Introduction
We are a Scottish Government non-departmental public body, sponsored by the Children’s Rights, Protection and Justice unit at the Children and Families Directorate and set up under the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001.
The SSSC Council oversees our work. Read more about our Council and committees.
We have three directorates:
- Regulation
- Strategy and Business Services
- Workforce, Education and Standards.
Find out more about our Leadership team.
Accountability
We aim to work to the highest standards of integrity in the public interest. Our Code of Corporate Governance ensures that we achieve this.
The framework we operate in means that we:
- are focused on outcomes
- work in clearly defined roles
- promote values for the whole organisation and demonstrate good governance through behaviour
- take informed and transparent decisions which are subject to scrutiny
- engage with stakeholders to make sure we are accountable.
The SSSC has a corporate governance framework which includes:
- SSSC Assurance Map.
You can read our published reports and reports submitted to Council.
Performance management and scrutiny
The Audit and Assurance Committee meet quarterly to review the assurance report and report to Council. This report contains:
- strategic key performance indicator information
- financial monitoring information
- strategic risk information.
The Audit and Assurance Committee reports to Council. You can read their reports in our Council meeting papers, where you will also find the SSSC Assurance Map.
Procurement
As an NDPB we contribute to the Scottish Government’s National Outcome of ensuring public services are high quality, continually improving, efficient and responsive to local people’s needs and procurement has a significant role to play in achieving this.
Equality and diversity
We are committed to valuing diversity and improving opportunity for all. We are responsible for registering people who work in social services and regulating their education and training.
Our vision is of a competent, confident workforce, capable of delivering high quality services, a workforce that has the confidence of the public, those who use services and their carers. We aim to put people who use services and carers at the centre of everything we do.
Our legal framework
The SSSC was set up by an Act of Parliament which is the overall framework legislation. This is supported by Statutory Instruments (a type of secondary legislation) that set out the details behind the policy and law.
We then have a third step which are sets of Rules with the practical detail to help us carry out our functions.
The Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001 (RoCA)
This is the original legislation that set up the SSSC as an organisation and outlines the things that we must do. You can read the RoCA here(Opens new window).
Statutory Instruments (SIs) relating to the SSSC
You can find these on the legislation.gov.uk website(Opens new window)and others relating to our 2024 changes to registration here(Opens new window).
Rules
We have two sets of Rules, the Registration Rules 2025 and the Combined Fitness to Practise Rules 2021.
Our Rules are updated from time to time to reflect changes to the SIs and policy changes set and agreed by the SSSC’s Council and you can find earlier versions of the Rules here.
Combined Fitness to Practise Rules 2021
The Fitness to Practise Rules set out the requirements and processes for fitness to practise.
Registration Rules 2025
The Registration Rules 2025 set out a range of requirements for registration.
These include the following.
- The qualifications that people need to register with the SSSC.
- The courses and specialist qualifications we have approved and accept for the different parts of the Register.
- Timescales for achieving the qualification for registration for those joining the Register who don’t already hold it.
- The requirements for continuous professional learning (CPL) including setting any mandatory training for all registrants or for those in specific roles.
- Return to practice (RtP) requirements for social workers who have not been registered for two years or more.