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Staff of Scottish Local Authority Social Work Services, 2005

This publication forms part of a series of publications which provide information on staffing of Scottish Local Authority Social Work Services. It contains the results of a staffing census held across all Scottish local authorities on 3 October 2005. It presents findings from a range of statistics to provide an overall picture of demand for, supply of and outcomes from the social care workforce.

This publication was first published on 28 April 2006. However, October 2005 staff vacancy results were not available at the time because the information was still to be subjected to strict quality assurance procedures to ensure that the results were accurate, reliable and fit for purpose.

The staff vacancy data has now been fully processed and quality assured, and is included for the first time in Tables 15-18 of this publication, and in more detail in the Annex. Please note that the staffing figures contained in Table 1-14, and in more detail in the Annex, have not changed since they were first published on 28 April 2006.

Headline messages are:

• There were 42,593 whole time equivalent ( WTE) staff employed by Scottish Local Authority Social Services in October 2005. This represented an increase of 4% from the 2004 total and an increase of 26% since 1999 ( Table 1).
• The 42,593 WTE staff in October 2005 corresponded to 8.4 staff per 1,000 population, an increase from 8.1 per 1,000 population in October 2004 and 6.7 per 1,000 population in 2000. The number of staff per 1,000 population was highest in the island councils (22.5 in Shetland Islands, 19.0 in Orkney Islands and 16.6 in Eilean Siar), and lowest in East Dunbartonshire (5.4), Clackmannanshire (5.9) and Moray (5.9) ( Table 2).
• Thirty per cent of staff employed by Scottish Local Authority Social Work Services in October 2005 were fieldwork staff and 28% were domiciliary staff (mainly home carers). A further 15% worked in residential establishments for adults and 9% were located in day care centres for adults ( Table 3).
• Sixty one per cent of staff provided services for adults, a further 17% provided services for children and 4% provided services for offenders. Ten per cent of staff were attributed to generic provision, providing services for more than one client group ( Table 4).
• The majority (84%) of all staff in 2005 were female. This proportion was highest for staff providing services for adults, where 89% were female, and lowest for staff providing services for offenders (63%) ( Table 4).
• Just under 1% of all staff are reported as being from an ethnic minority group and just less than 2% of all staff have declared having a disability ( Table 7). However, 18% of all staff had either a not known/disclosed ethnic group, and 27% of all staff had an unknown disability status.
• Nine per cent of all staff with a known age were under 30 years of age, whilst 38% were aged 50 and over ( Table 8). This compares with 10% of staff aged under 30 years and 35% were aged 50 and over in 2004.
• Of the 54,008 staff employed in local authority social work services departments, information on the qualifications held of these staff was reported for 20,464 staff (38% of all staff). Of these 20,464 staff, 84% of staff held at least one qualification, whilst 23% held more than one qualification.
• Just over 2,200 staff are reported as working towards a qualification ( Table 12).
• There were 3,027 WTE vacancies in Scottish Local Authority Social Work Services in October 2005. This represents 8.6% of all posts that were vacant as at October 2005, an increase of 0.1 percentage point from the previous year.
• Of these 3,027 WTE vacancies, 502 WTE vacancies were for qualified social workers. The proportion of all social worker posts that were vacant was 9.5%, compared with 10.9% the previous year. ( Table 18).

Staff of Scottish Social Work Services by Client Group and Gender, 2005

All Staff in Scottish Local Authority Social Work Services

1.1 There were 54,008 staff employed by Scottish Local Authority Social Work Services in October 2005. This comprised 25,849 full-time staff and a further 28,159 staff who were employed on a part-time basis ( Table 1). The whole time equivalent ( WTE) number of staff was 42,593 (see Background Notes, paragraph 8.9). This represented an increase in the WTE of 4% from the previous year.

1.2 The 42,593 WTE staff in October 2005 corresponded to 8.4 staff per 1,000 population, an increase from 8.1 staff per 1,000 population in October 2004 and 6.7 staff per 1,000 population in October 2000 ( Table 2).

1.3 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 (22.5 in Shetland Islands, 19.0 in Orkney Islands and 16.6 in Eilean Siar) and lowest in East Dunbartonshire (5.4), Clackmannanshire (5.9) and Moray (5.9) ( Table 2).

Staff by Type of Activity/Location

2.1 This section provides information on the number ( WTE) of staff by type of activity/location (see Background Notes, paragraph 8.11).

2.2 Thirty per cent of staff employed by Scottish Local Authority Social Work Services in October 2005 were fieldwork staff and 28% were domiciliary staff (mainly home carers). A further 15% worked in residential establishments for adults and 9% were located in day care centres for adults ( Table 3).

2.3 Table 3 also shows that the number of WTE staff has increased in all activities/locations since 2004, with the largest rise in Criminal Justice Staff (9%).

