Cardiff Council has unveiled a series of innovative 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.

And 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

Cllr Susan Elsmore, the Member for Social Care, Health and Wellbeing, 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.”

Her Cabinet colleague, Cllr Chris Weaver, the Member for Finance, Modernisation and Performance, 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 by the Council to all its workers.

To promote the council roles, and other vacancies at some of the council’s private partners in the care sector, a series of 10am-2pm drop-in sessions are planned over the coming weeks, including:

• Ely Hub – NHS Roadshow, March 14
• Alexandra House Job Centre, Cowbridge Road East, Canton – 10am-noon & 1pm-3pm, March 17
• St Mellons Hub, Crickhowell Road – NHS Roadshow, March 23
• Eastmoors – NHS Roadshow, March 28
• Cardiff Central Library – NHS Roadshow, March 31