§ Mr. Robertsonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland by what number of qualified workers the Paisley constituency is short of the approved establishment.
§ Mr. McElhoneThis is a question for the regional authority concerned.
§ Mr. Robertsonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what proportion of social workers employed by Scottish local authorities hold relevant qualifications;
(2) what numbers of qualified social workers are employed by Scottish local authorities.
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§ Mr. McElhoneThe information requested will not be available until staffing returns under a new system of social work statistics have been received and processed later this year.
§ Mr. Robertsonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what are the criteria used to determine the numbers of qualified social workers to be employed by local authority social work departments.
§ Mr. McElhoneThis is a matter for the employing local authority.
§ Mr. Robertsonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what discussions he has had regarding the need to extend the rôle of the Scottish local authority social work departments to meet the increasing deprivation among the people of Scotland; what was the result of the discussions; and according to what criteria allocations of money are made for this purpose.
§ Mr. McElhoneDeprivation takes many forms and cannot be tackled by local authority social work departments alone, although these departments are always seeking ways of making a more effective contribution. I am satisfied that the powers available to social work authorities are sufficiently wide to enable them to fulfl their rôle in this regard.