Scottish Government

ISBN 0 7559 1075 3 (web only publication)
This document is also available in pdf format (228k)

21C News: The newsletter of the 21st Century Social Work Review

Number One April 2005

In this issue:

Shaping the future of social work
Call for clearer identity
Your questions answered
Meeting users' needs
Diary Dates

Peter Peacock

Shaping the future of social work

IMPROVING services and support for vulnerable people is a key priority for the Scottish Executive. This is seen in the Partnership Agreement (the coalition government's programme) commitment to progress social work reform.

The social work profession is demanding and, as the needs of children, young people, adults and families become more complex, so does the task of social workers. Drug and alcohol misuse, crime, abuse, neglect, family breakdown, disability and poor physical and mental health are some of the issues that require a response from social work services.

Social work plays a critical role in delivering life-changing services. We know that we must provide a wide and flexible range of services that meet the individual, complex needs of our most vulnerable and disadvantaged children and adults. To enable us to deliver this, we need to better understand the modern day role social workers are asked to perform and be clearer about what we expect from the profession.

A key aim of the 21 ^st Century Social Work Review is to identify how best to strengthen the contribution social work can make towards a range of quality, integrated services across Scotland and to ensure that it consistently addresses improvements in service and delivery.

For staff to feel confident, they need to know what is expected of them and that the support they deliver is focused on the needs of each service user. This is why another key aim of the review is to strengthen leadership and management so that workers have a clear direction and remit.

This review aims to harness the views of anyone with an interest in social work - social care providers from both the statutory and voluntary sectors, service users, carers and those working in related areas. To help us achieve this, I have appointed onto the review group a number of independent experts from the statutory and voluntary sector with knowledge of social work, health, education and criminal justice.

The review group is currently gathering the evidence which will be used to formulate recommendations to Ministers on the future of social work services in Scotland. I look forward to this and to working with the profession to shape social work for generations to come.

Peter Peacock
Minister for Education and Young People

The 21st Century Social Work Review group, standing, l to r: Ann-Marie Rafferty, Alan Campbell, Martin Hill, Norma Graham, Deirdre Watson, Alexis Jay and Carole Wilkinson (Professional Adviser); sitting: Mary Marshall, Stephen Ebbitt, Willy Roe (Chair) and Colin Maclean. Not present: Douglas Bulloch

Profession needs clearer identity

SOCIAL WORK needs to clarify its professional identity and what it is that makes it different from other professions, according to a study commissioned by the Scottish Executive.

A literature review on The Role of the Social Worker in the 21 ^st Century was carried out by consultants Stewart Asquith, Chris Clark and Lorraine Waterhouse from Edinburgh University to support the work of the review group.

It concludes there is an urgent need for social work to strengthen its professional identity so that it can establish clear roles for individual social workers. But it must do so in light of the changing relationship between worker and client.

"What a person-centred approach means has changed over time to the point where it is no longer sufficient to consider the person in his life situation generally, but that the client or service user becomes an active participant in the process," it says.

The review claims the so-called "crisis" in social work has more to do with loss of professional identity - with a subsequent impact on recruitment and retention - than with shortages of staff and resources.

Professional identity should be based on the commonly agreed core values of social work to promote the right to individual self-determination and participation in society. It need not be bound by structures - social workers can and do work well in a variety of multi-disciplinary settings.

The review concludes that any future changes should take care not to abandon the many positive achievements of social work since the Kilbrandon Report.

"There can be little doubt that social work and social workers are very much needed in order to fulfil the function and role of supporting those who are in need, largely because of poverty, disadvantage and social exclusion," it says.

"Without the role played by social work, large sections of the population would have little protection from the negative impact of the growing social and economic inequalities which will continue to characterise life for many individuals, families and communities in the 21 ^st century."

• The Role of the Social Worker in the 21 ^st Century: A Literature Review will be available on the 21C Social Work website: www.21csocialwork.org.uk

THE WORK of the 21 ^st Century Social Work Review Group is being supported by six subgroups, each designed to focus on particular areas.

