On 15 July 2024 we notified all local authorities and health and social care partnerships across Scotland of our intention to undertake a national thematic review of social work governance and assurance arrangements.
The review is being carried out between July and December 2024 and a national report will be published in March 2025. The legislative basis for the review is S.53 of the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010.
Through the review we will answer these questions.
How well do social work governance and assurance arrangements support leaders to:
- Ensure statutory duties are carried out safely and effectively?
- Enable social work staff to be supported, accountable and effective in their practice?
- Assist social work staff to uphold core social work values?
We will span all areas of statutory social work including adults, children and justice social work services and will cover all local authority areas in Scotland.
The review will include: a review of documents, a national staff survey, interviews with key leaders from across Scotland and a range of focus groups with middle and senior managers.
Review timeline
More information about the review can be found in the following links: