« Previous | Contents | Next »
Listen
Introduction and Main Findings
Scotland's Chief Statistician today published the Staff of Scottish Local Authority Social Work Services, 2008. This publication contains statistics obtained from the staffing census held across all local authorities on 06 October 2008. 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.
The main findings are:
- There were 44,219 whole time equivalent ( WTE) staff employed by Scottish Local Authority Social Services in October 2008. This represents a 0.1% decrease compared with October 2007 ( Table 1).
- The 44,219 WTE staff in October 2008 corresponded to 8.6 staff per 1,000 population. The number of staff per 1,000 population was highest in the island councils (25.8 in Shetland Islands, 18.4 in Orkney Islands and 17.5 in Eilean Siar), and lowest in Clackmannanshire (5.4) and in Stirling and East Dunbartonshire (both 5.7). ( Table 2)
- In October 2008, 72.9% of social work services staff (with a known age) were at least 40 years old. In addition, of those staff whose age was known, 3.3% were under 25 years of age. ( Table 4).
- The majority (84.8%) of all staff in 2008 were female. This proportion was highest for staff providing services for adults (not separately identifiable), where 92.3% were female, and lowest for staff providing services for offenders (64.3%). ( Table 5).
- Of the 44,219 WTE staff, 5,072 WTE staff were qualified social workers. This represents a 1.7% increase in the WTE for qualified social workers compared with October 2007 ( Annex A Table 7).
- Thirty per cent of staff employed by Scottish Local Authority Social Work Services in October 2008 were domiciliary staff (mainly home carers) and 27.4% were fieldwork staff. A further 15.0% worked in residential establishments for adults and 9.2% were located in day care centres for adults. ( Table 11).
- It is estimated that there were 2,806 WTE vacancies in Scottish Local Authority Social Work Services in October 2008 (see paragraphs 8.2 and 8.3). This represents 7.9% of posts as at October 2008. ( Table 19).
- Of the estimated 2,806 WTE vacancies, 384 WTE vacancies were for qualified social workers. This represents 7.0% of all social worker posts that were vacant as at October 2008. ( Table 21).
All Staff in Scottish Local Authority Social Work Services
1.1 There were 56,881 staff employed by Scottish Local Authority Social Work Services in October 2008. This comprised 26,132 full-time staff and a further 30,749 staff who were employed on a part-time basis. The whole time equivalent ( WTE) number of staff was 44,219 (see Background Notes, paragraph 10.15). ( Table 1).
1.2 The 44,219 WTE staff in October 2008 corresponded to 8.6 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 (25.8 in Shetland Islands, 18.4 in Orkney Islands and 17.5 in Eilean Siar), and lowest in Clackmannanshire (5.4) and in Stirling and East Dunbartonshire (both 5.7). ( Table 2)
ETHNICITY AND DISABILITY
2.1 Just over one per cent of all staff are reported as being from an ethnic minority group in 2008. However, 18.3% of all staff had a not known/disclosed ethnic group. ( Table 3).
2.2 Just under two per cent of all staff are declared as having a disability in October 2008. However, 22.3% of all staff had a not known/disclosed disability status. ( Table 3.)
Staff Numbers by Age Group
3.1 In October 2008, of those staff whose age was known, 72.9% of social work services staff were at least 40 years old. In addition, 3.3% were under 25 years of age. ( Table 4).
3.2 Analysis of the different age groups (whose age was known) by client group shows that the highest percentage of staff aged under 25 worked in the 'management/administration' group (6.6%), whilst the lowest percentage worked with 'adults with physical disabilities' (1.2%). The highest percentage of staff aged 40 or over worked with 'Adults (not separately identified)' (78.6%), while the lowest percentage worked in 'management/administration' (62.8%). ( Table 7).
3.3 A similar analysis by staff group revealed that the highest percentage of staff aged under 25 (whose age was known) were 'Support Staff' (7.7%), whilst 'Senior Managers, etc.' had the lowest percentage (0.1%). The highest percentage of staff aged 40 or over were 'Senior Managers, etc.' (86.7%) whilst 'Trainee Social Workers' had the lowest proportion (37.3%). ( Table 10).
3.4 Looking at the percentage in the different age groups (whose age was known) by type of activity/location, it was found that 'Strategic/Central Staff' has the highest proportion of staff aged under 25 (6.6%) whilst 'domiciliary' had the lowest percentage of under 25 year olds (2.5%). The highest percentage of staff aged 40 or over were 'domiciliary' (79.9%) whilst 'day care staff: services for children' had the lowest percentage of staff aged 40 or over (59.7%). ( Table 13).
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 2008, 63.9% of staff provided services for adults, a further 16.7% provided services for children and 4.2% provided services for offenders. The percentage of staff who were attributed to generic provision (providing services for more than one client group) was 6.6%, and in management/administration was 8.6%. ( Table 5).
4.3 The majority (84.8%) of all staff in October 2008 were female. This proportion was highest for staff providing services for adults (not separately identifiable), where 92.3% were female, and lowest for staff providing services for offenders (64.3%) ( Table 5).
