Talks Held On Critical Aberdeen Social Work Report

Ministers have requested a meeting with senior figures in Aberdeen City Council’s social work department after a critical report by inspectors.

Morale in the council was “very low”, and managers and councillors were not showing strong leadership, the Social Work Inspection Agency (SWIA) said.

The Scottish Government said talks would be held on how the council planned to address the criticisms.

The council said it was “confident it was on the road to improvement”.

The social work department was classed as “weak” on five categories and “unsatisfactory” in another two – leadership and resources.

The report said health and care services had “long-standing difficulties”.

“Outcomes for people with learning disabilities receiving employment opportunities, young offenders, and in some areas for young people receiving care were positive,” it said.

“However most other areas were weak.

“Staff morale was very low and staff did not feel part of the change processes that were in place.”

The report said councillors were not always well-informed about the challenges facing services, leadership was weak, and there was a “lack of clarity about the role of chief social work officer”.

And the council’s criminal justice social work services had not done enough, or acted quickly enough, to tackle weaknesses identified in an earlier SWIA inspection.

“It therefore remained vulnerable to falling into crisis once again,” said the report, which urged action as “a matter of urgency”.

‘Good range’

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “SWIA’s findings are clearly very concerning, especially given the vital role played by social work services in supporting the most vulnerable members of our communities.

“Ministers have written to Aberdeen City Council to make this clear and to request a meeting with senior officers to discuss how they plan to address these criticisms.”

Sandra Power, the council’s chief social work officer, said: “Aberdeen City Council was already aware of the issues raised and has been developing plans to address them.

“The report recognises that the majority of our service users agreed we have a good range of services and that they are involved in the decisions that affect them.

“However, there is still work to be done but we are confident we are on the road to improvement.”

The SWIA findings come after another critical report on the council by the Accounts Commission.

The commission’s report warned the city had “extremely serious” problems with finances, management and services, and called for an organisational overhaul.