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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 02 October 2006. 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.
Please note that there was a change made in the way staff were recorded in the October 2006 Census to eliminate double counting of staff who were not actually working on the census day ( e.g. on maternity leave) and those staff who were covering for the absent member of staff. Therefore, no comparisons have been made with previous years as a result of the change in this counting methodolody. (see Background Notes, paragraph 9.5).
Headline messages are:
- There were 41,343 whole time equivalent ( WTE) staff employed by Scottish Local Authority Social Services in October 2006. ( Table 1).
- The 41,343 WTE staff in October 2006 corresponded to 8.1 staff per 1,000 population. The number of staff per 1,000 population was highest in the island councils (23.2 in Shetland Islands, 17.8 in Orkney Islands and 17.1 in Eilean Siar), and lowest in Moray (5.2), Falkirk (5.2) and Clackmannanshire (5.3). ( Table 2)
- Just under 1% of all staff are reported as being from an ethnic minority group and under 2% declared having a disability in 2006. However, 24% of all staff had a not known/disclosed ethnic group and 23% had a not known/disclosed disability. ( Table 3).
- In October 2006, 71.1% of social work services staff (with a known age) were at least 40 years old. In addition, 3.5% were aged under 25 years of age. ( Table 4).
- The majority (84.3%) of all staff in 2006 were female. This proportion was highest for staff providing services for adults, where 88.3% were female, and lowest for staff providing services for offenders (63.4%). ( Table 5).
- Just under 30% of staff employed by Scottish Local Authority Social Work Services in October 2006 were fieldwork staff and 26.6% were domiciliary staff (mainly home carers). A further 15.5% worked in residential establishments for adults and 9.5% were located in day care centres for adults. ( Table 12).
- There were 3,007 WTE vacancies in Scottish Local Authority Social Work Services in October 2006. This represents 8.6% of all posts that were vacant as at October 2006. ( Table 15).
- Of the 3,007 WTE vacancies, 400 WTE vacancies were for qualified social workers. The proportion of all social worker posts that were vacant was 7.5. ( Annex A - Table 6).
All Staff in Scottish Local Authority Social Work Services
1.1 Please note that there was a change made in the way staff were recorded in the October 2006 Census to eliminate double counting of staff who were not actually working on the census day ( e.g. on maternity leave) and those staff who were covering for the absent member of staff. Therefore, no comparisons have been made with previous years as a result of the change in this counting methodolody. (see Background Notes, paragraph 9.5).
1.2 There were 53,776 staff employed by Scottish Local Authority Social Work Services in October 2006. This comprised 25,433 full-time staff and a further 28,343 staff who were employed on a part-time basis. The whole time equivalent ( WTE) number of staff was 41,343 (see Background Notes, paragraph 9.13). ( Table 1).
1.3 The 41,343 WTE staff in October 2006 corresponded to 8.1 staff per 1,000 population. 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 local authorities and other organisations. The number of staff per 1,000 population was highest in the island councils (23.2 in Shetland Islands, 17.8 in Orkney Islands and 17.1 in Eilean Siar), and lowest in Moray (5.2), Falkirk (5.2) and Clackmannanshire (5.3). ( Table 2).
ETHNICITY AND DISABILITY
2.1 Please note that some local authorities were unable to supply us with this data and so information reported in this section is based on those local authorities who were able to provide it.
2.2 Just under 1% of all staff are reported as being from an ethnic minority group in 2006. However, 24% of all staff had a not known/disclosed ethnic group. ( Table 3).
2.3 Just under 2% of all staff declared having a disability in October 2006. However, 23% of all staff had an unknown disability status. ( Table 3.)
Staff Numbers by Age Group
3.1 In October 2006, of those staff whose age was known, 71.1% of social work services staff were at least 40 years ( Table 4). Three and half per cent were aged under 25 years of age.
3.2 Analysis of the different age groups by client group shows that the highest percentage of staff aged under 25 (whose age was known) worked in the management/admin group (6.4%), whilst the lowest percentage worked with 'adults (not separately identified)' (2.4%). The highest percentage of staff aged 40 or over worked with 'adults (not separately identified)' (76.9%), while the lowest percentage worked with children (62.3%). ( Table 7).
