Caps on agency social worker pay show significant regional variations

Caps on what council children's services may pay to hire agency social workers in England show significant regional variations, Department for Education (DfE) data shows.

There are gaps of 37% between the highest and lowest paying regions in relation to rates for social workers and senior social workers, with 28% variances for advanced practitioners, 25% for independent reviewing officers (IROs) or child protection conference chairs and 19% for team managers.

The figures, published last week, also showed regions taking varying approaches to the relative value of the different social work roles.

Caps on agency social worker rates

The caps are part of Department for Education (DfE) rules governing the use of agency staff in local authority children's services that are designed to curb their use, reducing costs to councils and improving continuity of support for children and families.

They set the maximum amount that English authorities may pay for a locum working through a limited company or employed by an umbrella company, including their salary, employers’ national insurance contributions and holiday pay. The latter two elements are removed when determining hourly pay for a locum employed through PAYE.

The rates will apply to all new agency assignments from 1 October 2025 and to existing arrangements shortly thereafter.

The caps have been agreed by councils within each region, through their respective regional improvement and innovation alliances (RIIA), and build on those applied through pre-existing memoranda of understanding for the use of social work locums.

Though councils are expected to stay within the limits, they are allowed to exceed them - though any such instances must be signed off by the relevant director of children's services and chief executive (or children's trust equivalent) and reported to RIIAs and to the DfE.

Significant regional variations

The DfE figures show that price caps range from:

• £28.55 (West Midlands) to £39 per hour (East of England and North West) for social workers;
• £30.57 (West Midlands) to £42 per hour  (South East and South West) for senior social workers;
• £33.30 (West Midlands) to £42.50 per hour (East of England) for advanced practitioners;
• £40 (Yorkshire and the Humber) to £47.50 per hour (South East and South West) for team managers, and
• £38 (West Midlands) to £47.50 per hour (South East and South West) for IROs/child protection conference chairs.

Differences with regional average earnings

While the rates reflect specific issues in relation to social worker recruitment in relation to each region, there are significant differences between price caps and average economy-wide earnings within regions, as measured by the Office for National Statistics (source: House of Commons Library).

For example, median weekly pay in the West Midlands (£690) and North West (£696) were very similar in April 2024. However, hourly price caps are significantly higher in the North West in relation to social workers (£39, compared with £28.55 in the West Midlands) and senior social workers (£40 versus £30.57).

Though the North East has the lowest wages in the country - an average of £661 per week in 2024 - for no role does it have the lowest price cap. Similarly, while Greater London has by far the highest economy-wide wages (£853 per week on average in 2024), it is ranked fourth or fifth in relation to its caps for the five roles.

Inconsistencies across roles

There are also inconsistencies in the ways in which regions value the different roles:

• While the cap is lowest for social workers in every region, the gap to senior social workers ranges from 4% (£1.50 per hour) in the East of England to 17% (£5 per hour) in Yorkshire and the Humber.
• The caps are the same for senior social workers and advanced practitioners in three regions (North West, South East and South West), with the rates for the latter being between £2 and £2.73 per hour higher in the other six.
• The gaps between the caps for team managers and advanced practitioners range from 6% (£2.32) in the North East to 24% (£8.12 per hour) in the West Midlands.
• The caps for team managers and IROs/child protection conference chairs are the same in six regions, with the latter being 7% (£2.82 per hour) higher in the North East, 9% (£3.42 per hour) higher in the West Midlands, and 15% (£6 per hour) higher in the North West.

Price cap reviews and implementation of agency rules

The price caps are due to be reviewed in June 2026 and then again in June 2027.

The agency rules more broadly (see below) will be fully in place from 1 October 2024, with their implementation having started on 31 October 2024.

They are currently largely set out in statutory guidance, which councils must follow other than in exceptional circumstances. However, the government is currently legislating to put the rules into law and extend them to non-social work children's social care staff, through its Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill.

This would make following the rules a legal duty.

The Recruitment and Employment Confederation, which represents agencies, raised significant concerns about the DfE's approach.

"Imposing rigid, unrealistic agency rules like has happened on the NHS is a serious mistake," said deputy chief executive Kate Shoesmith. "Demand for social services is rising, pressures on social workers are mounting, and the need for flexible working is not going away.”