered to local authorities by agencies and hired, rather than individual social workers according to need.

Could you provide me with:

1) The number of agency social work project teams employed by the local authority in (a) children’s services and (b) adult social services. Please answer for each of the five financial years:
2018-19
2019-21
2020-21
2021-22
2022-23
If possible, please include information on the number of social workers and managers on each agency team, the length of time each team was commissioned for, and the specific task, if any, that the team was commissioned for.

2) The spend by the local authority on project social work teams commissioned from agencies for (a) children's services and (b) adult social services in each of the financial years
2018-19
2019-21
2020-21
2021-22
2022-23

If you need any additional information to complete the request, please do not hesitate to get in touch. If it is not possible to include all the information requested, please provide the information that is available.

Yours faithfully,

Bethan Staton