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In October 1998, the total whole time equivalent (WTE) number of staff employed by Scottish Local Authority Social Work Departments was 35,197. The actual number of individual Full and Part Time staff employed was about 47,700. (Tables 1, 2 & 3)
Overall, Scottish Local Authority Social Work Departments employed 6.9 staff (WTE) per thousand population in Scotland. Of the mainland authorities, Dundee City employed the highest rate of Social Work Staff per thousand population in 1998 (8.9), and East Dunbartonshire the lowest (4.5). There were a number of joint arrangements notified, whereby Social Work activity in one Council would be undertaken by staff of another Council or another Department of the ‘home’ Council. (Tables 4 & 11)
Since 1979, the WTE number of staff employed rose steadily, from less than 30,000 in 1979 and 1980 to a peak of over 39,000 in 1994 and 1995. Since 1995, the WTE number employed has fallen by an average of 3.4% each year to its 1998 level of about 35,000. (Figure 1, Tables 1 & 2). In 1997 and 1998, some services were known to be the subject of joint arrangements between Councils and some contracted-out to private contractors. Summary details of such arrangements as were notified during the 1998 census exercise are given in table 11.
Staff (WTE) in service areas/divisions made up 53% of the total staff (WTE) employed in 1998, with more than half of these being Home Care staff. Staff in Residential Establishments represented 22% of the total and staff in Day Centres 11%. (Table 3, Figure 2).
There were 18,500 (WTE) staff involved in the care (including residential and day care) of adults in 1998, compared with 4,500 involved in the care of children and 7,100 in generic provision. 26% of those involved with children were Social Workers, compared with 4% of those involved with adults and 11% of those involved in generic provision (Tables 5,6 & 7)
The ratio of Social Workers (including Assistants & Trainees) to Directors/Managers/Team leaders/Senior Social Workers was 1.8:1 in 1998, compared with 2.3:1 in 1996 and 2.4:1 in 1993 (Table 8, Figure 3).
There were nearly 19,000 people employed as Home Care staff in 1998, with a Whole Time Equivalent of 10,500. This compares with 11,000 (WTE) in 1997 and 12,000 in 1996 (Tables 3 & 9). Some Home Care services in some areas may be contracted out.
The number of staff in Residential Care Homes was at its highest in 1992 (at over 12,000 WTE) and has seen an average annual reduction of approximately 7% since then. In 1998, the WTE number had fallen to about 7,800 , about 19% lower than in 1980. The numbers (WTE) of both Day Care staff and Home Care staff were at their highest in 1996. While both have since fallen by between 13 and 14 percent, they both remain higher than 1980 levels. (Table 1)
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