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The passing of the first 1,000 days of the Scottish parliament last month was described by the Conservatives as "1,000 days of spin" and by the Scottish National Party as "a job half-done". However, first minister Jack McConnell met this criticism by pledging that his Scottish executive would "do less but do it better".

Less and better is all very well but something really has to be done about social work. With the rest of the UK raising the profile of the profession and introducing degree level qualifications, Scotland has been dragging its feet.

With the 2003 Scottish parliament elections in sight, the SNP announced that children would be at the centre of its campaign. SNP leader John Swinney exposed the shortage of social workers and the impact that this was having on children's services.

Social work usually fares no better in the Scottish press than elsewhere. But even the media have begun to see that there is a crisis in the sector. The Sunday Herald recently carried the headline and strap: "Revealed: how the system is failing social workers ... and our children - 80 per cent of all social work teams say they need more staff and vital resources".

With prevention a key policy area in children's services, this issue revealed the chasm that has to be bridged. Irene McGugan, the SNP deputy minister for children and a former social worker, dismissed as "empty rhetoric" the executive's claims to have children at the heart of policy. "It is only testimony to the hard work of social workers that we don't have more headlines about children suffering and dying because there aren't enough staff to intervene in their lives."

Last week, Cathy Jamieson, the minister for education and young people, earmarked time for a debate on social care workforce development. The minister, also a former social worker, launched an "action plan for social workers". This plan outlines the immediate and short-term measures to be taken, including a campaign to raise awareness and tackle recruitment, the introduction of an honours degree in social work and investment of £3.5m for training and support of front-line staff.

Successive MSPs in the debate chided the executive for taking so long to act but spoke with understanding of the significance of social work. Conservative Ben Wallace said that social work "doesn't get the profile it deserves". Labour's Trish Godman hit the nail on the head when she pointed out why social work lacks status: "We have no minister for social work and no relevant committee".

There seemed to be cross-party support for generic training and for rewarding those social workers who want to remain at the front line rather than move into management. The profession has been given a shot in the arm and at least the hope of recovery.

Shona Main is the parliamentary officer for the Association of Directors of Social Work.