Name: Mike Docherty

Organisation: Scottish Social Services Council

Job title: Workforce Intelligence Manager

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How long have you worked at the SSSC/When did you start?

Eighteen and a half years, as I started in January 2003.

How have things changed over the last 20 years for you in the SSSC?

When I joined, I think there were fewer than 40 staff in the SSSC but since then the organisation’s workforce has increased about over seven-fold. There was just the one building and now there are two.

Are there any significant moments you remember?

Publication of the first national workforce data report in 2010 (see below too) – this was an SSSC publication and marked the completion of the journey beginning in 2003 to develop a comprehensive system for collecting and publishing data on all parts of the sector’s workforce not just local authorities. For the first time it gave us accurate information on the numbers working in the sector.

How have things changed over the last 20 years for the sector?

When I started in 2003, I was asked to work in the area of workforce data and at that point no-one knew how many people worked in the social service sector. The only workforce data collected and published was by the then Scottish Executive and it only covered staff working in local authority social work services. That data had been published for 20 or 30 years but there was no data available on the numbers employed by voluntary organisations or private sector companies that provided care services. From within a month or two of joining the SSSC I was working closely with colleagues in the then Chief Social Work Inspector’s office (within the Scottish Executive) and colleagues in the Care Inspectorate. Together we devised complementary systems for gathering data across the whole sector and agreed what data should be in the collections. We devised data standards to make sure the two separate collections could be compared meaningfully. We then carried out a consultation with the sector, holding a range of events, to further refine the processes and undertook a pilot collection in 2007. The collection in 2008 was the first one to be published, which we did in 2010.

Successful workforce planning is dependent in part on having a good understanding of the workforce. Before the comprehensive collection and publication of data no-one had a clear understanding of the numbers of staff in the sector. This created major difficulties for any form of national, regional or local workforce planning. While individual employers had data on their own workforce and data on local authority social work services was available, the majority of staff worked in the private and voluntary sector. This had implications for bodies like the SSSC and others with responsibilities for workforce intelligence, development and planning at local, regional or national levels.

What do you think is important for the next 20 years?

Much greater strategic coordination and alignment of data on the sector by which I mean data on people who use services, workers, services, providers and finances.

Why do you think registration and regulation of workers is important?

I think there are a number of reasons, including setting standards of practice, holding staff to account, giving confidence to service users, their families and the public and last, but not least, giving recognition to people working in the sector.

What difference does it make for workers who are registered and for people receiving services?

I think regulation of workers (and services) drives improvement of services and offers a different level of protection for those who use them.