We play a key role in supporting workforce planning and development for the social service sector in Scotland.

We do this by:

• registering social service workers
• providing official statistics on the social service workforce in Scotland to help organisations use the data to plan their workforce
• setting standards for practice, conduct, training and qualifications and supporting professional development
• providing information on career pathways which show the diverse range of career opportunities available and highlights the potential for a long term social service career
• publishing resources, like the Right values, right people toolkit to support employers and workers to adopt values-based approaches to recruitment.

We are also working with a range of partners to support the implementation of actions to support the Scottish Government’s National Workforce Plan for Health and Social Care.

Workforce planning and development is essential to make sure social services deliver high quality outcomes for the people who use them and having a skilled, confident and flexible workforce is a key part of delivering improved outcomes and performance in services.