They are:

• The Role of the Social Worker Subgroup
• Stakeholder Subgroup
• Users and Carers Panel
• Performance Improvement Subgroup
• Leadership and Management Working Group
• Communications Subgroup

The Role of the Social Worker Subgroup will support the review by defining the role of the social worker, both in the present day and for 2024. This includes identifying the expectations and perceptions of service users, employers and staff, and the relationship between social workers and other professions.

The Stakeholder Subgroup brings together a range of individuals and agencies with an interest in the review, acting as a forum for ideas, views and comment. Members are encouraged to represent their interests and to consult colleagues, policy-makers and service users in their own organisation.

The Users and Carers Panel plays a key role in every stage of the review group's thinking by helping members understand what services look like from the perspective of those who use social work services.

The Performance Improvement Subgroup will support the development of a performance improvement framework for social work in local authorities to help improve service delivery and strengthen quality assurance mechanisms.

The Leadership and Management Working Group will support the review's objectives by developing a draft strategy for leadership and management across social work services in Scotland.

The Communications Subgroup supports the review's objectives with a communications strategy, enabling it to target stakeholders and to encourage them to take part in the review.

• The membership and remit of each subgroup will be posted on the 21C Social Work website

THE REVIEW'S CALL for views and comments on the future of social work services has attracted a good response with submissions from more than 80 organisations and over 50 individuals.

You can email the review group at 21csocialworkreview@scotland.gsi.gov.uk or visit the 21C Social Work website.

Your questions answered…

WILLY ROE, Chair of the 21 ^st Century Social Work Review, tackles the big questions

Willy Roe: Seize the opportunity

Why is a review of social work needed?

The Kilbrandon Report that led to the Social Work (Scotland) Act was commissioned in 1964, so it's 40 years since the fundamentals of the existing system were created. In the meantime, our society has changed out of almost all recognition.

There is also a great ambition to improve the integration of public services, and social work and its relationships with the health care, criminal justice, child protection and education systems are very important. There is no way social work could or should remain static while everything else is changing.

Who is involved in the review group?

The review group has several people who are professionally engaged in leadership and management roles in social work services. But the majority don't come from that background - they work in the NHS or the police service, one is a head teacher, several work in the voluntary sector and several wear different hats.

What is the review aiming to achieve?

We have been asked to identify what we need to do to make sure that Scotland has excellent social services for the future. Ministers want us to take a radical and long-term view and it's as broad as we want to interpret it.

Our work is designed not only to look at local authority social work services, but across the board at planning and commissioning, standard setting and quality of services - spanning the public, voluntary and independent sectors.

We're also looking at other countries in the UK and beyond to understand whether the ways we provide services in Scotland are typical or whether there are important lessons to learn from other societies.

Will it be open-minded in its approach?

Ministers have made it clear that nothing is ruled out and nothing is ruled in. It's a very open brief and we are not making any assumptions about the existing pattern of services, existing legislation or the present balance between public, voluntary and private sectors.

This is the best opportunity we are going to have in our generation to shape the pattern of social services for the next 20 years. People should seize that opportunity.

How are you engaging all the relevant stakeholders?

We are working with stakeholders in many public services - not just those people might expect like the NHS - but the schools system, Careers Scotland, the many stakeholders involved in regenerating communities, those who work in criminal justice and the voluntary and independent sectors.

A panel of users and carers is working with us at every stage, bringing us insights and challenges, and helping us understand what services look like from their perspective. We are also engaging with mainstream social workers.

The review group is only 12 people, but we intend to listen to thousands of people in the course of our work.

Are there any emerging themes?

Some very important themes are emerging. One is the future balance between prevention, early intervention and later intervention - whether in child protection, people growing up or in relation to older people or criminal justice. Is the balance of effort and money that goes into prevention broadly right or wrong?

We are also keen to understand the issues around rights and responsibilities. Is our society moving in a direction where people are able and willing to take more responsibility for their own lives and family members, or towards handing over responsibility to the state?