3.3 A similar analysis by staff group revealed that highest percentage of staff aged under 25 (whose age was known) were 'Support Staff' (7.9%), whilst 'Senior Managers, etc.' had the lowest percentage (0.4%). The highest percentage of staff aged 40 or over were 'Senior Managers, etc.' (86.7%) whilst 'Trainee Social Workers' had the lowest proportion (26.3%). ( Table 10).
3.4 Looking at the percentage in the different age groups (where age was known) by type of activity/location, it can be seen that 'day care staff: services for children' has the highest proportion of staff aged under 25 (6.7%) whilst 'domiciliary' had the lowest percentage of under 25 year olds (2.3%). The highest percentage of staff aged 40 or over were 'domiciliary' (78.6%) whilst 'day care staff: services for children' had the lowest percentage of staff aged 40 or over (53.8%). ( Table 14).
NUMBERS AND WTE by Client Group
4.1 This section provides information on the number of staff and WTE staff by client group. Information on the gender of staff is also provided.
4.2 In October 2006, 61.7% of staff provided services for adults, a further 17.2% provided services for children and 4.1% provided services for offenders. Just over 8% of staff were attributed to generic provision, providing services for more than one client group ( Table 5).
4.3 The majority (84.3%) of all staff in October 2006 were female. This proportion was highest for staff providing services for adults where 88.3% were female, and lowest for staff providing services for offenders (63.4%) ( Table 5).
4.4 The 25,510 staff ( WTE) who provided services for adults corresponded to 6.3 per 1,000 population aged 18 and over ( Table 6). This proportion was highest for the island authorities (24.4 in Shetland, 19.4 in Eilean Siar and 17.2 in Orkney), and lowest for Glasgow City (3.6). There were 6.8 staff per 1,000 population aged under 18 providing services for children, although this rate varied from 2.6 in Eilean Siar to 12.0 in City of Edinburgh.
Numbers and WTE by Staff Group
5.1 This section provides information on the number of staff and WTE staff by staff group. See Background Notes, paragraph 9.16 for further details on the staff groups used.
5.2 In October 2006, just under one quarter of staff ( WTE) were home care staff and managers, and 20.8% were support staff. Just over 12% of all staff were residential managers & qualified care staff and social workers accounted for a further 12% of all staff ( Table 8).
5.3 The highest proportion of female staff were found to be Home Care Staff and Managers (96.2%) and the lowest in Senior Managers, etc. (62.9%) ( Table 8).
NUMBERS AND WTE by Type of Activity/Location
6.1 This section provides information on the number ( WTE) of staff by type of activity/location (see Background Notes, paragraph 9.15).
6.2 Just under 30% of staff employed by Scottish Local Authority Social Work Services in October 2006 were fieldwork staff and 26.6% were domiciliary staff (mainly home carers). A further 15.5% worked in residential establishments for adults and 9.5% were located in day care centres for adults ( Table 12).
6.3 The highest proportion of female staff were found to work in the 'Domiciliary' location (95.7%) and the lowest in the 'Criminal Justice' location (63.4%) ( Table 12).
Staff Numbers by qualifications held and in progress
7.1 Information on qualifications held and in progress by staff was first introduced in the October 2005 Census, and was collected again in October 2006. However, data supplied by local authorities continues to be well below 100%. Therefore, the qualification results must be treated with extreme caution. ( Table 11).
7.2 Of the 53,776 staff, 9% are reported as having no qualifications relevant to their current post, 24% are reported as having one qualification that is relevant to their current post, 10% are reported as having more than one qualification that is relevant to their current post, and for the remaining 57% of all staff we do not know the number of relevant qualifications they currently hold. ( Table 11).
7.3 Of the 53,776 staff, 2% are reported as not working towards any relevant qualifications, 3% are working towards at least one relevant qualification, and for the remaining 96% of all staff we do not know whether they are working towards any relevant qualifications. ( Table 11).
