Scotland to examine England’s split of adults’ and children’s services

The Scottish executive’s 21st century review of social
work is to examine whether the English model of splitting up social
services departments into separate children’s and
adults’ organisations would be viable in Scotland,
writes Derren Hayes in Dunbalne.

Speaking to Community Care at the Community Care
Providers Scotland conference in Dunblane this week, review lead
William Roe said it was on his agenda to look at recent changes in
the English system to see if they could work in Scotland.

This will include looking at children’s trusts – where
social care and education services work in one organisation –
and how the NHS and social services can work more closely, as has
happened with some Primary Care Trusts in England.

In many English authorities, social services directors are being
replaced by two directors with separate statutory responsibilities
for adults and children’s services, and Roe said the role of
Scottish chief social services officers would also be reviewed by
his inquiry.

“This is certainly an area we will be looking at –
we are not assuming the patterns we have now are the right ones for
the next 20 years.

“People are not anxious about doing things differently and
when you hear the radical ideas coming out of the conference it
shows ministers were right to do a fundamental review rather than a
minor one,” he added.