Children’s homes operated by Nottinghamshire County Council are struggling to recruit and keep staff despite recent assessments praising their work. The Conservative-led authority runs two homes for disabled children and three mainstream homes.
Council figures show vacancy rates at the six sites range from 12% up to 68%, with about 40 active vacancies out of 221 full-time equivalent roles in December. Vacancies are being temporarily filled by agency and relief staff but the council says this means relationships with the children “are not as consistent”.
, including offering a more “defined career pathway”. Greater focus will be made on advertising vacancies when they are posted, as well as supporting the professional development of carers. This offers greater weight to their situation and prevents discrimination in later life. A similar motion will be debated at the county council on Thursday . Mr Galloway told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “It can be really challenging and social care and children’s services are backed up to the wall.