Then there is the trend towards personalisation of services. To what extent are services actually tailored around the needs of the user - or do we just hope that they are?

What is the process and timescale?

We expect to complete our work in the autumn of 2005. We are still very keen to hear from people with evidence and ideas - anyone can go to our website and tell us what they think.

The review group is accountable to an ad hoc committee of the Cabinet, chaired by the Education Minister, Peter Peacock, and we report to it every two or three months. Ultimately, our report will go there when we have completed our work.

WILLY ROE is Chairman of Rocket Science UK, a consulting firm specialising in public service leadership and performance improvement. He is also Chairman of Highlands and Islands Enterprise and of the Centre for Confidence and Well-being.
Willy has served as a councillor on Edinburgh District and Lothian Regional Councils, where he specialised in housing, social work and economic development. He was also founder and secretary of the Edinvar Housing Association. His previous jobs include Director of Shelter Scotland and Assistant Director of the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations.

Meeting the needs of users and carers

ONE OF THE GROUPS set up to support the review is the Users and Carers Panel. Facilitated by the Scottish Consortium for Learning Disability, it is playing an essential role in informing the review's thinking from the perspective of those who use social work services.

A recent presentation from and discussion with the panel highlighted members' different experiences of social work services and the issues that they would like to see addressed.

Throughout the presentation, the importance of early assessments and referrals and good communications between users, their carers, social workers and other service providers were at the core of many of the panel's points.

In looking at what works well, panel members said that they felt that most social workers want to do a good job, that it helps when their social workers communicate directly with them and they valued when trusting relationships are built up over time.

The panel also looked at what doesn't work well. A father of a child with disabilities said: "There needs to be a crisis before social workers can help. But so many crises could be avoided if social workers could get involved earlier."

A service user said: "Social workers should get the same pay, regardless of where they work. My social worker keeps changing because they move away to areas where the pay is more, so I keep having to tell my story over and over again to different staff."

Another service user said: "Social work departments should ensure that staff are trained to communicate using the client's preferred method of communication. There's no point in sending a social worker out to assess someone whose preferred of communication is sign language if they can't sign."

Others on the panel said they thought that staffing shortages were a problem, that it's difficult to know your rights and entitlements, and that there is a lack of suitable training to enable social workers to properly specialise in subjects such as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues, substance misuse, sensory impairment, autistic spectrum disorder and mental health.

One service user said that many people she knows find it easier to trust social workers who are based in independent organisations and that social workers should be on the side of the person or family they are working with.

Looking to the future, the panel said social workers should be recognised and valued for their work, red tape should be simplified so that it's easier to access resources such as home care and occupational therapy, and services should meet the whole needs of a person and not just their most obvious need.

The panel called for a better structure so that social workers can move from general to specialist social work, recruitment policies that allow people from minority groups and those who have used social services to become social workers and personal development plans with agreed goals for service users.

The panel concluded: "Services should fit the needs of people - people shouldn't have to fit the services. Social workers should be allowed the time to get to know their clients really well so that they really understand the different needs of each individual."

Members of the Users and Carers Panel at a meeting in Glasgow

• A full copy of the key messages from the Users and Carers Panel is available at the 21C Social Work website.

Diary Dates

Consultation Events

29 April Voluntary Organisations, Edinburgh

18 May Frontline Staff and Middle Management, Glasgow

25 May Open Event, Edinburgh

15 June Open Event, Inverness

20 June Open Event, Glasgow

• For more information about these events, Tel: 0131 244 1583 or email 21csocialworkreview@scotlandgsi.gov.uk

21C News is published by the Scottish Executive Education Department on behalf of the 21 ^st Century Social Work Review

Enquiries: 0131 244 1583 Email: 21csocialworkreview@scotland.gsi.gov.uk Website: www.21csocialwork.org.uk

Editor: David Mitchell

The views expressed in 21C News are not necessarily those of the Scottish Executive.