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How to use the agency workforce tools and resources

Agency workforce resources

Who these resources are for 

The resources in this section support local authorities to meet the agency rules statutory guidance on agency workforce. Using the resources will help to improve social worker retention.

The resources are for: 

  • people directly involved in the commissioning, procurement, quality assurance and social work practice management of agency child and family social workers.   
  • corporate leaders, such as chief finance officers, chief executives, lead members and directors of children’s services.  

Additional resources to support the management and improvement of your social worker workforce can be found in the Agency workforce hub.

How to use the agency workforce resources  

The resources can be used by individual local authorities and with regional partners. Some resources outline statutory guidance rules and offer insights on compliance strategies.  

Other resources are tools for assessment and action planning within your local authority. You can also use these tools with data from neighbouring authorities to create a comprehensive regional analysis.  You can use the tools in sequence or to address specific challenges.  

Use the statutory guidance alongside the tools and resources to ensure that you are meeting the requirements. The guidance contains a useful glossary of key terms which provides additional explanation.  

For detailed operational guidance on price caps and data collection, refer to Agency child and family social workers: data return and price caps.

Resources

Agency worker readiness assessment tool

MS Excel Spreadsheet, 22.9 KB

This file may not be suitable for users of assistive technology.

Request an accessible format
If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need a version of this document in a more accessible format, please email support-for-social-workers-team@education.gov.uk. Please tell us what format you need. It will help us if you say what assistive technology you use.

Data collection checklist

MS Excel Spreadsheet, 22.17 KB

This file may not be suitable for users of assistive technology.

Request an accessible format
If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need a version of this document in a more accessible format, please email support-for-social-workers-team@education.gov.uk. Please tell us what format you need. It will help us if you say what assistive technology you use.

Agency worker action plan template

MS Excel Spreadsheet, 58.71 KB

This file may not be suitable for users of assistive technology.

Request an accessible format
If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need a version of this document in a more accessible format, please email support-for-social-workers-team@education.gov.uk. Please tell us what format you need. It will help us if you say what assistive technology you use.

Agency worker induction checklist

MS Excel Spreadsheet, 17.85 KB

This file may not be suitable for users of assistive technology.

Request an accessible format
If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need a version of this document in a more accessible format, please email support-for-social-workers-team@education.gov.uk. Please tell us what format you need. It will help us if you say what assistive technology you use.

Next page: Implementing the agency rules

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The resources have been developed by Research in Practice in collaboration with DfE.
Published: 30 October 2024
Last updated: 04 November 2024