Nine social workers to be hired as council ‘unable to meet standards’ in assessing social care needs

Bury Council is to invest £500,000 a year to recruit nine new social workers as it is ‘unable to meet standards’ in assessing social care needs. In the last six months, the town hall has seen the number of people needing assessment for adaptations rise from 159 to 339 and as a result the number of weeks people wait for assessment has risen from 15 to 29.

Population changes mean that between 2011 and 2021 the number of over-90s living in the borough has risen by 14 per cent, along with a 17 per cent rise in those between 85 and 89 and there are 20 per cent more 80 to 84-year-olds. Bury Council said it currently had 171 people waiting for assessment across their social work teams and demand for services had risen by 18 per cent since the pandemic.

Accepted standards mean councils should complete urgent and simple adaptations within 55 days with 130 days allowed for more complex work. A report to councillors, said: “Waits for assessments mean we are unable to meet these standards.

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“When added to the long waits for the adaptation to take place, the waits in Bury for the work to be completed are considerably longer.” A recent council decision said they will use money from the government’s market sustainability and improvement fund to improve the service.

The purpose of the fund is to enable local authorities to make tangible improvements to adult social care services and recruit new staff. The council will spend £497,000 in 20124/25 to pay for eight additional social workers and another senior occupational therapist.

Even though the grant funding for the posts last for just two years the council has decided against recruiting on a fixed term basis. The report, said: “To