4.4 The 28,259 staff ( WTE) who provided services for adults corresponded to 6.9 per 1,000 population aged 18 and over. The 7,398 staff ( WTE) who provided services for children corresponded to 7.1 staff per 1,000 population aged under 18 ( Table 6).
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 10.23 for further details on the staff groups used.
5.2 In October 2008, 28.2% of staff ( WTE) were home care staff and managers, and 19.5% were support staff. Just under 12% of all staff were residential managers & qualified care staff and social workers accounted for a further 11.5% of all staff. ( Table 8).
5.3 The highest proportion of female staff were found to be Home Care Staff and Managers (95.8%) and the lowest in Senior Managers, etc. (62.8%) ( 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 10.22).
6.2 Thirty per cent of staff employed by Scottish Local Authority Social Work Services in October 2008 were domiciliary staff (mainly home carers) and 27.4% were fieldwork staff. A further 15.0% worked in residential establishments for adults and 9.2% were located in day care centres for adults ( Table 11).
6.3 The highest proportion of female staff were found to work in the 'Domiciliary' location (95.3%) and the lowest in the 'Criminal Justice' location (64.3%) ( Table 11).
Staff Numbers by qualifications held and in progress
7.1 This section provides information on the qualifications held and being worked towards by staff group. See Background Notes, paragraph 10.24 for further details on the qualification codes used.
7.2 Information on qualifications held and in progress by staff was first introduced in the October 2005 Census, and has been collected each year since then. However, completion of this information by a number of local authorities continues to cause some difficulty. As a result, as last year, a qualification matrix of staff group by qualification held/in progress has been produced but no analysis has been done. Please note that there is a high percentage of "Qualifications- Not Known" which is likely to be having an impact on the true number of qualifications held or being worked towards by staff. ( Annex C - Table 1 and Annex C - Table 2).
Vacancies in Scottish Local Authority Social Work Services
8.1 Vacancy figures exclude home care staff, due to the different employment conditions which apply for such staff in many local authorities. Therefore, all the vacancy tables show vacancies and vacancy rates excluding home care staff.
8.2 Due to various reasons a number of local authorities were unable to provide vacancy information in the October 2008 Census. These were Dundee City, Dumfries and Galloway, East Lothian, City of Edinburgh, Glasgow City, Midlothian and West Dunbartonshire.
8.3 In order to produce an estimate for the total number of vacancies in Scottish Local Authority Social Work Services, the latest vacancy information we had available for these non-providing local authorities has been used. However, as these local authorities combined have historically made up a large proportion of the total number of vacancies (approximately one quarter of all vacancies in the past few years), then the total number of vacancies should be seen as an estimate as it is subject to a high degree of uncertainty (see Background Note 10.5).
8.4 There were an estimated 2,806 WTE vacancies in Scottish Local Authority Social Work Services in October 2008. This represents 7.9% of all social work services posts as at October 2008. ( Table 19)
8.5 Vacancy rates were highest in North Lanarkshire who reported 13.3% of their posts being vacant and lowest in West Lothian where only 0.2% of posts were reported as being vacant. ( Table 19)
8.6 In terms of client groups, vacancy rates were highest for staff providing services to people with mental health problems (18.1%) and lowest for those providing generic services (6.1%). ( Annex A - Table 6)
8.7 Of the estimated 2,806 WTE vacancies, 384 WTE vacancies were for qualified social workers. The proportion of all social worker posts that were vacant was 7.0%. ( Table 21)
8.8 Looking at type of activity/location, vacancy rates were highest amongst Strategic/Central services staff (10.3%) and lowest amongst Day Care Staff: Children Services (3.2%). ( Table 22).
STAFF FLOWS
9.1 Information on staff who join, staff who leave, and staff who have moved post category within social work services according to the 'snapshots' taken on 1 October 2007 and 6 October 2008 was collected for the second time in this year's census. As this was only the second year of collection several local authorities were still unable to provide some or all of the data requested (see Background Note Paragraph 10.10).
9.2 Based on the data received, 59% of all staff who were no longer in the post category they were reported as having in the October 2007 Census had an unknown leaving destination reported, whilst 24% were reported as going to another social work services related job. A further 4% were reported as going to an unemployment situation (including family commitments), whilst a further 6% were reported as going to a non social work services job. The remaining 7% were reported as having a leaving destination of "Other". ( Chart 1)
The category "Other" comprises the sub categories further/higher education, to abroad, self employment and other destinations.
9.3 Based on the data received, 33% of all staff who were no longer in the post category they were reported as having in the October 2007 Census had an unknown reason for leaving. Twenty-four percent were reported as leaving because they resigned, whilst 20% left to move to a new post. A further 11% were recorded with a reason for leaving as "retired", and 12% had a reason of "Other". ( Chart 2)
The category "Retirement" comprises the sub categories career completion, medically retired and early retirement. The category "Other" comprises the sub categories family commitments, to study, redundancy, dismissal, death and other reasons.
« Previous | Contents | Next »