News

Adult services could become the poor relation of children's services in Scotland if the two are split, the new president of the Association of Directors of Social Work warned in her inaugural speech to the annual conference in Crieff, Perth and Kinross, last week.

Alexis Jay said concerns in England that the impending split would set back initiatives in training and regulation could also be played out in Scotland.

Backing the fundamental review of social work announced by education and young people's minister Peter Peacock, Jay said she believed it would be a "catalyst for change" (news, page 14, 13 May).


In a meeting with social work directors and chief social work officers at the ADSW conference, Peacock said the review would focus on moving the profession forward rather than stigmatising or blaming it for service failures.

Peacock told delegates: "There are searching questions to ask about the task of social work 30 years after social work departments were established. We need to recognise the profession's good work as well as address any deficiencies."

Peacock is expected to outline his plans for the review to parliament by the summer.


Jay welcomed the plans for a more systematic and rigorous inspection of social work services, but said there was also an urgent need to reinforce social work as an essential public service with its own distinctive professional contribution. To retain staff, departments needed to offer continuous professional development, coaching and mentoring, she added.

But she warned that recruitment should not be a competition between the community care, criminal justice and children's sectors, or between the statutory and voluntary sectors.