Scottish Social Services Workforce Data
Pages
Differences between registration and workforce data
23
Aug
2023
Workforce Data and Registration Data
The SSSC has two main sets of data on people working in the social service sector in Scotland. The first is usually referred to by us as the ‘workforce’ data and the second as the ‘registration’ data. Before looking at these two data sets in more detail we begin with the definition of “social services”. The current legal definition is set out in the Public Service Reform Scotland Act in sections 46 to 48 and in schedule 12. The term “social services” defines:
- all registered care services
- and all local authority social work services
Workforce data
The workforce data aims to cover all those working in the above two categories. A total of around 208,000 people at 31st December 2021. The workforce data is a snapshot taken on one day in December each year of all those in employment on that day. It includes other professional groups such as teachers, nurses and occupational therapists as well as ancillary staff (e.g. business support) and auxiliary staff (e.g. catering staff in care homes) based in the services. The data set includes information on each individual’s employer, the service they are working in, the post they are in and some information about the individual themselves (e.g. age, gender). These data have been collected and published since 2008. They are published together in the official statistics annual social service workforce data reports which can be found here: https://data.sssc.uk.com/data-publications/22-workforce-data-report
The response rates for the key variables in the workforce data are published each year in the appendices of the annual workforce data reports. Around 97% of care services and all local authority social work services provide workforce data to the Care Inspectorate and/or SSSC each year. Information on gaps in the workforce data are also available in the report. From this year (2023) following the publication of the first annual registration report the workforce data report contains information in the appendices explaining key differences between the workforce data and the registration data.
The workforce like any data set has limitations. One is that the workforce data has no unique identifier for individual employees. This means workers in the sector cannot be tracked over time using this data and we are therefore unable to use it to look at the movement of the workforce. Another limitation is around the quality of the information provided on the qualifications held by the workforce and also on some of the equalities characteristics of staff.
Registration data
The registration data covers many of the same individuals working in the social service sector as the workforce data. It aims to capture all those in active employment in specific roles and services within the social service sector, where mandatory registration is in place. A total of around 168,000 people, roughly 80% of the sector’s total workforce.
The process of registering the sector’s workforce began in 2003 with the registration of social workers. Since then it has been gradually rolled out across most of the social service sector becoming mandatory for different groups of staff at different points in time (most recently support workers in housing support and care at home services in autumn 2020). Details of when registration became mandatory for differing staff groups can be found here: https://data.sssc.uk.com/registration-data
Certain groups and services are not captured by the Register. For example other professionals (such as nurses and teachers), ancillary or auxiliary staff and childminders. Unlike the snapshot nature of the workforce data the registration data is updated on a daily basis by individual registrants and employers. Individuals required to register with the SSSC have a period of six months to make their application which means that the Register may not contain information on new employees until up to six months after they began in post. Time delays also occur with registrants or their employers not informing the SSSC in a timely manner about changes to an individual’s employment.
While the registration data may not give a snapshot of the workforce at a particular point in time it does have strengths that the workforce data does not have. For example the registration contains more detailed data on qualifications held by registrants than the workforce data does. It was because of this that it was used in the recent Workforce Skills Report published in autumn 2021 here: https://data.sssc.uk.com/data-publications/21-workforce-skills-report/272-workforce-skills-report-2020-2021
Another strength of the Register is that it contains a unique identifier for individual registrants which means that workforce movement can be examined using it. This was done most recently in a report on day care of children’s services published in June 2023, which can be found here: https://data.sssc.uk.com/data-publications/316-movement-of-day-care-of-children-registrants-report-2023
In addition the regulatory role of the register means that it is linked to data on complaints and investigations carried out by the SSSC regarding registered workers. A new annual report on this element is expected to be published later in 2023/24.
Conclusion
This short briefing sets out some of the key differences between the SSSC’s workforce data and its registration data. It also sets out some of the key strengths and limitations of each as well as how they complement each other. If you have any questions about this please contact us at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Registration Data
27
Mar
2019
This page provides information on the numbers of people registered with the SSSC.
Licensing
06
Dec
2016
All content is available under the Non-commercial Government licence, unless otherwise stated. The following link will take you to the details of the licence: Non Commercial Government Licence (nationalarchives.gov.uk)
Glossary
17
Mar
2016
The glossary provides information on the meanings of technical terms. For information on the definitions of individual variables and data items please see the section on Data Definitions and Specifications.
| TERM | MEANING |
|---|---|
| Averages | There are three types each of which are defined separately, they are the; mean; median; and mode. |
| Histogram | A form of bar chart where the bars represent counts of items within value ranges. They are useful for describing distributions. |
| Mean | A type of average. The mean is often simply called the “average” as it is the one most commonly known. If all the values in a dataset are added together then the mean is obtained by dividing the sum of the values by the total number of individual values. |
| Median | A type of average. If all the values in a data set are ranked in order, the middle value will be the median. When there is an even number of data items, the values of the two middle values are averaged using the mean. At least half of the values will be greater than or equal to the median. |
| Mode | A type of average. The most common value in a set of data. A peak in a distribution will be at the mode. |
If you have any unanswered questions about terminology used within the SSSC’s workforce data publications or data site please contact us at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Data Definitions and Specifications
17
Mar
2016
Core Minimum Data Set
The Core Minimum Data Set (CMDS) was created to address the need for standard workforce data covering the whole of the sector, using common data standards for key or core data items. Work started on the data set in 2004 led by the Scottish Government, and responsibility for and authorship of the CMDS passed to the SSSC in 2011. The CMDS underpins the annual workforce data collections conducted by the Care Inspectorate (CIARs) and the SSSC (LASWS) whose data is used to produce our Official and National Statistics publications. The data set has undergone a series of revisions over the last 14 years, and the current version is v5.0 (available here).
