A shortage of social care workers - and other staff - has been deemed a “red” level risk by Stirling Council.
Officers said that, as a result of the current work climate, there was a risk the council would be unable to find suitable workers which could lead to an impact on its ability to deliver services.
There is particular concern over a lack of care workers with fears about the impact this might have on the most vulnerable.
At a recent meeting of the audit committee, chief operating officer Isabel McKnight said there was a “national challenge” in staffing community care services and many factors were out of the control of local authorities.
She added: “The issue is that care is not an attractive employment and the competitive market means it is much more affordable to work in retail than the care sector. These are the sort of challenges we need to look at.
“This is very fluid and we are having conversations with the Health and Social Care Partnership on a daily basis and also with Clackmannanshire Council.”
Chief finance officer Jim Boyle said one of the issues nationally was the level of pay and the haemorrhaging of workers to other types of jobs, although a Scottish Government funding packaging to councils of around £48million sought to alleviate that, with care workers being paid around £10.02 per hour.
“Whether that will be enough to improve the position, we’ll have to wait and see,” said Mr Boyle, “but a number of factors are playing into what’s quite a complex position.”
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The authority’s risk register, which looks at worst-case scenarios, contains a total of 24 risks at varying levels with staffing issues detailed as “red”, the highest level.
The risk score is calculated by multiplying the impact and likelihood score for each risk.
The officers’ report said: “The risk of finding suitable workers for council services scored [the maximum] of five for likelihood and four for impact making an overall score of 20 (red risk).”
Officers said while the Health and Social Care Partnership operate services, the contractual and legal responsibility lies with the council.
Mr Boyle said the council and other partners may have to consider increasing funding.
Conservative councillor Neil Benny added: “There is a financial and reputational risk to the council but significantly of more concern to me is the risk to service delivery. I don’t think we are quite there yet but that’s more of a worry to me than some of the other issues raised.”
SNP councillor Graham Houston asked if smaller local providers and contractors were being considered, including for social care, adding: “I always think in every crisis there’s often opportunity.”
Ms McKnight said: “Absolutely we are.” She added: “We did a bit of work to see what local authorities across Scotland are doing in social care. Even those who have brought in care internally are finding it challenging because they are just procuring a workforce from another provider.
“It’s probably the perfect storm but you have our assurances that we are trying to support the HSCP with every avenue and looking at every solution possible.”
Suggested measures for managing the situation included prioritisation of key areas, reviewing the marketplace, development of a workforce plan, more learning opportunities for social care staff and the setting up of a working group.
