SOCIAL workers are to be given £1,000 by the council if they work in Croydon for at least a year.
The bonus is one of a number of incentives being offered to new staff to reduce the number who leave due to the stresses of the job or to pursue more lucrative agency work.
Croydon has the highest turnover of children's social workers in England, according to figures published by the Government this week, with 82 per cent moving on during a 12-month period.
As well as the "'retention payment" of £1,000, new recruits will receive an additional month's salary after completing the year, a car loan, free borough-wide parking and an 18-day training course.
Sukriti Sen, head of Croydon's children in need service, hopes the perks will allow the council to compete with other authorities for the best social workers.
The initiative will be put to the test next week, when she interviews applicants who responded to a high-profile recruitment drive featured in The Guardian newspaper.
Ms Sen told the Advertiser: "There are lots of things that keep social workers in Croydon but, equally, there are lots of things that motivate them to go elsewhere.
"Some of them leave because other local authorities – including our neighbours – pay a lot more. Others because they would earn a lot more working for an agency.
"So we asked our staff what would keep them here and, from that, we have come up with a package that competes with other councils."
According to Department for Education (DfE) statistics, the council employed 103 children's social workers as of September 30, 2013. Some 84 had left the authority in the previous 12 months, a turnover rate of 82 per cent, far higher than neighbouring boroughs such as Bromley (16 per cent), Lambeth (20) and Sutton (41).
In total, the turnover rate in outer London boroughs was twice that of inner London, which are significantly better resourced.
Ms Sen said Croydon's high turnover was the result of a "massive" reorganisation of social services last year, based on a shift towards frontline workers that has created the positions being interviewed for next week.
Those additional social workers, she added, should also help ease the caseloads on existing staff.
The same DfE figures show there were 26 children in need to every social worker in Croydon, the highest ratio in England.
But Ms Sen said the numbers were deceptive because they do not take into account large families or complexity of cases.
She said the average workload for a children's social worker in Croydon was between 17 and 20 cases at a time, though it can be higher depending on experience and department.
Figures show that 30 per cent of Croydon's children's social workers are agency staff (at a cost of £7.4million a year) but Ms Sen said she wants all the new roles to be filled by permanent recruits, hence the need for incentives.
"If you look across London, it's difficult to keep social workers in frontline jobs, dealing with really complex child protection issues, for long periods of time because of the stresses of those roles," she said.
"People also know they can earn more as an agency social worker – in less intense areas – than a permanent worker would.
"But if we want the best for children and families of Croydon we have to have permanent staff who will make a long-term commitment to the borough."
A high-profile advertising campaign in The Guardian led to 161 applications, suggesting the £1,000 bonus and other perks have proved attractive.
Ms Sen said social workers deserved to be rewarded for spending a year in the job.
"It's a recognition of how tough and stressful it is to in work in the frontline and to manage the risk in the most complex cases," she explained. "Some people aren't going to cut it and those that do should be rewarded.
"It's also about recognising that we have fallen behind in the way we pay social workers.
"As a result, we've created a package that will make it attractive not just to work in Croydon but to stay and really make a difference to people's lives."
Career structure to offer more ON TOP of creating incentives for social workers to choose Croydon and then stay longer than a year, the council has also revamped the career progression it offers. That includes an 18-day training programme in systemic family therapy, graded levels of seniority, and a consultant role open to the most experienced staff. Croydon is also involved in a Government initiative which allows extra funding to train people on the job, with the incentive of a position at the end of the year. Sukriti Sen moved to Croydon in 2012 after 23 years at Tower Hamlets, where she began as an unqualified social worker before rising through the ranks. When asked why social workers of all experiences should opt for Croydon as she did, Ms Sen told the Advertiser: "We're becoming a progressive authority. Our profile is beginning to change. "We're now offering things, such as these incentives, free training and involvement in Government initiatives, that other local authorities aren't. "I think it does make us a lot more competitive." Ms Sen added: "When I came for my interview here I was walking through Croydon I thought there was something about Croydon that's warm and welcoming. "It's very difficult to describe but there's a genuineness from people and, when I met the social workers, I got the sense from them that they are very committed to each other and to Croydon as well."
The figuresChildren's social workers in Croydon: Number of children's social workers: 103 Number of children in need per social worker: 36 Number of vacancies: 53.5 Vacancy rate: 10 per cent Number of starters throughout the year ending September 30, 2013: 30 Number of leavers throughout the year: 84 Turnover rate: 82 Number of agency workers as of September 30: 45 Agency worker rate: 30 per cent Source: Department for Education, year ending September 30, 2013. Based on full-time equivalents
