The Scottish Government

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Letter issued on consultation on guidance on the role of the Chief Social Work Officer

I am writing to seek your views on the attached guidance document on the role of the Chief Social Work Officer.

Background

Changing Lives, the Report of the 21st Century Social Work Review, set out a vision for the future for social work services in Scotland. A key recommendation was the need for a new organisational approach to managing risk, which ensures the delivery of safe, effective and innovative practice in social work services. In particular, Changing Lives recommended a strengthening of the governance and leadership roles of the Chief Social Work Officer as contained within Section 3 of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968.

The guidance has been drafted by the Changing Lives Practice Governance Group, which is one of the five change groups that were set up following the publication of Changing Lives. The Group is chaired by Andrew Lowe, Director of Social Work at the Scottish Borders Council, and includes a number of senior figures from the social work sector, supported by Scottish Government officials. In drafting the guidance, the Practice Governance Group has worked closely with key stakeholders and the attached document has been agreed with ADSW, COSLA, SOLACE and representatives of NHS CHCP Directors.

The guidance on the role of the Chief Social Work Officer:

(a) will assist local authorities in the discharge of their social work responsibilities;

(b) will help local authorities maximise the added value of the Chief Social Work Officer - both at a corporate and professional level;

(c) acknowledges that local authorities operate with very different management and organisational structures

(d) provides advice on how best to locate the Chief Social Work Officer role within operational structures to maximise its effectiveness;

(e) is sufficiently generic to remain relevant in the event of future management or organisational structural change.

The purpose of this consultation is to seek your views on the guidance document.

The consultation period starts on September 26, 2008, and will run for 12 weeks. The deadline for responses is December 19, 2008.

Following the end of the consultation period, and subject to the views of respondents to this consultation, the guidance will be finalised and distributed to key stakeholders.

Consultation paper and consultation list

The consultation paper is attached, along with a list of consultees. We have tried to cover all relevant interests but if you feel another party would benefit from seeing this consultation, please pass on a copy.

This consultation, and all other Scottish Government consultation exercises, can be viewed online on the consultation web pages of the Scottish Government website at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/consultations.

Responding to this consultation paper

I invite written responses to this consultation paper by December 19, 2008. Please send your response to:

gwen.smith@scotland.gsi.gov.uk or

Gwen Smith
Scottish Government
2-C North
Victoria Quay
Edinburgh
EH6 6QQ

Handling your response

We need to know how you wish your response to be handled and, in particular, whether you are happy for your response to be made public. Please complete and return the attached Respondent Information Form as this will ensure that we will treat your response appropriately. If you ask for your response not to be published we will regard it as confidential and we will handle it accordingly.

All respondents should be aware that the Scottish Government is subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 and would therefore have to consider any request made under the Act for information relating to responses to this consultation exercise.

Where respondents have given permission for their response to be made public, copies will be made available to the public in the Scottish Government library and on the Scottish Government web pages. Where agreement to publish has been given, we will check all responses for any potentially defamatory material before logging them in the library or placing them on the website.

What happens next?

Following the closing date, all responses will be analysed and considered along with any other evidence to help finalise the guidance. We aim to issue a report on this consultation process by the end of January 2009.

Comments and complaints

If you have any comments about how this consultation exercise has been conducted, please send them to me at the address above.

Yours sincerely,

Gwen Smith
Workforce & Capacity Issues
Children, Young People & Social Care

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