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The chair of the 21st Century Review of Social Work in Scotland has said excessive paperwork is restricting the autonomy of front-line social workers.

Specialist public sector management consultant Willy Roe, who is heading the review for the Scottish executive, said burdensome bureaucracy tended to exist in “systems where there isn’t a lot of trust”.

Roe said the bureaucracy is used to control the actions of people. But he said the way to overcome it was “by empowering people at the front line to take more responsibility and account for their decisions.”

But writing in the review’s May newsletter, North Ayrshire social work director Bernadette Docherty, who chairs the review’s social worker subgroup, said some paperwork while “onerous” was “absolutely necessary” and that most form-filling was in response to government requirements for information.