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towards the tenements of Leith. Many of the problems that social workers have to deal with are experienced daily in this part of the city. But the people of Leith have also benefited from improvements in social welfare and advances in tackling the inequities created by social exclusion.

The ADSW approach to influencing progress in child protection and mental health will, according to MacAulay, be consistent with the association's goal to promote social welfare and social inclusion and the interests of those who use social work services. "We'll continue to use the same routes to influence the development of legislation that have proved successful in the past, lobbying the Scottish executive and other politicians, and giving evidence to inform the development of bills."


This approach has had recent notable successes. "We were able to influence the final form of the Mental Health Act. Initial drafts proposed that mental health officers should move out of the control of local authorities. But, after consultation with ADSW members and through representations to the Millan committee which reviewed the previous legislation, we were able to ensure that this idea was rejected."

Free personal care is another area where MacAulay believes the ADSW has used its influence. "That was a good example of how the ADSW works at national and local levels. If it hadn't been involved through its lead officers and network of members, the Scottish executive would not have introduced free personal care nationally and it could not have been delivered locally."

One project in which the ADSW shows a more reflective mood is "Re-imagining Social Work", an attempt to focus away from the negative headlines that tend to dominate people's view of social work. The work is carried out with Pat Kane, a former member of Scottish band Hue and Cry who now runs an organisation called The Play Ethic which challenges perceptions of the puritan work ethic. MacAulay says: "We want to reclaim social work and offer a much broader view that includes the many positive and successful aspects of the profession and the services we provide."

The consultation process with ADSW members over a draft report from the project will be launched at the conference. Kane will help lead workshops on the project before the document is distributed for wider consultation.

Also likely to appear high up the conference agenda is the nascent modernisation road map for social care. "We are at a very early stage in discussions but from what we have heard so far the ADSW believes that social workers in Scotland will take on board the issues and move reforms ahead."

Doubtless, MacAulay has a challenging term of office ahead of him. He may be able to call on the wit and humour that his stand-up comedian brother, Fred, brings to TV and radio. But whatever the future holds it is unlikely that MacAulay's presidency will be a quiet spell in the development of social work in Scotland. CC Directors and senior managers of social work in Scotland arriving at Dunblane this week for the annual Association of Directors of Social Work conference may be in combative mood. And criminal justice is the subject that stirs immense passion among members.

During the Scottish parliamentary election campaign, Labour promoted its plans for a Correctional Service for Scotland to direct policy on crime. Perhaps more controversial was the proposal for parental orders to punish parents for the repeated crimes of their children. The ADSW and Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (Cosla) have in recent weeks signalled their strong opposition to these measures (news, page 6, 15 May). Now that Labour has been returned to power at Holyrood, albeit in coalition with the Liberal Democrats, it seems likely that the plans will go ahead.

For Duncan MacAulay, however, who is taking over as ADSW president from Jim Dickie, the association's negotiations with the Scottish executive over these issues and others on the social care agenda will be characterised by a consistent approach. "Regardless of what the ADSW and its members feel about these issues, we want to continue to try to work in partnership with the Scottish executive and local authorities to achieve the best possible outcomes for people in Scotland," MacAulay says.

This does not mean being soft on the Scottish executive. MacAulay recognises there is a tough debate to be had soon over criminal justice policy.

"The whole debate raises significant issues for the ADSW," says MacAulay. "For example, if jail sentences for parents of persistently offending children are introduced what will happen to the child? Potentially it could mean that more children would need to be taken into care. It's doubtful that that would achieve much."

In the past 18 months the ADSW has been exploring different methods of working with young people who persistently offend. "During the last parliament, the Scottish executive put up money to develop alternative approaches to dealing with youth crime," says MacAulay. "Some promising initiatives are being piloted. In Falkirk Barnardo's has been working with young offenders, and other projects have been examining what expertise from the adult criminal justice world could be brought to bear on youth crime. We need the opportunity to find out whether these and other approaches can work."

