Conservatives' 'money-saving' social worker policy cost more money than it saved refuted
CLAIMS a policy to save council cash ended up costing more than was saved have been refuted.
The Royal Borough's U-turn on pay for social workers came under fire from independent councillor Lynne Jones at a full council meeting on Tuesday (10/12).
The council moved away from nationally-agreed terms and conditions for social workers in February, resulting in many staff leaving and the gaps being plugged with expensive agency workers.
Certain social staff were given a raise in October which has since stopped the mass exodus with the vast majority of vacancies now being filled.
Speaking at the meeting, cllr Jones said: "These changes were included in the budget as a saving of £220,000. The estimated cost of agency social workers has been £300,000 with a loss of continuation of service to residents."
Responding, council leader David Burbage said: "I do not recognise those figures. I do not believe it greatly impacted services as, like many authorities we are suffering due to a lack of social workers nationally.
"We will be continuing the recruitment drive in the coming months."
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