Staff by Client Group

3.1 This section provides information on the number of staff by client group. Information on the gender of staff is also provided.

3.2 Sixty one per cent of staff provided services for adults, a further 17% provided services for children and 4% provided services for offenders. Ten per cent of staff were attributed to generic provision, providing services for more than one client group ( Table 4).

3.3 The majority (84%) of all staff in 2005 were female. This proportion was highest for staff providing services for adults, where 89% were female, and lowest for staff providing services for offenders (63%) ( Table 4).

3.4 The 26,130 staff ( WTE) who provided services for adults corresponded to 6.5 per 1,000 population aged 18 and over ( Table 5). This proportion was highest for the island authorities (24.4 in Shetland Islands, 19.1 in Orkney Islands and 19.0 in Eilean Siar), and lowest for Glasgow (3.9). There were 6.8 staff per 1,000 population aged under 18 providing services for children, although this rate varied from 11.9 in Edinburgh to 2.3 in Eilean Siar.

Numbers and WTE by Staff Group

4.1 This section provides information on numbers and WTEs by staff group. See Background Notes, paragraph 8.12 for further details on the staff groups used.

4.2 Over one quarter of staff ( WTE) are home care staff and managers, and 22% are support staff. Residential managers & qualified care staff account for 11% of staff and social workers account for a further 11% of staff ( Table 6).

4.3 Overall numbers and WTE of staff have increased by 3% and 4% respectively since 2004. Most staff groups have increased in 2005 with the largest increase for 'Other Qualified Fieldwork Staff' (28%). However, 'Senior Managers, etc' and 'Residential - Managers and Qualified Care Staff' have both decreased by 3% since October 2004 ( Table 6).

4.4 Ethnicity and Disability were collected on all social work services staff for the first time in October 2005. Some councils were unable to supply this information so figures are based on those who were able to provide this information. One percent of staff were reported to be from an ethnic minority group and two percent of staff were reported to have self-declared a disability ( Table 7).

Staff Numbers by Age Group

5.1 The October 2005 staffing census requested information on the ages of all social work services staff. One council was unable to supply information on age, and two more were unable to supply information for some staff. The data reported here includes these councils/staff as unknown.

5.2 Sixty nine per cent of social work services staff were at least 40 years of age and 3.5% were under 25 years of age, compared with 65% and 3.9% in October 2004 respectively ( Table 8).

5.3 Looking at the percentage in the different age groups by type of activity/location ( Table 9), it can be seen that 'day care staff: services for children' has the highest proportion of staff under 25 (7%), while domiciliary staff have the highest percentage aged 40 or over (77%).

5.4 Table 10 shows the percentage in the different age groups by client group. The highest percentage of staff under 25 work in generic provision (7.5%), while the lowest percentage work with 'adults - people with physical disabilities' (1.9%). The highest percentage of staff aged 40 or over work with 'adults (not separately identified)' (76%), while the lowest percentage work in children and generic provision (59%).

5.5 Table 11 looks at age in relation to staff groups. Support staff have the highest percentage under 25 (8%), and the lowest percentage aged 40 or over (61%). Senior manager is the staff group with the lowest percentage of under 25 year olds (0.3%), and has the highest percentage aged 40 or over (82%).

Staff Numbers by Qualifications Held and in Progress

6.1 The October 2005 staffing census also requested information on qualifications held and in progress by staff. Some councils were unable to supply complete information on qualifications, and the data reported is likely to underestimate the true level of qualifications. (Total numbers of staff with qualifications, or working towards attaining qualifications, relate only to councils which returned this information.)

6.2 Of the 54,008 staff employed in local authority social work services departments, information on the qualifications held of these staff was reported for 20,464 staff (38% of all staff). Of these 20,464 staff, 84% held at least one qualification, while 23% held more than one qualification. Also, just over 2,200 staff are reported as working towards a qualification ( Table 12).

6.3 The proportion of known staff holding at least one qualification was highest amongst social workers (99.9%), senior managers (98.9%), and day care managers and qualified care staff (95.6%). Home care staff & managers and other domiciliary staff were amongst the groups least likely to hold a qualification.

Vacancies in Scottish Local Authority Social Work Services

7.1 Vacancy figures exclude home care staff, given the different employment conditions which apply for such staff in many councils. Therefore, all the vacancy tables show vacancies and vacancy rates which exclude home care staff.

7.2 There were 3,027 WTE vacancies in Scottish Local Authority Social Work Services in October 2005. This represents 8.6% of all posts that were vacant as at October 2005, an increase of 0.1 percentage point from the previous year.

7.3 Vacancy rates were highest in Renfrewshire (15.9%) and Midlothian (13.4%). Rates were lowest in West Lothian (2.8%).

7.3 Of the 3,027 WTE vacancies, 502 WTE vacancies were for qualified social workers. The proportion of all social worker posts that were vacant was 9.5%, compared with 10.9% the previous year. The vacancy rate for social worker posts is now at its lowest level since reliable reporting of vacancy information started in October 2001.

