The number of agency staff working in Powys Council’s Children’s Social Services has plummeted by 40 in three and a half years, councillors have been told.

At a meeting of the council’s Health and Care scrutiny committee on Wednesday, January 28, councillors took a look at draft budget proposals for Social Services in 2026/2027.

Next year’s Children’s Social Services is set to receive a three per cent increase on this year’s allocation of £32.597 million, which will see its budget rise to £33.580 million out of a total council budget of £390.5 million.

Children’s Services are predicting £1.561 million worth of pressures, mainly due to uncertainty over how many new cases of youngsters needing care will emerge during 2026/2027.

They are also looking to make £1.256 million in savings, which will contribute to an overall council savings target of £12 million next year.

Among the proposals is a “cost saving” of £86,000, which is due to using more “permanent” staff as social workers once they are qualified, rather than more costly agency staff.

In recent years, the council has been trying to “grow its ownership” cohort of social workers by supporting people to follow social work qualification courses.

This includes degree and master’s degree courses, with the council providing practical learning opportunities.

Portfolio holder for Children’s Services, Cllr Sandra Davies (Labour – Cwm Twrch), highlighted the success of the scheme.

Cllr Davies said: “When I first became a portfolio holder, and Cllr Susan McNicholas and I were sharing a portfolio, I believe we had over 50 agency workers at that time.”

This would have been when the Liberal Democrat/Labour coalition took over running Powys Council following the local elections in May 2022.

Cllr Davies continued: “I’m pleased to report we are down to 10 — that’s a really big reduction.

“There will always be a requirement for some agency staff because we haven’t got a crystal ball and we have to accommodate our young children and make sure they are safe.”

Head of Children’s Services Sharon Powell said: “We have potentially got 10 students who are qualifying in the next 12 months through that programme.

“Whilst we can’t just match each one of those students against a particular agency post, what we are looking to do is reduce those agency posts to as close to zero as we possibly can.

“We will support those newly qualified social workers into the service, develop with them, so they can remain here with us in Powys and grow with us as a service.”

Recommendations from the committee will be added to the draft budget papers before councillors vote on them at a meeting at the end of this month.