Below is a selection of useful workforce-related items with their definitions and category lists.
|
Terms |
Meaning |
|---|---|
|
Full-time (FT) / Part-time (PT) |
Part-time employees are those who work 30 hours per week or less. Full-time employees work more than 30 hours per week. This definition has been adopted to be consistent with the definition used by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). |
|
Geography |
The data is most usually presented either at the national (i.e. all-Scotland) level or at the level of individual local authority areas. Most services are based within one or more of the 32 local authority areas. However, there are a small number of registered care services that have an office address outwith Scotland, but which nonetheless do operate in Scotland. |
|
Job function |
The job function was developed around 2001 as a way of addressing problems that arise through the differences in job titles across the sector’s 2,500 employers. The job function categories allow jobs to be classified according to function and level of responsibility. The job function splits the workforce into 8 main categories, namely: C0 - Administrative/Support worker C1 - Ancillary worker C2 - Class 2 worker C3 - Class 3 worker C4 - Class 4 worker C5 - Unit/Project manager C6 - Group manager C7 - Director/Chief Executive Full definitions for each of the main categories and sub-categories can be found in the Core Minimum Data Set. |
|
Social service sector |
The social service sector in Scotland covers a range of service providers and types of services including:
|
|
Social service workforce |
All those in paid employment in the social service sector. The workforce includes people working for:
It also includes those employed as personal assistants under self-directed support (SDS). |
|
Sub-sector |
This term is used interchangeably with the term “service type”. The sub-sector categories are based on; a) the definitions of registered care services (set out in the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001); and b) the types of services provided by non-registered local authority social work services. Definitions for each of the sub-sectors are set out in the rows immediately below. |
|
Sub-sector - Adoption service |
A service that makes arrangements in connection with the adoption of children. This does not include services in which the proposed adopter is a relative of the child. |
|
Sub-sector - Adult day care |
Day care services for adults can be provided from registered premises in a variety of settings. |
|
Sub-sector - Adult placement service |
Adult placement services provide or arrange accommodation for vulnerable adults, aged 18 or over, in the homes of families or individuals. This can be together with personal care, personal support, counselling or other help provided other than as part of a planned programme of care. |
|
Sub-sector - Care at home |
A service which delivers assessed and planned personal care and support which enables the person to stay in their own home. Many of these services are jointly registered with Housing Support services and as a result we tend to present them as a combined sub-sector. |
|
Sub-sector - Care homes for adults |
Care homes for adults provide care for a range of people and people with particular types of problems; alcohol and drug misuse; learning disabilities; mental health problems; older people; physical and sensory impairment; or respite care and short breaks. |
|
Sub-sector - Central and strategic staff |
Staff within local authority social work services with a strategic and/or central role including senior management, administrators and support staff. |
|
Sub-sector - Child care agency |
Childcare agencies supply or introduce to parents a childcarer who looks after a child or young person, up to the age of 16, wholly or mainly in the home of that child's parent or parents. They could include for example: nanny agencies, home-based childcare services or sitter services. |
|
Sub-sector - Childminders . |
A childminder is a person that looks after at least one child, up to the age of 16 years, for more than a total of two hours per day. The childminder looks after the child on domestic premises for reward but not in the home of the child‘s parent or parents. A parent, relative or foster carer of a child cannot be regarded as that child’s childminder. |
|
Sub-sector - Day care of children |
A service which provides care for children on non-domestic premises for a total of more than two hours per day and on at least six days per year. It includes nursery classes, crèches, after school clubs and play groups. The definition does not include services which are part of school activities or activities where care is not provided such as sports clubs or uniformed activities such as the Scouts or Guides. |
|
Sub-sector - LA fieldwork service (adults) |
Local authority fieldwork staff usually based in local offices providing services to adults. Staff will include qualified social workers. |
|
Sub-sector - LA fieldwork service (children) |
Local authority fieldwork staff usually based in local offices providing services to children and families. Staff will include qualified social workers. |
|
Sub-sector - LA fieldwork service (generic) Local authority fieldwork staff in divisional and area offices. |
Local authority fieldwork staff usually based in local offices providing services to a range of people. Staff will include qualified social workers. |
|
Sub-sector - LA fieldwork service (offenders) Local authority fieldwork staff in divisional and area offices. |
Local authority fieldwork staff usually based in local offices providing services to the courts and prisons in relation to people who have been convicted of criminal offences. Staff will include qualified social workers. |
|
Sub-sector - Fostering service |
Fostering agencies may provide substitute care where a child's family is unable to provide care. They may provide complementary care to provide additional opportunities for a child or to give parents a break. These carers are sometimes called respite or family placement carers. The term foster care is used to describe all these situations. |
|
Sub-sector - Housing support |
Housing support: A service which provides support, assistance, advice or counselling to enable an individual to maintain their tenancy. Housing support may be provided to people living in ordinary homes, sheltered housing, hostels for the homeless, accommodation for the learning disabled, women’s refuges or shared dwellings. Many of these services are jointly registered with Care at Home services and as a result we tend to present them as a combined sub-sector. |
|
Sub-sector - Nurse agency |
Nurse agencies introduce and supply registered nurses to independent and voluntary sector healthcare providers and to the NHS in Scotland. |
|
Sub-sector - Offender accommodation service |
A service which provides advice, guidance or assistance to people such as ex-offenders, people on probation or those released from prison that have been provided accommodation by a local authority. |
|
Sub-sector - Residential child care |
These services are care homes, special school accommodation services and secure accommodation services for children who are looked after away from home. |
|
Sub-sector - School care accommodation |
This includes boarding schools and school hostels but does not include services for children looked after away from home |
|
Type of service (service type) |
See Sub-sector. |
If you have any further questions about data definitions used by the SSSC please contact us at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
