HC Deb 01 November 1983 vol 47 cc351-2W
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many social workers there are in Scotland and in each region; how many social workers are in employment for every 10,000 living in each region; and what is the regional average.

Mr. John MacKay

The information is set out in the following table:

Social workers (whole-lime equivalent) employed by local authorities at 4 October 1982
Region Number of social workers Number of social workers per 10,000 population*
Borders 31 3.1
Central 140 5.1
Dumfries & Galloway 48 3.3
Fife 121 3.5
Grampian 189 3.9
Highland 74 3.8
Lothian 522 7.0
Strathclyde 1,405 5.9
Tayside 248 6.3
Orkney 6 3.1
Shetland 8 3.3
Western Isles 11 3.5
Scotland 2,803 5.4
* Based on population estimates as at 30 June 1982.

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what percentage of funds made available for social work is spent on wages and salaries in each region; and what variation in pay for similar grades there is between regions.

Mr. John MacKay

Information on how pay scales are applied by individual authorities is not held centrally. The most recent information available about total expenditure by regional and islands councils on wages and salaries for social work relates to the financial year 1981–82 and is as follows:

1 2 3
Region Net expenditure on social work* £'000 Staff costs (pay)† £000 Column 2 as percentage of column 1
Borders 3,977 2,834 71
Central 10,590 7,495 71
Dumfries & Galloway 4,559 3,475 76
Fife 14,251 9,939 70
Grampian 17,097 12,612 74
Highland 7,215 4,965 69
Lothian 49,553 33,485 68
Strathclyde 123,835 86,031 70
Tayside 19,506 13,648 70
Orkney 959 844 88
Shetland 1,692 828 49
1 2 3
Region Net expenditure on social work* £'000 Staff costs (pay)† £000 Column 2 as percentage of column 1
Western Isles 2,372 1,690 71
SCOTLAND 255,606 177,846 70
* The figures relate to net expenditure on social work met from rates and grants.
†The figures include salaries and wages, national insurance and superannuation contributions but exclude other staff costs directly chargeable to the service.