Analysis of the data collected as at 30 June 2023

This report presents findings from the first run of a proposed new six-monthly survey of local authority social work services (LASWS), which took place between June and August 2023. The survey asked for information on ‘practising social workers’, namely those in main grade social worker and senior social worker posts working within local authority social work services. It also asked for information on vacancies for practising social workers and about hard to fill vacancies.

The Office of the Chief Social Work Adviser (OCSWA) in the Scottish Government established a short life working group (SLWG) on social work workforce data in December 2022. It was set up to support the development of the National Social Work Agency (NSWA) by monitoring workforce trends, establishing demand for social work services and implications for recruitment, retention and training. The findings from the survey will feed back into the work of the SLWG and other intelligence and research that the group is looking to gather. This includes research into demand for social work services and a report due to be published later in 2023/24 by the SSSC on the inflows and outflows to the local authority social work workforce.

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The interactive Social Worker Data Tool allows you to interactively investigate data on practising social workers employed by local authorities. Guidance and background notes are included within the tool.

The latest version of the tool can be donwloaded below

Download (XLSX, 472 kb)

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This file allows you to interactively investigate the Local Authority Post Types data. The file presents headcount and WTE (whole time equivalent) data of all filled posts in local authority social work services where those employed do not work in a registered care service. This therefore covers staff working primarily in field social work services. The data published includes a breakdown of the numbers of different people and posts across the whole of Scotland as well as by individual local authorities.

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“This Staff vacancies in care services 2022 report is jointly published by the Care Inspectorate and the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC). This report provides data on vacancies reported by care services as at 31 December 2022. It shows the number of registered care services with a vacancy, the number of actual vacancies that services say they had using whole time equivalent (WTE) data, and data on the reasons why services have reported that vacancies are hard to fill.

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The Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) today published Scottish Social Service Sector: Report on 2022 Workforce Data.

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The register annual report is a new report providing data from the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) Register. It gives a unique insight into the social work, social care and children and young people workforce (also known as the social service workforce).

It’s the first time we’ve published such a report on our Register data. As the regulator for the social work, social care and children and young people workforce, we’re in the unique position of holding reliable information on the registered workforce.

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