News

Social work inspection in Scotland entered a new era last week with the official launch of the Social Work Inspection Agency (Swia).

Since being established in April, the independent inspectorate, which replaces the Scottish executive-led Social Work Services Inspectorate, has been working with councils and other public sector inspection agencies such as Audit Scotland to create a framework for assessing the quality of social work services.

Driven by the high profile failures in the Borders and Edinburgh’s Caleb Ness abuse cases, it will be the first formal, regular system of inspection by an external agency to be established in Scottish social work.

Its biggest task in its first year will be to embed this system into the way social work departments go about their business. Swia will trial the system in Angus, Fife and South Lanarkshire, and one of the key questions that will emerge is the amount of professionals’ time and councils’ resources that need to be spent on it.

Alistair Gaw, Swia’s deputy chief inspector, says it has been “working hard” to minimise the burden of inspection.

“One of our key principles is to make the best use of information already available from other inspectorates and surveys – we won’t be asking for additional reports. We will put a lot of emphasis on the reading and the analytical process so we have the fullest picture in advance.”

He envisages the whole process lasting six months, two weeks of which will be field work.

“There will be case file analysis and we will put a high value on face-to-face contact. We’ll speak to service users, carers, front-line social workers and strategic managers.”

He expects the inspectors – some of whom will be lay people – to analyse random case files from several different client groups. 

“We’d rather place emphasis on face-to-face contact and the case file analysis rather than filling in lots of templates and questionnaires,” Gaw says. And to help further reduce the administrative burden, the inspectorate’s annual report – which required departments to submit a self-assessment – has been scrapped.

There have also been concerns the greater focus on performance by the new system could create a blame culture, similar to England’s where the introduction of star ratings has coincided with a shortening of tenure for social services directors.

Gaw understands directors’ “anxieties” but says Swia aims to move away from the blame culture and work with them to improve. But he adds it has given a commitment to come to an overall assessment of departments’ abilities.

“We won’t express that through star ratings but it could be through a narrative or on a scale of one to four.”

A final decision on this is yet to be made, he adds. Whatever is decided, it is sure to be another tough issue for directors to grapple with.

LIGHT TOUCH OR HEAVY HAND

• "It needs to be a positive experience for those taking part and not over-emphasise the negative. If it gets bogged down in negativity it will be very difficult [for services] to become stronger."
  Ruth Stark, professional officer, British Association of Social Workers Scotland
• "There is a concern that if it isn't got right - which has happened before - it could lead to more of a focus on having files up to date and keeping paperwork in place rather than allowing professionals to focus on their job and improving services for clients."
  Stephen Smellie, chair of social work issues group, Unison Scotland
• "If criticism is constructive then we'd welcome it and not hide from it. As it stands at the moment I don't think it would result in a shortening of directors' tenure."
  Eric Jackson, chair of social work committee, Convention of Scottish Local Authorities