Scottish Government

Staff of Scottish Local Authority Social Work Services, 2002

2. Summary

• There were 36,415 Whole Time Equivalent (WTE) staff employed by Scottish Local Authority Social Work Services in October 2002. This represented an increase of 5% from the 2001 total ( table 1).

• The 36,415 WTE staff in October 2002 corresponded to 7.1 staff per 1,000 population. The number of staff per 1,000 population was highest in the island councils (16.3 in Orkney Islands, 14.7 in Eilean Siar and 12.5 in Shetland Islands), and lowest in Dumfries and Galloway (3.9), Perth & Kinross (4.4) and East Dunbartonshire (5.0) ( table 2).

• Thirty percent of staff employed by Scottish Local Authority Social Work Services in October 2002 were domiciliary staff (mainly home carers) and just over one quarter were fieldwork staff. A further 16% worked in residential establishments for adults and 10% were located in day centres for adults ( table 3).

• Almost two thirds of staff (64%) provided services for adults, a further 16% provided services for children and 4% provided services for offenders. Nine percent of staff were attributed to generic provision, providing services for more than one client group ( table 4).

• The majority (85%) of all staff in 2002 were female. This proportion was highest for staff providing services for adults, where 90% were female, and lowest for staff providing services for offenders (59%) ( table 4).

• There were a reported 2,861 vacancies in Scottish Local Authority Social Work Services in October 2002. Of these, 564 were for qualified social workers ( table 10).