Cardiff Council has unveiled a series of measures, including free driving lessons, to attract new recruits into its social care services.
The authority has vacancies for carers throughout its network of residential homes and day centres, along with the teams providing support services for people in their own homes.
In a bid to generate interest in social care as a career, Cardiff Cares Academy, the council’s care recruitment and training unit, is offering a range of new incentives to prospective employees, including:
- Up to 20 free driving lessons, if needed.
- Free theory and driving tests.
- Free DBS (police background) checks.
- Personalised training and support.
Commenting, Cardiff Council’s Cabinet Member for Social Care, Health and Well-being, Councillor Susan Elsmore said:
“It’s well documented that the social care sector right across the country is in urgent need of carers, especially those who are able to drive, and in Cardiff we’re committed to doing everything we can to ensure those residents who need it get the best care possible.
“Cardiff Cares Academy has great expertise in recruiting and training carers and since October last year, it has helped 52 people get into training and enabled 30 people to find work.
“Now these new initiatives should help even more to address the staff shortages we’re facing all across the city.”
Cardiff Council’s Cabinet Member for Finance, Modernisation and Performance, Councillor Chris Weaver added:
“It’s clear that drivers are most in demand and we want to give people who are already learning an extra hand in getting their licence.
“We’re willing to pay for the cost of the theory and the driving test itself and pay for between 10 and 20 lessons if it’s felt that is all that is needed.”
All the available roles pay at least the Living Wage, a commitment made by the authority to all of its workers.
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