The Children’s Services at Wigan Council are no longer overly reliant on agency staff after a successful period of recruitment, a meeting heard. Following an Ofsted report in July 2022 slamming the council-run service, the team have been working hard on an action plan to improve their system.
Last year council bosses put the ‘Requires Improvement’ Ofsted rating down to ‘underfunding and staffing shortages’ - with the latter looking a lot healthier after a net gain of 25 new full-time staff members, the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee was told. Sandie Hayes, Practice Director, told Wigan Town Hall’s council chamber how a net gain of 25 new staff members was in stark contrast to the loss of just over 30 workers the year before.
“By March we will be 78 per cent permanent staff with the rest being agency,” she told Coun Janice Sharratt when quizzed on how many permanent staff members there are now.