Vacancies in Scottish Local Authority Social Work Services
8.1 Vacancy figures exclude home care staff, given the different employment conditions which apply for such staff in many local authorities. Therefore, all the vacancy tables show vacancies and vacancy rates which exclude home care staff.
8.2 There were 3,007 WTE vacancies in Scottish Local Authority Social Work Services in October 2006. This represents 8.6% of all posts that were vacant as at October 2006. ( Table 15)
8.3 Vacancy rates were highest in Falkirk who reported 17.5% of all of their posts being vacant and lowest in East Lothian where only 1.6% of all posts were reported as being vacant. ( Table 15)
8.4 In terms of client groups, vacancy rates were highest for staff providing services to people with mental health problems (22.7%) and lowest for those providing generic services (6.8%). ( Annex A - Table 7)
8.5 Of the 3,007 WTE vacancies, 400 WTE vacancies were for qualified social workers. The proportion of all social worker posts that were vacant was 7.5%. ( Annex A - Table 6)
8.6 Looking at type of activity/location, vacancies were highest amongst Strategic/Central services staff (10.6%) and lowest amongst domiciliary staff (7.3%). ( Table 18)
BACKGROUND NOTES - Staff of Scottish Social Work Services
9. Notes and Definitions
Method of Collection
9.1 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.
9.2 Details such as 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 2006.
Organisation of Social Work Services
9.3 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
9.4 October 2006 staffing data was not provided by Dundee City Council or for children and families services in City of Edinburgh. The data they supplied for October 2005 has been used.
9.5 Major changes to both staffing and vacancy figures in October 2006 include:
The introduction of an employee status variable which was introduced to highlight those staff actually working in posts on Monday 2 nd October 2006 (including those covering an absentee) and those who were absent ( e.g. on maternity leave). This was introduced to eliminate double-counting of staff which was brought to our attention during discussions with local authorities. As a result any changes in the numbers and WTE of staff between 2006 and previous years will then be affected as a result of eliminating this double counting.
9.6 Figures from a quarterly survey on the number of filled and unfilled social worker posts for October 2006 have been previously published by the Scottish Executive. Results from these quarterly surveys showed a slightly higher number of filled social worker posts than shown in this annual (October 2006) survey (see below). Please note that previously published figures had been adjusted to take into account differences seen between the October 2005 quarterly and annual social worker surveys.
The following chart shows the scale of the difference between the previously published October 2006 and April 2007 filled social worker post figures and the revised figures:
9.7 The above chart illustrates that previously published results showed a slightly higher number of filled social worker posts in the quarterly October 2006 survey compared with those reported in this annual October 2006 census. Previously published October 2006 figures showed that the number of filled social worker posts was 4,972 WTE but this figure has now been revised down to 4,946 WTE (based on the annual survey) - a downward revision of 0.5%.
9.8 The annual October 2006 Social Worker figures are deemed to be the definitive number of social workers at this reference point. Therefore, the April 2007 figures have been revised by calculating the differences in the actual number of social workers reported in the quarterly and annual October 2006 surveys and applying these differences to the number of filled social workers posts reported in the April 2007 survey. These October 2006 differences will also be applied to future bi-annual social worker surveys to ensure they stay in line with the number reported in the October 2006 annual survey until the October 2007 annual 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:
9.9 The above chart shows that previously published data showed a lower proportion of unfilled social worker posts in the quarterly October 2006 quarterly survey compared with those now being reported in the October 2006 annual census. Previously published October 2006 figures showed that the percentage of unfilled social worker posts was 6.8% (based on the quarterly survey), but this percentage has now been revised up to 7.5% - an upward revision of 0.7 percentage points.
9.10 The revised April 2007 Social Worker vacancy results have been produced by using the vacancy rates provided in this April 2007 survey, but applying these to the revised estimated staffing levels for this period (based on the differencing technique summarised in paragraph 9.8 above). This estimating technique will continue to be used until October 2007 annual and bi-annual figures become available.
Changes Over Time
9.11 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.
