This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Angus leads way for new social work inspections
24/02/2006
Angus Council's department of social work and health is the first to be inspected as part of the Social Work Inspection Agency's (SWIA) performance inspections of all local authority social work services.
The report highlights a number of strengths - enthusiastic staff committed to delivering good quality services supported by managers and councillors, planning and delivering of services increasingly in partnership with others - but also made 17 recommendations to improve the service.
Proposed improvements include putting in place ways to evaluate the impact of services, setting up a more robust duty system and reviewing its children's services.
SWIA chief inspector Alexis Jay said:
"Throughout Scotland, social work services are helping to improve lives for thousands of vulnerable people by offering a wide range of support services. That's why we want to see continuous improvement across all Scotland's 32 councils.
"Today's report measures how well Angus Council is performing and, on the whole, it's a positive picture with dedicated staff providing vital help and support. But there's always room for improvement and our inspectors found some areas where Angus can do more.
"We will now work with Angus Council to agree an action plan in response to this report to ensure that the necessary changes are both implemented and monitored."
Ministers announced their intention to establish a new Social Work Inspection Agency, which would operate independently and impartially, in November 2004. It formally began work on April 1, 2005.
In 2005, SWIA carried out three pilot inspections - in Angus, Fife and South Lanarkshire. This is the first of these reports to be published. The inspection of Angus Council took place in October 2005.