Staff of Scottish Local Authority Social Work Services, 2003

STAFF OF SCOTTISH LOCAL AUTHORITY SOCIAL WORK SERVICES, 2003

3. All Staff in Scottish Local Authority Social Work Services

3.1 There were 50,119 staff employed by Scottish local authority social work services in October 2003. This comprised 23,462 full-time staff and a further 26,657 staff who were employed on a part-time basis. The whole time equivalent (WTE) number of staff was 39,429 ( see Annex, paragraph 9.6). This represented an increase of 8% from the 2002 total.

Staff of Scottish Social Work Services, 1996 to 2003
Numbers and WTEs by Mode ⁽¹⁾

Table 1

	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003
Full-time staff	22,173	20,913	20,038	20,077	20,423	21,084	21,848	23,462
Part-time staff
Number	28,768	28,626	27,691	25,027	24,386	24,637	25,598	26,657
WTE	16,157	15,685	15,159	13,751	13,649	13,604	14,567	15,967
Total staff
Number	50,941	49,539	47,729	45,104	44,809	45,721	47,446	50,119
WTE	38,330	36,598	35,197	33,828	34,072	34,688	36,415	39,429

Note:
(1) Staff numbers may fluctuate over time as a result of various factors, including changes in the way services are provided and changes in the numbers of vacancies.

3.2 The 39,429 WTE staff in October 2003 corresponded to 7.8 staff per 1,000 population, an increase from 7.2 staff per 1,000 population in October 2002.

3.3 The level of staffing in each council is influenced to some extent by the level of social work involvement required which, in turn, may be affected by a range of factors, including deprivation and urban/ rural issues. Other factors affecting the level of staffing include the extent to which services are contracted out and the extent to which services are provided in partnership with neighbouring councils and other organisations. The number of staff per 1,000 population was highest in the island councils (17.5 in Orkney Islands, 15.6 in Eilean Siar and 14.2 in Shetland Islands) and lowest in Dumfries and Galloway (3.5), East Dunbartonshire (5.1) and Moray (5.2).

Staff (WTE) of Scottish Social Work Services, 1998 to 2003
Number of Staff and Staff per 1,000 Population ⁽¹⁾ by Local Authority ^{(2) (3)}

Table 2

Local Authority	Number of Staff (WTE)						Staff (WTE) per 1,000 population
Local Authority	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003
Aberdeen City	1,680	1,717	1,596	1,397	1,369	1,501	7.8	8.0	7.5	6.6	6.5	7.2
Aberdeenshire	1,222	1,274	1,326	1,345	1,361	1,402	5.4	5.6	5.8	5.9	6.0	6.2
Angus	795	769	767	805	871	934	7.2	7.0	7.0	7.4	8.1	8.7
Argyll & Bute	640	637	700	799	744	954	7.0	7.0	7.7	8.8	8.2	10.5
Clackmannanshire	266	293	285	299	273	279	5.5	6.1	5.9	6.2	5.7	5.8
Dumfries & Galloway ⁽⁴⁾	744	733	453	523	576	516	5.0	4.9	3.1	3.5	3.9	3.5
Dundee City	1,310	1,242	1,101	1,136	1,227	1,245	8.8	8.4	7.5	7.8	8.5	8.7
East Ayrshire	841	823	782	722	750	843	7.0	6.8	6.5	6.0	6.3	7.1
East Dunbartonshire	496	513	494	549	549	540	4.5	4.7	4.5	5.1	5.1	5.1
East Lothian	556	486	483	484	532	531	6.3	5.5	5.4	5.4	5.9	5.8
East Renfrewshire	409	371	428	466	491	516	4.6	4.2	4.8	5.2	5.5	5.7
Edinburgh, City of	3,639	3,649	3,763	3,832	3,790	4,041	8.2	8.2	8.4	8.5	8.5	9.0
Eilean Siar	408	384	368	374	397	404	14.8	14.1	13.7	14.1	15.2	15.6
Falkirk	922	884	935	945	983	973	6.4	6.1	6.5	6.5	6.8	6.7
Fife	2,593	2,622	2,589	2,684	3,014	3,253	7.5	7.6	7.4	7.7	8.6	9.3
Glasgow City ⁽⁴⁾	5,406	4,008	4,275	4,164	4,093	4,809	9.2	6.9	7.4	7.2	7.1	8.4
Highland	1,126	1,233	1,052	1,432	1,548	1,606	5.4	5.9	5.0	6.9	7.4	7.7
Inverclyde	630	641	684	732	733	758	7.3	7.5	8.1	8.7	8.8	9.1
Midlothian	455	478	476	474	482	467	5.7	5.9	5.9	5.9	6.0	5.8
Moray	513	412	472	439	458	446	5.9	4.7	5.4	5.0	5.3	5.2
North Ayrshire	945	906	973	930	1,049	1,114	6.9	6.6	7.1	6.8	7.7	8.2
North Lanarkshire	1,997	1,930	2,223	2,394	2,756	3,017	6.2	6.0	6.9	7.5	8.6	9.4
Orkney Islands ⁽⁵⁾	260	336	285	288	318	334	13.3	17.3	14.8	15.0	16.6	17.5
Perth & Kinross ⁽⁶⁾	712	724	676	610	597	759	5.3	5.4	5.0	4.5	4.4	5.6
Renfrewshire	1,139	1,123	1,280	1,281	1,383	1,452	6.5	6.4	7.4	7.4	8.0	8.5
Scottish Borders	633	803	702	771	779	873	6.0	7.6	6.6	7.2	7.3	8.1
Shetland Islands ⁽⁵⁾	259	280	308	322	287	309	11.4	12.4	13.9	14.7	13.1	14.2
South Ayrshire	770	771	712	573	762	713	6.8	6.8	6.3	5.1	6.8	6.4
South Lanarkshire	1,762	1,723	1,735	1,742	1,830	2,238	5.8	5.7	5.7	5.8	6.1	7.4
Stirling	478	501	509	523	583	497	5.6	5.9	5.9	6.1	6.8	5.7
West Dunbartonshire	790	834	878	913	986	1,183	8.3	8.8	9.3	9.8	10.6	12.8
West Lothian	801	729	764	744	844	925	5.2	4.7	4.9	4.7	5.3	5.7
TOTAL	35,197	33,828	34,072	34,688	36,415	39,429	*6.9*	*6.7*	*6.7*	*6.8*	*7.2*	*7.8*

Note:
(1) Staff per 1,000 population are based on GROS mid-year population estimates. These estimates have been updated since the last bulletin, resulting in differences in ratios between the two publications.
(2) Staff numbers may fluctuate over time as a result of various factors, including changes in the way services are provided and changes in the numbers of vacancies.
(3) Staffing levels may vary between councils as a result of differences in the way services are provided. Factors which may have an influence on staffing numbers include contracting out or commissioning of services and partnership arrangements with neighbouring councils.
(4) Major recent changes in staffing numbers include changes in the arrangements for home care services in Glasgow City (between 1998 and 1999) and Dumfries & Galloway (between 1999 and 2000), and the inclusion of homeless and childrens' fieldwork services in Glasgow from 2003.
(5) Improved recording practices in Orkney Islands Council since 2000, and in Shetland since 2001, have led to an increase in data accuracy. Trends should therefore be interpreted with caution.
(6) Perth & Kinross returns did not include children & families or criminal justice staff in 2001 and 2002.

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