Meeting of the Parliament 21 June 2023
Amendment 68 focuses on the resources that local authorities need to provide justice social work. It requires the Scottish Government to report on the operation of section 1 of the bill and the impact on local authorities, particularly on whether they have adequate resources to meet the requirements of the legislation, whether further resources are required and, if so, what action needs to be taken to address that.
Amendment 68 would require the Scottish Government, in the preparation of the report, to consult local authorities and any professional bodies that represent social workers. The background is that funding for justice social work has been flat for the past three years, which is a real-terms cut of £86.5 million. Social Work Scotland said that
“members report that waiting times for assessments, support and treatment are all increasing, and in some social work teams over 30% of posts are unfilled”.
Unison Scotland said that justice social workers are faced with some of the highest case loads and that many local authorities are scaling back social work services as a result of real-terms cuts in local government funding.
It is clear that the Scottish Government wishes to enhance the role of justice social work in the provision of information to the courts. Scottish Labour also wants that, but it is difficult to see how it can happen without additional resource. When I lodged the same amendment at stage 2, the cabinet secretary acknowledged the budgetary challenges and said that the introduction of the legislation would be phased. However, the financial memorandum does not recognise the serious cost and resource implications of the proposals. It is not possible to lodge amendments to require the funding that is needed for adequate resourcing, so amendment 68 has been lodged to ensure focus and scrutiny on the resourcing issues.