§ Mr. Hugh D. Brownasked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether his Department will hold discussions with local authority associations with a view to ensuring that social work departments will operate a common system of records and statistics in order that social problems can be adequately identified and new social needs assessed.
§ Mr. RossThe Social Work Services Group are preparing, for discussion with the local authority associations, a common return of statistical information to be made annually by the social work departments of local authorities. This return will serve to throw light on the nature and extent of social welfare problems being encountered by the local authorities,162W and will be of assistance in planning the development of social work services in future.
So far as the local authorities' internal records are concerned there are obvious difficulties in attempting uniformity, and there can of course be no question of the Government imposing this, but the Social Work Services Group will keep in mind the extent to which uniformity of record keeping might be desirable and will review the matter in the light of initial experience of the operation of social work services under the new Act.