This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Progress on social services workforce
24/06/2002
Nine weeks on from the launch of an
action plan for the social services
workforce, Education and Young People Minister Cathy
Jamieson spoke today about progress in achieving a
competent and confident workforce.
She also announced that an additional £400,000 would be
made available this year for bursaries for postgraduate
students.
Speaking at the first conference of the Scottish Social
Services Council, Ms Jamieson said:
"The 100,000 staff in social work and social care
provide services for some of our most vulnerable people.
But we have an immediate challenge to encourage people to
consider social work and social care as a career, and to
get people into training courses which will help them
improve the quality of service provided.
"That's why the
action plan I launched in April was focused on tackling
workforce issues including recruitment, new arrangements
for social work education, and strengthening vocational and
post-qualification training.
"We set out where we wanted to be in nine weeks, and in
nine months. I am pleased that we are making good
progress.
"A steering group for the recruitment and retention
campaign will work closely with the COSLA taskforce which
has been set up to address this vital issue. We have also
set up two Project Groups which begun the work of preparing
for the new honours degree qualification for Social
Work.
"Local Authorities have already been allocated an
additional £3.5m for training, and today I am announcing an
extra £400,000 for postgraduate students to take up places
on social work qualifying courses.
"The Scottish Social Services Council, through the
regulation of staff and their training, has a key role in
delivering our objectives and in developing a social
services workforce which can meet new challenges.
"I am determined to ensure that we continue the progress
already made and drive forward the improvements needed, for
those who work in social services and most importantly,
those who depend on them."
An Action Plan for the Social Services Workforce was
published on April 18, 2002. A Briefing Paper setting out
the strategic aims underpinning the Action Plan was issued
on June 21, 2002. The aims are:
- Introducing more effective ways of recruiting and
retaining staff
- Setting in place a new social work honours degree
level qualification for front line staff, with access
for all with relevant knowledge and skills
- Developing the role of the Scottish Social Services
Council in regulating staff and their training
- Raising investment in learning and support for all
front line staff
- Negotiating the boundaries for the new Sector
Skills Councils with an integrated approach to service
delivery
The Scottish Social Services Council was created by the
Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001. It has the duty
of promoting high standards of conduct and practice among
social services workers and in their education and
training. It will establish registers of key groups of
social services staff, publish codes of practice for all
social services staff and their employers, regulate the
training and education of the workforce and undertake the
functions of the National Training Organisation for the
Personal Social Services.