Workforce Intelligence Newsletter

October 2021

Welcome to the first of our new blog posts by the Workforce Intelligence (WI) team. The purpose of these posts is to update you with news about the latest publications, data sets and to provide further insight into the sector.

As a team, we are responsible for the publishing of Official Statistics on the social service sector’s workforce.

(Definition: “social services” means:

          (a) care services registered with the Care Inspectorate and

(b) social work services

                Section 46, Public Service Reform (Scotland) Act 2010)

Latest Facts and Figures:

- 209,690 people work in social services.

- The majority (66%) are employed by private or voluntary sector providers with only a minority by local authorities.

- There are around 2,500 different employers operating in the social services sector.

Latest News:

Workforce Data Report

The 2020 Workforce Data Report was published on 31^st August 2021 and can be found here. It is the 13th workforce data report published by the SSSC and the 10th set of Official Statistics. The report combines administrative data from the Care Inspectorate obtained annually from all registered care services with data collected by the SSSC directly from local authorities. From these we form a comprehensive picture of the paid workforce employed in the social service sector in Scotland at the end of 2020.

The chart below is taken from the Workforce Data Report and is a treemap of headcount by employer type and subsector for 2020.

Mental Health Officers Report

The 2020 Mental Health Officers Report was published on 17^th August 2021 and can be found here. This report carries National Statistics designation and is the ninth statistical report on Mental Health Officers (MHOs) in Scotland to be produced by the SSSC. The Mental Health Officers (Scotland) Report 2020 presents information on:

•     The number of practising MHOs in post at 7 December 2020, excluding long-term absentees.
•     MHO trainees, leavers, vacancies and staffing shortfalls.
•     Key characteristics of the MHO workforce (e.g. age) and the type of teams they work in.

The chart below is taken from the Mental Health Officers Report and shows filled MHO post types in each local authority in 2020.

Workforce Skills Report

The Workforce Skills Report was published on the 6^th October 2021 and can be found here. The Workforce Skills Report 2021 looks at the current provision of qualifications for the social work, social care and early years workforce, demand for qualifications and how they meet current skills needs. It also looks at barriers to undertaking qualifications and what new skills are needed for the future.

The chart below shows how service provision and staffing numbers have changed since 2016 in four of the sector’s main types of services. These are care at home and housing support (CAHHS), care homes for adults (CHA), day care of children (DCC) and residential child care (RCC) services.

Who we are:

Mike Docherty, Workforce Intelligence Manager: I manage the Workforce Intelligence (WI) team which has responsibility for publishing the Official Statistics on those working in the social service sector, which covers all registered care services and local authority social work services in Scotland. Our publications include our annual workforce data report on the size of the sector and an annual report on the Mental Health Officer (MHO) workforce. We also publish data and intelligence on qualifications and skills in the sector such as the new Workforce Skills Report. We have access to a large amount of workforce data collected each year from care services and local authorities as well as the SSSC Register. We also publish more detailed data sets and handle requests for more specific breakdowns of data. You can contact me at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

James Arnold, Data Researcher: I have responsibility over the collection and management of workforce data and provide expert advice on this data, its wider context and various technical matters. I author the Workforce Data Report. You can contact me at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Zara Gall, Data Researcher: I have responsibility over the collection of the Mental Health Officers data and produce the Mental Health Officers (Scotland) Report.

I have also produced in the last two years the more detailed tables on those working in services for adults and services for children. Those tables present data on those working in the various sub-types of these services e.g. care homes for older people, people with learning disabilities etc. I also produce the SVQ data tables which include data on take up of Modern Apprenticeships in the sector

You can contact me at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Matthew Taylor, Data Researcher: I joined the SSSC in late 2020 after a variety of analyst roles, mostly in education. I have responsibility over current experimental statistic reports and providing advice on data in areas such as providers of social services, service users and residential childcare. I can be contacted on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

If you have any questions about the issues raised in this blog or any feedback you would like to give us on any aspect of our workforce intelligence activities, please contact us at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.