Section 1 - Objectives
What are the objectives of the policy, strategy or service?
The objective of this policy is to establish an executive agency to meet Recommendation 45 of the Independent Review of Adult Social Care (IRASC): ‘Establishing a national organisation for training, development, recruitment and retention for adult social care support, including a specific Social Work Agency for oversight of professional development.’
The Care Reform (Scotland) Act 2025, through an amendment to the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968, requires Scottish Ministers to designate a member of their staff as a National Chief Social Work Adviser. It further states that Scottish Ministers should organise other members of their staff into a National Social Work Agency (NSWA) to support the National Chief Social Work Adviser. A five-case business model was developed. The outcome of analysis of the business case was that the NSWA be established as a new public body in the form of an executive agency. Establishing an executive agency does not require legislation.
Currently, the Scottish Government sets the overall strategic framework for social work delivery. There is no single national body which has oversight and leads social workers’ professional development, education, improvement, data and workforce planning. Terms and conditions are set by individual employers. The majority of frontline social workers (6,095)1 are employed by local authorities, resulting in local variations in pay and grading. This makes it difficult to report on and plan the social work workforce.
What are the intended impacts/ outcomes and how do these potentially differ across the islands?
The NSWA will enable the sector to work collectively to address current recruitment and retention issues; improve leadership and professional development opportunities; improve consistency in service delivery.
The desired outcome of this policy is to raise the profile and invest in the social work workforce to enable social workers to practice more effectively, particularly around relationship building and strength-based approaches. This will ensure better outcomes for the people they work with. The NSWA will affect the entire social work workforce in a positive manner. The NSWA effects are anticipated to be consistent across island communities. Under the NSWA, local communities will continue to have oversight of the workforce. This will be enhanced through better data, intelligence and greater efficiency. Island communities, therefore, are expected to benefit from this policy.