9.12 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)
9.13 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 local authorities. This can have the effect of WTE figures being slightly higher in local authorities who have reduced their standard full-time working week, but the number of part-time hours worked remains the same.
9.14 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
9.15 The following terms are used in the tables:
Strategic/ Central Staff | Staff with a strategic and/or central role, including senior management, administrators and support staff; |
Criminal Justice Staff | All staff providing services for offenders, regardless of location; |
Fieldwork Staff | Fieldwork staff in divisional and area offices; |
Residential Staff: Services for Children | Staff based in residential establishments for children ( e.g. local authority children's homes and residential nurseries); |
Residential Staff: Services for Adults | Staff based in residential establishments which are not primarily for children. This covers local authority homes for older people (including sheltered housing) and residential establishments for other client groups ( e.g. people with learning disabilities); |
Day Centre Staff: Services for Children | Staff based in day care establishments for children. This includes local authority children's centres, family centres, day nurseries and playgroups, together with any childminders or day carers regularly employed by the local authority; |
Day Centre Staff: Services for Adults | Staff based in day care establishments which are not primarily for children. This includes staff in adult training centres, day centres for people with learning or physical disabilities, and day centres for older people; |
Domiciliary Staff | Home care staff and managers, and other domiciliary staff ( e.g. community alarms staff and respite staff); |
Staff on Secondment | Staff who, on 3 October (in years prior to 2006), were on full time secondment for professional training or to the Scottish Executive, Health Boards or other organisations. |
Staff Groups
9.16 The following terms are used in the tables:
Senior Managers, etc | Directors/Heads of Service, Service Managers, Other Senior Staff, Area Managers, Team Leaders/Managers, Planning, Commissioning and Contracting Staff, Registration/Inspection Officers; |
Social Workers | Senior Social Workers and Main Grade Social Workers; |
Other Qualified Fieldwork Staff | Care Managers, Senior Occupational Therapists, Occupational Therapists, Welfare Rights Officers, Community Service Staff, Supervised Attendance Staff, Other Qualified Fieldwork Staff; |
Fieldwork Assistants | Social Work Assistants and Occupational Therapy Assistants; |
Home Care Staff & Managers | Home Care Managers, Assistant Home Care Managers/Supervisors, Home Care Staff; |
Other Domiciliary Staff | Sheltered Housing Wardens, Community Alarms Staff, Respite Staff; |
Day Care - Managers & Qualified Care Staff | Unit Managers, Assistant Unit Managers, Other Qualified Care Staff; |
Day Care - Care Staff | Care Staff; |
Residential - Managers & Qualified Care Staff | Unit Managers, Assistant Unit Managers, Residential Resource Workers, Other Qualified Care Staff; |
Residential - Care Staff | Care Staff; |
Support Staff | Research & Information Officers, Human Resources Staff, Finance Staff, Ancillary Staff, Support Services; |
Secondments | Full-time Secondments (in years before 2006); |
| Trainee Social Workers | Including Fast Trackers and on the job trainees. |
Additional Analyses
9.17 Additional analyses are available on request.
10. Resources
10.1 For historical statistics and background information on Staff of Scottish Social Work Services, please see the previous publications:
Staff of Scottish Local Authority Social Work Services 2001
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/bulletins/00197-00.asp
Staff of Scottish Local Authority Social Work Services 2002
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/bulletins/00273-00.asp
Staff of Scottish Local Authority Social Work Services 2003
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/bulletins/00355-00.asp
Staff of Scottish Local Authority Social Work Services 2004
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/bulletins/00420
Staff of Scottish Local Authority Social Work Services 2005
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/bulletins/00511
10.2 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/Browse/Children/FormStaffingAnnual2006
Guidance notes: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Children/FormStaffingAnnNotes2006
11. General
11.1 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.
11.2 Public enquiries ( non-media) about the information contained in this News Release should be addressed to Gillian Miller, 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 gillian.miller2@scotland.gsi.gov.uk).
11.3 Media enquiries about the information in this Statistics Publication Notice should be addressed to Nick Murton on 0131 244 2087.
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