What is the sickness and absence rates of the social care workforce in Wales for the most recent period for which figures are available and what percentage of the workforce does this represent?
Local authorities provide data directly to Welsh Government about social service workforce and absence rates. At present, there are a reported 21,449 staff working in local authority social service departments. As of 17 January, it was reported that 2,333, or 10.5% are absent. A quarter of absences are Covid-related, while the majority (62%) are absent for other illnesses. The remainder are absent for other, non-illness reasons.
The same level of data is not available for residential care home or domiciliary care services. However, data from Care Inspectorate Wales shows that, as of 5 January, there were 281 notifications of one or more confirmed cases of Covid-19 in adult care homes in the previous seven days. This data is available at: CIW Services and Places by Setting Type and Year (gov.wales)
The full details about total absence in domiciliary care are not currently available.
Local authority statutory services represent just under a third of the social care workforce, with approximately 22,000 people working in domiciliary care and 27,000 working in residential care homes. Those working in domiciliary care and residential care homes will primarily be working for private providers, which are commissioned by local authorities.
It is currently unknown exactly how many people provide wider social care services through third sector organisations or non-regulated services.