Professional social work advice

Professional social work advisers are responsible for providing impartial expert social work advice to: 

• Scottish Ministers 
• policy teams within the Scottish Government 

Their advice relates to developing policy and implementing practice that affects people across various settings. This includes: 

• children and their families 
• young people 
• adults  

Settings include: 

• social care 
• mental health 
• justice 
• homes 
• prisons 
• hospitals 
• schools 
• all settings that include social workers 

Professional social work advisers 

The professional social work advisers in the Scottish Government are registered social workers. They have experience of managing or delivering social work in local areas.  

Many have specialist knowledge, including: 

• adoption and kinship services
• adult support and protection 
• child protection 
• community justice 
• community mental health and other services 
• forensic mental health 
• supporting people affected by alcohol and drug use and their recovery 

We also have social workers leading the National Social Work Agency teams and supporting local social work leaders and teams with specialist training.