7.4 In terms of client groups, vacancy rates were highest for staff providing services for adults with mental health problems (14.0%) and lowest for those providing services for adults with physical disabilities (6.6%).

7.5 Looking at type of activity/location, vacancies were highest amongst residential staff providing services for children (11.2%) and lowest amongst domiciliary staff (6.9%).

7.6 By Staff Group, the percentage of posts that were vacant were highest amongst Senior Managers, etc. (10.6%) and Support Staff (9.6%) and lowest for Other Domiciliary Staff (5.4%).

The following tables are available:

Table 1 - Staff of Scottish Social Work Services: Numbers and WTEs by Mode, 1998 to 2005
Table 2 - Staff of Scottish Social Work Services: Number of Staff and Staff per 1,000 Population by Local Authority, 2000 to 2005
Table 3 - Staff of Scottish Social Work Services: Staff ( WTE) by Type of Activity/Location, 1999 to 2005
Table 4 - Staff of Scottish Social Work Services: Numbers and WTEs by Client Group and Gender, 2005
Table 5 - Staff of Scottish Social Work Services: Staff ( WTE) and WTEs per 1,000 Population by Client Group and Local Authority, 2005
Table 6 - Staff of Scottish Social Work Services: Numbers and WTEs by Staff Group, 2003 to 2005
Table 7 - Staff of Scottish Social Work Services: Percentages of staff by Ethnic Group and Disability, 2005
Table 8 - Staff of Scottish Social Work Services: Numbers and Percent by Age Group, 2004 and 2005
Table 9 - Staff of Scottish Social Work Services: Activity/Location by Age Group (Percent), 2005
Table 10 - Staff of Scottish Social Work Services: Client Group by Age Group (Percent), 2005
Table 11 - Staff of Scottish Social Work Services: Staff Group by Age Group (Percent), 2005
Table 12 - Staff of Scottish Social Work Services: Numbers of staff with qualifications held and in progress, 2005
Table 13 - Staff of Scottish Social Work Services: Percentages of staff holding qualifications, 2005
Table 14 - Staff of Scottish Social Work Services: Percentages of staff working towards qualifications, 2005
Table 15 - Vacancies in Scottish Social Work Services: WTEs by Local Authority, 2002 to 2005
Table 16 - Vacancies in Scottish Social Work Services: WTEs by Client Group, 2002 to 2005
Table 17 - Vacancies in Scottish Social Work Services: WTEs by Type of Activity/Location, 2002 to 2005
Table 18 - Vacancies in Scottish Social Work Services: WTEs by Staff Group, 2002 to 2005
Annex - Staff of Scottish Social Work Services, 2005

Background Notes - Staff of Scottish Social Work Services

8. Notes and Definitions

Method of Collection

8.1 Each local authority is asked to submit an annual census form detailing the staff employed by its social work/social services department, whether free-standing or part of a larger department. The census date is the first Monday in October. Details on terms of employment, type of activity/ location, gender of staff, age of staff, ethnicity and disability of staff, contract type, qualifications held by staff, qualifications in progress by staff, and number of vacancies were collected in 2005. Information on age, ethnicity, disability and qualifications were incomplete.

Organisation of Social Work Services

8.2 Social work services can be organised in a number of different ways, and this may impact on the results reported in this publication. For further details, see the Annex to a previous statistical bulletin, 'Staff of Scottish Local Authority Social Work Services, 2000'. http://www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/bulletins/00106-00.asp

Estimates and Revisions

8.3 WTE data for part-time staff in some councils were not provided and have been estimated.

8.4 Major changes to vacancy figures in October 2005 include:

• Angus Council experienced a drop in vacancies due to increased number of staff through various forms of recruitment.
• Edinburgh City Council shows an increase in vacancies due to structural reorganisation resulting in newly created posts not yet filled in October 2005.
• Fife Council has an increase of vacancies due to new posts created, posts that are awaiting to be filled and general turnover of staff.
• Glasgow City Council is showing an increase in their level of vacancies. However, it was reported that this local authority is currently undergoing a restructuring process and, as such, the number of vacancies reported are in a state of flux until the restructure is complete. Therefore, caution should be made when interpreting these figures until the restructuring is complete.
• South Lanarkshire Council have experienced a large drop in vacancy figures due to recruitment drive for Social Workers and Residential Staff.

8.5 Figures from a quarterly survey on the number of filled and unfilled social worker posts for October 2005 have been previously published (3 November 2005) by the Scottish Executive. Results from these quarterly surveys showed a higher number of filled and unfilled social worker posts than shown in this annual (October 2005) survey (see below).

