Welcome and introduction to the event

1. Overview
Alan Baird, Chief Social Work Adviser

2. Alan Baird – Chief Social Work Adviser
“@cswa_alanbaird

3. Social Services In Scotland
• Build a more cohesive and
professional sector
• Vision for sustainable social services
• Identify areas for further action
• Written by the sector for the sector
• For staff at all levels across the sector
A Shared Vision and Strategy 2015-2020

4. National Strategic Forum

5. VISION
Our vision is of a socially just Scotland with excellent social services delivered by a
skilled and valued workforce which works with others to empower, support and protect
people.

6. Vision and Strategy 4 Strands
Workforce
• How do we value, inspire and strengthen our
workforce?
Performance
• How do we know our social services are
performing well?
Research
• How do we better use evidence to inform
and improve practice?
Promoting public understanding
• How do we improve public understanding
and confidence in the sector?

7. The View from Here - Hearing from the
Workforce
• This workforce matters
• Valuing the workforce
• Gives frontline practitioners a voice
• Better informed about challenges
• Collates perspectives from across sectors,
organisations and roles.
• Sector understands itself better
• A baseline to compare over time
• Comparison with other sectors
• Informs the implementation of the Strategy
for Social Services

8. Engaging with Frontline Staff
• 2014 – 6 Practitioner Events
• 2015 – 5 Practitioner Events (Edinburgh,
Glasgow, Stirling, Inverness, Dundee)
• 500 participants. 2 Ministers. 1 Cabinet
Secretary
• Summary Report of key messages
• Support Worker Reference Groups –
Scottish Care / CCPS
• Occupational Therapist Events February
2016

9. What motivates the workforce?
• Making a difference to someone’s life
• Helping individuals reach their potential
• Feeling valued, being recognised
• The variety and diversity of work
• Finding creative and innovative solutions
• Being part of a motivated team
• Working with other agencies
• Managing my own workload. Autonomy
• Working in an ethical environment. Working
towards social justice
“Working with children & families - hilariously
unpredictable”

10. Messages from the Frontline
• Time for learning and reflecting in practice
• Better career pathways and induction
• More consistency on supervision
• Protected caseloads for NQSWs
• Too much admin at expense of client time
• Legislation adding to complexity rather than
reducing
• Effective leadership at all levels – “back to the
floor” for leaders?
• Public expectations increasing while resources
reduce
• Pay variations affecting retention