Sector Skills Assessment published by the SSSC

The Sector Skills Assessment for the social services sector in Scotland has been developed by the SSSC as part of Skills for Care and Development, the sector skills council for the social services sector.

The assessment examines the sector’s skills needs and outlines:

    * what is driving the skills demand
    * current skills needs
    * future trends which will have skills implications for the workforce.

The report notes that social services workforce is:

    * Growing faster than the overall Scottish workforce as a whole
    * Increasingly employed by private and voluntary sector providers
    * Characterised by a relatively low percentage of skills shortages compared to the overall workforce
    * Increasingly employed in full-time posts
    * Characterised by an older workforce profile than the Scottish workforce as a whole
    * Still predominantly female, although there has been a substantial increase in the number of male workers during the past decade
    * Becoming increasingly qualified.

Research by Skills for Care and Development in 2009/10 confirmed that the key skills needs previously identified by the sector remain relevant. Amongst others, these include:

    * Registration requirements
    * Other obligatory training demands
    * Soft skills (including interpersonal skills, teamworking skills, literacy and numeracy)
    * Service design and effective use of workforce?s skills
    * Commissioning and contracting skills / tendering skills
    * Skills in partnership working

You can download the Sector Skills Assessment (Scotland) 2010 here.
http://www.sssc.uk.com/sssc/news/sector-skills-assessment-published.html

For more information about the Sector Skills Assessment for the social service sector in Scotland contact Neil Macleod, Education and Workforce Development Adviser, at [email protected].