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20 years of the Scottish Social Services Council

Get involved : SSSC 20 Years toolkit


We’re celebrating the professionalism, values and commitment of the social work, social care and early years workforce to mark 20 years of the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) and the introduction of registration and regulation.

Get involved to let people know why you’re proud to be SSSC registered or employ registered staff and what it means for you, the services you provide and the people you support.

Key messages for #SSSC20Years

  • It’s 20 years since the Scottish Social Services Council was established by the 2001 Regulation of Care Act, bringing in professional regulation and registration.
  • We’ve registered more than 160,000 people working in social work, social care and early years. That’s around 78% of the 209,000 people employed by the sector in Scotland.
  • Registered workers uphold the values and behaviours in the SSSC Codes of Practice meaning people using services can rely on a trusted, skilled and confident workforce.
  • We set the standards and benchmark qualifications to make sure workers have the skills, knowledge and expertise needed to deliver the best care. Registered workers need to hold, or be working towards, a relevant qualification.
  • Our work means people using services, their families and carers can have confidence in the care provided to them by SSSC registered workers.

What are we doing?

We’re planning a range of activities over the coming year including:

  • sharing stories from workers about the difference SSSC registration makes to them and the care they provide
  • hearing from key stakeholders and partners what they think the impact of SSSC registration is for services and people using services
  • asking services and registered workers to share why they are proud to be SSSC registered
  • sharing what we’ve done over the last 20 years to help people using services have confidence in care
  • ideas services can use for 20 themed celebrations.

We’ll publish our first stories in October, with more to follow in later months.

How you can get involved

Share your thoughts on what SSSC registration means to you and the people you support and why you’re proud to be part of a professional registered workforce.

Or you could hold a 20 themed event to celebrate being SSSC registered and part of a trusted, skilled and confident workforce. The 20 year anniversary is china, so why not hold a china tea party with your colleagues or people using your service.

Share a photo, video or a post on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Use the hashtag #SSSC20Years so we can see them.

Tools to help you

Print the #SSSC20Years posters to use in your photos.

Find 20 ideas for 20 years to celebrate in your service.

Use the hashtag: #SSSC20Years

Share the social media images to let people know your staff are registered

What difference will it make?

Sharing why you’re proud to be SSSC registered shows how it helps make sure services are delivered by a trusted, skilled and confident workforce and provides confidence in care.

This helps the public recognise you are part of a registered, professional workforce with skills and qualifications so they will value social work, social care and early years more.

Talking about SSSC registration will help encourage more people to consider a career in social work, social care and early years as part of a professional workforce with access to training, qualifications and career paths.

Letting people who already use or are considering using your services know that staff are registered and regulated gives the public confidence in the skills and values of the staff and the quality of the service. More and more people want the assurance that this provides.