Welcome to issue 26 of the Voluntary Sector Social Services Workforce Unit's e-bulletin.
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Linda Hamilton
Unit Administrator
vswu.admin@ccpscotland.org
Content
The Workforce Unit, in partnership with Learning Network Tayforth, will be running two full-day events to support the implementation of the Continuous Learning Framework.
The events are aimed at social service managers registered or due to register with the SSSC. They will support managers in planning how to meet the Post Registration and Training Requirements (PRTL) for them and their team.
The events are being held in Stirling on 13 March and Dundee on 16 March.
More information is available on the Workforce Unit website.
The Workforce Development Network will be running two half-day events on Re-tendering and the Workforce and Required Registration. The events will be held in Stirling on 20 March and Aberdeen on 24 March.
The Re-tendering and the Workforce session will highlight key findings from research commissioned by the Workforce Unit and look at what lesssons can be learned from recent re-tendering exercises.
After a recent consultation, the Scottish Government is expected to announce new legislation that will, in effect, make registration with the SSSC compulsory within given time scales. Cheryl Campbell and Claire Ramage from the SSSC will talk through the new required registration arrangements and answer any questions.
To book a place, email your name and contact details to Linda Hamilton at vswu.admin@ccpscotland.org or telephone 01786 849 752 for more information.
The Association of Directors of Social Work are holding a one day seminar on 25 March 2009 at the Apex City Quay Hotel, Dundee. This seminar is entitled Developing a Workforce Fit for Purpose and is of particular relevance to frontline, middle and senior managers, staffing and HR professionals.
The purpose of the event is to:
Further details and a booking form are available from the ADSW website.
The ADSW Annual Conference and Exhibition 2009 will be held on Wednesday 13 to Friday 15 May 2009 in the Crieff Hydro Hotel.
2009 marks the 40th anniversary of ADSW and the implementation of the Social Work Scotland Act. In this year of celebration the conference will focus on the positive by exploring the theme: Getting it Right - including:
Further details and a booking form are also available from the ADSW website.
The next steps in the development of social services leadership communities are now happening.
The communities are open to anyone from any sector, organisation and level in the social services workforce.
They are for you if you want to talk to other interested folk about what works and what doesn't, or you have ideas on how we can make things better for service users.
Leadership Communities are led by local people working in social services in their area that want to make a difference, and are supported by Scottish Government, the Changing Lives Leadership Group and the Learning Networks.
West of Scotland Leadership Community
The next session of the West of Scotland Leadership Community is happening on 25 March, 10am - 2pm, at the Scottish Youth Theatre, Brunswick Street, Glasgow.
The session is limited to 40 places, which will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. Register your place with Caty McColgan at caty.mccolgan@westlearn.org.uk
South-East Leadership Forum
The next session of the South East Leadership Forum (SELF) is on 26th March, 10am – 2pm, at the Melting Pot, 5 Rose Street, Edinburgh.
The session is limited to 30 places, which will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. Register your place with Beth Nuttall at beth.nuttall@ed.ac.uk
The organisers of both events want people to come along that are genuinely interested in making some new connections and getting involved with the community for the long term. So if that's you, book a place now.
If you want to discuss Leadership Communities generally, or if you have any comments or queries, just get in touch with Linda Anne Smith, who is managing this project for Scottish Government. You can telephone her on 07921 216562 or email linda@smithsquared.co.uk
Scotland's Chief Statistician has published Care Homes, Scotland 2008. This statistical release presents information on care homes for adults in Scotland. Some of the notable statistics included in the report are:
New guidance has just been published on the role of the Chief Social Work Officer (CSWO), this is one of the key products from the Changing Lives review.
In its response to the consultation on the guidance, the Workforce Unit suggested that the responsibility that the Chief Social Worker has for commissioned services ( and therefore the commissioned workforce) should be made explicit. The Workforce Unit also strongly suggested that the Chief Social Work Officer should have an important role to play in securing funding for training for the whole of the social service workforce within their authority area.
The National Strategy for the development of the Social Service Workforce in Scotland - A Plan for Action 2005-10 states that commissioning agencies and service providers should work towards identifying 3% of service costs as a commitment to staff learning and development, however many organisations feel that the commissioning processes drive down costs, often at the expense of workforce development budgets.
The Workforce Unit is disappointed that the new guidance does not address these issues directly.
A copy of the guidance is now available on the Social Work Scotland website.
Skills for Scotland was launched in 2007 with three major areas in which the government wanted to effect change. These were:
Significant progress has been made in these areas since the launch and the Skills for Scotland update provides details of this progress. The update is now available on the Scottish Government website.
The latest e-Bulletin from the SSSC is now available.
A copy can be downloaded from the SSSC website.
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