Chapter 2 Context
Introduction
The inspection of Clackmannanshire social work services took place between November 2007 and March 2008. Our inspection team consisted of SWIA inspectors, sessional inspectors, an associate inspector and a carer inspector. For the second time, as a pilot exercise, SWIA also involved young people as lay inspectors. The young people led focus groups with young people who had received throughcare and aftercare services and young people who had been accommodated. They also led the interview with the Children's Rights Officer.
During the inspection we read a wide selection of material about the local authority and the social work services it provided or commissioned. We analysed questionnaires received from staff, adults who use services, carers and stakeholders. Together with some staff from Clackmannanshire social work services we spent four days examining case files. The team then spent a further two weeks in Clackmannanshire looking at services as part of a fieldwork exercise.
During fieldwork, we spoke to people who used services, their carers and people who were responsible for delivering or arranging services. We met representatives from a range of organisations and groups as well as elected members and other stakeholders. We also visited places providing social work services and people's homes when they received services there. As a result, we collected an extensive range of evidence that informed the content, evaluation and recommendations contained in this report.
This report is not a detailed description of all the social work services in Clackmannanshire. It gives an overview and concentrates on the work being undertaken with people who need assistance and the areas where improvements are needed. It does not duplicate the inspection of services which are regulated by the Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care (Care Commission) and Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education ( HMIe). In order to achieve this, the Care Commission and HMIe provided us with information about their inspection reports of Clackmannanshire Council.
Area profile
Clackmannanshire is the smallest mainland authority in Scotland with a population of 49,900 living in a number of towns and villages and covers 159 square kilometres. Geographically, Clackmannanshire has the second smallest land area in Scotland. The population density is 315 people per square kilometre. Clackmannanshire shares its borders with Stirling, Falkirk, Fife and Perth & Kinross. The 2006 Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation ( SIMD) identifies 14.1% of Clackmannanshire's population as living in 10% of the most deprived council wards in Scotland. The number of severely deprived areas within Clackmannanshire has been increasing and a high proportion of its area is now among the most deprived in the country. The population of Clackmannanshire has increased by 3.0% since 2000, while overall Scotland's population has increased by 0.06%. 1
From the 2004-based population projections, the population of Clackmannanshire is due to increase by 0.8% by 2014 and decrease by 1.4% by 2024. The equivalent Scotland figures show an increase of 0.9% by 2014 and an increase of 0.8% by 2024. 2
In Clackmannanshire, 62.5% of the population is of working age. This compares with the Scottish figure of 62.7%. The dominant employment sectors are Public Administration, Education, Health and other services. 3 The working age population of Clackmannanshire is due to decrease by 4.4% by 2014 and 6.9% by 2024. The equivalent Scotland figures project a decrease of 0.8% by 2014 and 1.0% by 2024.
The claimant count unemployment rate in Clackmannanshire is 3.2% which compares with the Scottish average of 2.6%. 3
The percentage of Clackmannanshire's population under the age of 16 is 19.1% which compares with Scotland's figure of 17.8%. 1 Clackmannanshire's under 16 population is due to decrease by 8.2% by 2014 and 13.9% by 2024. The equivalent Scotland figures show a decrease of 9.7% by 2014 and 12.4% by 2024. 2
Just over 18% of the population is of pensionable age (the Scottish figure is 19.5%). 1 This is due to increase by 28.5% by 2014 and 31.5% by 2024. The equivalent Scotland figures project an increase of 16.8% by 2014 and 19.3% by 2024. More specifically, Clackmannanshire's 75 and older population is due to increase by 30.6% by 2014 and 87.4% by 2024. The equivalent Scotland figures show an increase of 18.8% by 2014 and 53.3% by 2024. 2
For older people's services, Clackmannanshire Council spent £1,611 gross, per adult aged 65 and older in 2006-07 which was similar to the Scotland figure of £1,614. 4
Clackmannanshire Council spent £561 gross, on each child (aged below 18 years) for children's social work services in 2006-07. This was slightly less than the figure for Scotland as a whole (£608) but an increase from the previous year.
For adult care services, Clackmannanshire Council spent £507 gross on each adult (aged 18 and older) in 2006-07. 5
Organisation of social work services
Clackmannanshire Council's social work services sat within the integrated department of Services to People. Services to People also included Housing Services, Education and Schools, Community and Cultural Services and Sport and Leisure Services. The three main objectives of the Services to People department were to:
1. Support individuals by enriching their life experience thereby aiding them to realise their full potential.
2. Promote individual well-being by tackling inequality, lessening hardship and providing care to those who need it.
3. Provide environments that enhance the strength of and increase the feeling of safety in local communities.
The Head of Social Services was also the Chief Social Work Officer ( CSWO) The post managed seven service managers within Social Services, covering the following areas:
- Child Care Service
- Adult Assessment (Care Management Services)
- Older People's Services
- Integrated Mental Health Services
- Adult Day Services
- Social Work Training
- Criminal Justice Social Work.
There was also a team of policy, contracts and service development officers to support frontline social work services.
Appendix 4 contains a diagram of Clackmannanshire Council management structure and Social Services staffing structure.
Political structure
Clackmannanshire consisted of five wards, each represented by three or four elected members. The political representation consisted of the following:
Scottish Labour | 8 |
Scottish National Party | 7 |
Scottish Conservative | 1 |
Scottish independent | 1 |
Scottish Liberal Democrat | 1 |
Inspection methodology and process
The structure of this report is based on the SWIA performance inspection model, which asks six key questions.
1. What key outcomes have we achieved?
2. What impact have we had on people who use services and other stakeholders?
3. How good is our delivery of key processes?
4. How good is our management?
5. How good is our leadership?
6. What is our capacity for improvement?
The following chapters address each of these questions in turn.
A more detailed description of the inspection methodology and the way we carried out our inspection are included in Appendix 3.
Other inspections
Audit Scotland published The Audit of Best Value and Community Planning report (Audit Scotland report) September 2007. 6 This was the first report on Best Value completed on Clackmannanshire Council. The report identified a number of successful service achievements but stressed the need to place the highest priority on more joint working, sharing management and service delivery arrangements with others.
Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education ( HMIe) joint inspection of services to protect children and young people in Clackmannanshire Council ( HMIe report) was published February 2008. 7 The report identified areas of strength. These included the range of support provided by services to children and families, efforts to obtain help for children and their families and the promotion of children's rights and entitlements by the council's Children's Rights Service. It also found a number of areas where the authority and its partners had to improve their practice and partnership working. HMIe inspectors were not confident that all children at risk of harm, abuse or neglect and in need of protection were being identified early enough to receive the help and support needed.
Care Commission reports on the fostering and adoption services in Clackmannanshire were published 19 November 2007. 8 These outlined a range of requirements and recommendations that Clackmannanshire had to implement in order to improve services.
The Social Work Inspection Agency ( SWIA) completed a multi-agency inspection on older people services ( MAISOP) looking at collaborative working across services for older people in Forth Valley January 2008. 9 Clackmannanshire performed well in this report. Whilst the report made Forth Valley-wide recommendations there were none specific to Clackmannanshire to action.
We did not look at criminal justice services, as SWIA had completed an inspection of criminal justice services in Clackmannanshire as part of the Forth Valley Partnership in June 2006. 10