It is a subject on which MacAulay can claim long-standing experience. His first job was working with "maladjusted" children, as they were known in the mid-1970s. It helped him "stumble into social work", as he puts it. "It wasn't a clear, thought-out career path for me," he says. "I just felt I wanted to be involved in helping people to develop and grow from the situations they found themselves in."


He studied for a formal social work qualification and became a generic field worker with Lothian region. Since 1981, he has worked in a series of management positions, from residential care adviser to assistant principal officer running residential care units. In 1996, when Lothian region was succeeded by Edinburgh Council in council reforms, he became head of operations for social work, and will combine that role with the ADSW presidency.

His reputation as something of a pioneer goes before him. In 1981 he helped a group of people with learning difficulties to set up the first self-advocacy group of its type in the UK. The group has progressed to become People First (Scotland). And in the late 1990s he acted as an adviser, on a voluntary basis, helping to guide child care developments in Moscow.

But his focus this week will be conference reaction, particularly to the anti-crime initiatives - the proposed Correctional Service for Scotland being just one - that have drawn so much scepticism from ADSW members. Although the full detail of the proposals has yet to emerge, the Labour election manifesto described a "single agencyÉ staffed by professionals and covering prison and community-based sentences to maximise the impact of punishment, rehabilitation and protection offered by our justice system".

Several organisations are lining up with the ADSW, including Cosla and Solace (Scotland) - the Scottish branch of the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives and Senior Managers - to oppose any bill that contains provision for such a service.

Criminal justice is, however, only one topic that MacAulay believes will occupy ADSW members' minds over the next 12 months. Sitting in Shrubhill House, the site of his office in Edinburgh social work department's headquarters, he identifies child protection and implementation of the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 as two topics that will figure prominently. His office looks out towards the tenements of Leith. Many of the problems that social workers have to deal with are experienced daily in this part of the city. But the people of Leith have also benefited from improvements in social welfare and advances in tackling the inequities created by social exclusion.

The ADSW approach to influencing progress in child protection and mental health will, according to MacAulay, be consistent with the association's goal to promote social welfare and social inclusion and the interests of those who use social work services. "We'll continue to use the same routes to influence the development of legislation that have proved successful in the past, lobbying the Scottish executive and other politicians, and giving evidence to inform the development of bills."

This approach has had recent notable successes. "We were able to influence the final form of the Mental Health Act. Initial drafts proposed that mental health officers should move out of the control of local authorities. But, after consultation with ADSW members and through representations to the Millan committee which reviewed the previous legislation, we were able to ensure that this idea was rejected."

Free personal care is another area where MacAulay believes the ADSW has used its influence. "That was a good example of how the ADSW works at national and local levels. If it hadn't been involved through its lead officers and network of members, the Scottish executive would not have introduced free personal care nationally and it could not have been delivered locally."

One project in which the ADSW shows a more reflective mood is "Re-imagining Social Work", an attempt to focus away from the negative headlines that tend to dominate people's view of social work. The work is carried out with Pat Kane, a former member of Scottish band Hue and Cry who now runs an organisation called The Play Ethic which challenges perceptions of the puritan work ethic. MacAulay says: "We want to reclaim social work and offer a much broader view that includes the many positive and successful aspects of the profession and the services we provide."

The consultation process with ADSW members over a draft report from the project will be launched at the conference. Kane will help lead workshops on the project before the document is distributed for wider consultation.

Also likely to appear high up the conference agenda is the nascent modernisation road map for social care. "We are at a very early stage in discussions but from what we have heard so far the ADSW believes that social workers in Scotland will take on board the issues and move reforms ahead."

Doubtless, MacAulay has a challenging term of office ahead of him. He may be able to call on the wit and humour that his stand-up comedian brother, Fred, brings to TV and radio. But whatever the future holds it is unlikely that MacAulay's presidency will be a quiet spell in the development of social work in Scotland.