Aberdeen City Council Pledges To Improve Social Work Services

Aberdeen City Council has vowed to work in partnership to drive up performance in its social work services.

Senior officers will work with staff, elected members and partners, including the Social Work Inspection Agency (SWIA), to improve service delivery.

The promise follows publication of SWIA’s Aberdeen City Council Performance Inspection Report, which found that long-standing difficulties need to be addressed.

The report, which covers all aspects of social work services, evaluated three areas as adequate, five areas as weak and two as unsatisfactory, including leadership and the management of resources. Some strengths were acknowledged.

The report contains 23 recommendations, including a need for better management of resources, strengthening leadership, improving outcomes for those who use services, and addressing staff morale.

The inspection was carried out between August 2007 and December 2007.

Strengths included:

    * survey results which showed people using services think they are treated with dignity and respect;
    * a clear vision for health and care services, with an increasing focus on developing a performance management culture;
    * good employment opportunities for people with learning disabilities, and positive outcomes for young offenders and young people leaving care.

Areas for improvement included:

    * budgetary control, service planning and targeting of services;
    * assessing and meeting the needs of those needing services, including any risks they may face;
    * very low staff morale;
    * weak leadership on the part of elected members and senior officers.

The performance inspection incorporated a follow-up inspection of Aberdeen City Council’s criminal justice social work services, originally carried out in 2006. Inspectors reported that improvement in this area was slow, managers continued to exercise insufficient quality control of the service and noted some deterioration in performance in key areas of service delivery.

SWIA chief inspector Alexis Jay said: “Significant improvement is needed to ensure a better response to all those people who rely on these services for support and help in their daily living.

“Inspectors noted that there were plans in place to tackle these difficulties. However, at the time of inspection, it was too early to see evidence of the required changes. We acknowledge that the council is trying to change its services and we will now work with managers and elected members to agree an action plan in response to all the recommendations within the report.”

Aberdeen City Council chief social work officer Sandra Power said: “We are scrutinising the recommendations and findings of the report. 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.

“SWIA says we treat people with dignity and respect. The report says there are services which are working well, including the Youth Justice Service, the Community Learning Disability team, the Joint Child Protection team and the Young Carers project team.

“The report also acknowledges that managers have a clear vision of the quality of service we need to provide. However, there is still work to be done but we are confident we are on the road to improvement.

“Officers will be working closely with our staff, elected members and partners, including SWIA, to review service delivery and develop plans to ensure the best possible services for the citizens who need them.

“Our staff have a critical role to play in this journey and we are absolutely determined work with them to improve our services.

“We recognise the hard work and dedication of all of our staff who continue to deliver vital services to the most vulnerable people in our community.”