Questions Without Notice from Party Spokespeople

Part of 2. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Services – in the Senedd at 2:42 pm on 31 January 2018.

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Photo of Suzy Davies Suzy Davies Conservative 2:42, 31 January 2018

Thank you for that answer. You'll be aware, of course, that the Public Accounts Committee was talking a little bit about this on Monday. They heard evidence about how the average working life of a social worker is less than eight years, while, by comparison, a nurse could be expected to work for 16 years and a doctor 25. While that means that new social workers are constantly needing to be trained, it also means that there is a real shortage of experience that can be passed on generationally, if you like, to trainees and newly-qualified social workers.

Bearing in mind what you've just said about the workforce fund, how do you expect to improve the numbers attracted to social work and stay in social work, more critically? Do you think that the new qualifications are material to that? Who determines the key performance indicators that Social Care Wales should be looking at in order to ensure progress on both those fronts?