The Interactive social worker assistant data tool allows you to interactively investigate data on practising social worker assistants employed by local authorities. This is a new data product from the SSSC and we will look to publish annually shortly after the release of the Workforce Data Report. Guidance and background notes are included within the tool.

The latest version of the tool can be downloaded below

Download (XLSX, 156 kb)

If you have any enquiries about these tables, please contact:

Matthew Taylor
Intelligence Analyst
Tel: 01382 721957

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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This Staff vacancies in care services 2024 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 2024. It presents data on 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.

The report shows that at 31 December 2024,

• 44% of registered care services reported having staff vacancies.
• In 9 of the 32 local authority areas, 50% or more services reported vacancies.
• Housing support services, care at home services,  care homes for older people and care homes for adults faced the most challenge in filling vacancies.

The most common reasons for vacancies not being filled are too few applicants with experience, too few applicants, and too few qualified applicants.

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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.

Revision note 02 February 2026: There was an error in the version of this tool published on 06 January 2026 that affected the 'Headcount of Social Workers Table'. 145 SWs were incorrectly excluded from the final version. The table was corrected and the SW Tool republished on 02 February 2026.

The latest version of the tool can be downloaded below

Download (XLSX, 498 kb)

If you have any enquiries about these tables, please contact:

Matthew Taylor
Intelligence Analyst
Tel: 01382 721957

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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These tables look in detail at the children's services workforce in Scotland. It supplements data already published in the Scottish Social Service Sector: Report on 2024 Workforce Data.

Children’s services account for just over one-quarter of the Scottish social service workforce and have the following sub-sectors:

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Analysis of the data as at 13 June 2025

This report presents findings on the WTE number of practising social workers (PSWs) and vacancies in local authorities in June 2025. The term PSWs covers all those employed as a social worker (SW) or senior social worker (SSW) in local authority social work services. It does not include social workers employed by local authorities in registered care services such as adoption or fostering services.

This is the fifth report on local authority PSWs and vacancies that we have published.

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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.

Please note that the Full time, Part time, and WTE(a+c) figures in this tool were revised on 05/01/2026

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