The following chart shows the scale of the difference between the previously reported figures and revised figures for filled social worker posts:

8.6 The above chart shows that previously published data showed a relatively higher number of filled social worker posts in the quarterly October 2005 survey compared with those reported in the October 2005 annual census. Previously published October 2005 figures showed that the number of filled social worker posts was 4,916 WTE but this figure has now been revised down to 4,760 WTE (based on the annual survey) - a downward revision of 3%.

8.7 Investigations into the discrepancy of the number of filled social worker posts highlighted a number of inconsistencies in the reporting of social worker posts between the annual and quarterly surveys. For example, some staff who were social worker qualified (but who were not carrying out a social worker role) were incorrectly included in the quarterly survey, and some staff who were being counted as Social Workers in the quarterly survey were being categorised differently in the annual survey.

8.8 The annual October 2005 Social Worker figures are deemed to be the definitive number of social workers at this reference point. Therefore, the revised quarterly Social Worker series has been produced by calculating the differences in the number of reported Social Workers in the annual and quarterly October 2005 surveys.

8.9 Using these differences, previously published quarterly figures have been re-scaled by using a proportion of these differences. The previously published January 2006 quarterly social worker figures have been re-scaled by carrying forward the differences seen between the annual and quarterly October 2005 surveys. These October 2005 differences will also be applied to future quarterly figures to ensure they stay in line with the number reported in the annual surveys until the October 2006 annual and quarterly figures become available.

The following chart shows the scale of the difference between the previously reported vacancy figures and revised vacancy figures, as a percentage of all social worker posts:

8.10 The above chart shows that previously published data showed a higher proportion of unfilled social worker posts in the quarterly October 2005 survey compared with those reported in the October 2005 annual census. Previously published October 2005 figures showed that the percentage of unfilled social worker posts was 10.0% (based on the quarterly survey), but this percentage has now been revised down to 9.5% - a downward revision of 0.5 percentage points.

8.11 The revised quarterly Social Worker vacancy series has been produced by using the vacancy rates provided in each of the quarterly surveys, but applying these to the revised estimated staffing levels for each of the quarters (based on the differencing technique summarised in paragraphs 8.8 and 8.9 above). This estimating technique will continue to be used until October 2006 annual and quarterly figures become available.

Changes Over Time

8.12 As a result of changes in the classifications used on census forms, breakdowns into different activities, locations or staff groups are not always strictly comparable across years.

8.13 It should also be noted that different local authorities may classify staff differently, according to the way work is organised in their area. Social workers, for example, may be classified either under generic provision, or by the nature or location of their work (adult services, children's services etc.). In addition, an increase in care management services has resulted in many staff previously designated as social workers or occupational therapists being assigned to care manager roles.

Whole Time Equivalent ( WTE)

8.14 Whole Time Equivalent ( WTE), where used, is an addition of i) the number of full-time staff, and ii) the total number of hours worked by all the part-time staff in a week, divided by the number of hours considered to be the standard full-time week for a member of staff in each category. It should be borne in mind that WTE figures may be calculated using different weekly hours in different categories and also between councils. This can have the effect of WTE figures being slightly higher in councils who have reduced their standard full-time working week, but the number of part-time hours worked remains the same.

8.15 WTE figures have been rounded independently. As a result, WTE totals in tables may not equal the sum of the categories shown.

Type of Activity/Location

8.16 The following terms are used in the tables:

Staff Groups

8.17 The following terms are used in the tables:

Additional Analyses

8.18 Additional analyses are available on request.

9. Resources

9.1 For historical statistics and background information on Staff of Scottish Social Work Services, please see the previous publications:

Scottish social work employee statistics 2001 http://www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/bulletins/00197-00.asp

Scottish social work employee statistics 2002 http://www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/bulletins/00273-00.asp

Scottish social work employee statistics 2003 http://www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/bulletins/00355-00.asp

Staff of Scottish Local Authority Social Work Services 2004 (published 23rd June 2005) http://www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/bulletins/00420

9.2 The information in this News Release was obtained from the statistical return. The attached link gives details of the statistics collected from each local authority:

Requested data: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/16135/SocWorkA05form

Guidance notes: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/16135/SocWorkA05notes

10. General

10.1 This is a National Statistics publication. National Statistics are produced to high professional standards set out in the National Statistics Code of Practice. They undergo regular quality assurance reviews to ensure that they meet customer needs. They are produced free from any political interference.

10.2 Public enquiries ( non-media) about the information contained in this News Release should be addressed to Sharon Meighan, Children, Young People and Social Care Statistics, Scottish Executive Education Department, Area 1-B(S), Victoria Quay, Edinburgh, EH6 6QQ (telephone 0131 244 0311 or e-mail sharon.meighan@scotland.gsi.gov.uk).

10.3 Media enquiries about the information in this Statistics Publication Notice should be addressed to Vikki Quinn on 0131 244 2560.

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