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Social care provider workforce

Find out more about the social care provider workforce in Torbay.

In Torbay there were an estimated 4,800 jobs in adult social care, split between local authorities (1%), independent sector providers (93%) and jobs working for direct payment recipients (6%). As at March 2020, Torbay contained 114 CQC regulated services; 86 were residential and 28 were non-residential services.

Whilst adult social care is a growth sector, in the South West region it has only grown by 2% since 2012, compared to 9% across England.   

If the workforce grew proportionally to the projected number of people over 65, then the number of adult social care jobs in the South West region would need to increase by 37% (from 168,000 to 230,000 jobs) between 2020 and 2035.

Torbay reports can be downloaded by anyone at any time from the Skills for Care NMDS-SC website.

2018/19 highlights of the workforce are below. Key points are that:

  • Torbay has an ASC staff turnover rate of nearly 30%, at 28.6%, but lower than the South West (34.9%) and England (32.2%). In Torbay nursing homes the turnover rate is 44.7%
  • Turnover rate for care workers is 38.4% in Torbay and 39.5% in England
  • The vacancy rate for direct care staff is 7.4% in Torbay and 8.4% in the South West. For care workers it is 8.3% in Torbay and 9% in England
  • In Torbay 51% and in the South West and England 52% of the workforce hold a relevant social care qualification, and of those workers without a relevant social care qualification recorded, 33% had five or more years of experience in the adult social care sector, 84% had completed an induction, 70% had engaged with the Care Certificate and 81% had completed training.

Torbay is an active member of the Proud to Care South West campaign which aims to assist providers by promoting care as a positive career choice.

Workforce demographics

The majority (81%) of the workforce in Torbay were female and the average age is 44 years old. Those aged 24 and under represented 11% of the workforce and those aged over 55 represented 28%, therefore approximately 1,300 people may retire in the next 10 years.

Around 89% of the workforce in Torbay were British, 7% were from within the European Union (EU) and 4% from outside the EU. Nationality varied by region. In England 83% of the workforce were British, in the South West this was 85%.

Around 94% of the workforce in Torbay were of white ethnicity and 6% were from Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) groups. In the South West, 91% were of white ethnicity and 9% were of BAME groups and in England 78% were of white ethnicity and 22% were of BAME groups.

Our comparator group

Throughout this document Torbay is compared to a ‘comparator group’ of Local Authorities (LAs). This group has been put together by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA), which has developed an approach to aid benchmarking and comparing similar LAs, known as ‘nearest neighbours.’

  • Blackpool
  • Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole
  • Darlington
  • Dudley
  • East Riding of Yorkshire
  • Isle of Wight
  • North East Lincolnshire
  • North Tyneside
  • Northumberland
  • Redcar and Cleveland
  • Sefton
  • Southend-on-Sea
  • St. Helens
  • Stockport
  • Torbay
  • Wirral