Chief Social Work Officer Report 2024-2025
Renfrewshire Council · 25 September 2025
Back to Council — 25 September 2025 and its agenda
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To: Council On: 25 September 2025 Report by: Chief Social Work Officer Heading: Chief Social Work Officer Report 2024-2025 ___________________________________________________________________ 1. Summary 1.1 The Chief Social Work Officer provides an annual update report to Council in Autumn each year. The requirement for every local authority in Scotland to appoint a professionally qualified Chief Social Work Officer (CSWO) is set out within Section 3 of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968. The particular qualifications are set down in regulation and this is one of a number of statutory requirements which local authorities must comply with. In Renfrewshire Council the role of Chief Social Work Officer is held by the head of Children and Justice Social Work. 1.2 The annual reports of all CSWOs are submitted to the Office of the Chief Social Work Advisor at the Scottish Government in order that a national overview report can be produced. The annual report from the Renfrewshire Chief Social Work Officer provides a summary of activity relation to the role of the Chief Social Work Officer during 2024/25 and is attached at appendix 1. ___________________________________________________________________ 2. Recommendations 2.1 It is recommended that Elected Members: • Note the key activities in the Chief Social Work Officer Annual Report 2024/25. ___________________________________________________________________
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3. Background 3.1 The principal role and purpose of the Social Work Service is contained within the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968, which gave local authorities the responsibility of “promoting social welfare”. The Social Work Service has a statutory duty to provide care and protection to the most vulnerable people across Renfrewshire, often meaning that many of our service users do not engage with us on a voluntary basis. The role of Chief Social Work Officer (CSWO) is critical in terms of achieving this purpose. 3.2 The CSWO is a “proper officer” in relation to social work function: an officer given particular responsibility on behalf of a local authority, where the law requires the function to discharged by a specified post holder. 3.3 The qualifications of the CSWO are set down in the regulations and stipulate that the postholder must be a qualified social worker registered with the Scottish Social Service Council. The CSWO must be able to demonstrate extensive experience of operational and strategic management at a senior level within social work or social care services. 3.4 The overall purpose of the CSWO is to provide professional advice on the provision of social work services to elected members and officers; advice which assists authorities in understanding of the many complexities which are inherent across social work services. The CSWO should also assist authorities in understanding the key role that social work plays in contributing to the achievement of national and local outcomes, to improving local performances and in terms of management of corporate risks. 3.5 The annual report to Council, along with CSWO reports from other local authorities, and now being used nationally to create an overview report. 3.6 The scope of the CSWO role covers all social work and social care services, whether provided directly by the local authority, or in partnership with others. Where these services are purchased or commissioned from external providers, the CSWO has responsibility to advise on the specification, quality and standards or service commissioned. Current guidance for the role reflects the strategic nature and the particular function in relation to Integration Joint Boards and Health and Social Care Partnerships. 3.7 The CSWO has a range of other strategic responsibilities including oversight of professional standards in social work services, as well as undertaking the leadership of the profession through Chief Social Work Officer function through promotion of the values and standards.
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3.8 Social work services have a statutory duty to provide care and protection to the most vulnerable people across their local authority area. Access to the majority of services is assessment on the basis of need, and social work staff in partnership with individual, carers, families and communities to meet the need within the resources available to the service and partner agencies. ___________________________________________________________________ 4. Local Government Arrangements 4.1 Within Renfrewshire Council the Head of Children and Justice Social Work also acts as Chief Social Work Officer. As well as the responsibilities associated within the directorship, as CSWO they retain professional leadership for adult social work and social care services delivery by the Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP). 4.2 The CWSO has a number of general and specific duties including: i. Providing regular reports to Elected Members on the key activities of the Chief Social Work Officer. ii. Leading for Social Work on the Renfrewshire HSCP Executive Governance Group and the Integration Joint Board (IJB). iii. Reporting directly to the Education and Children’s Services Policy Board and Renfrewshire Council. iv. Member of the Council’s Corporate Management Team and Chief Officer’s Group and reporting directly to the Chief Executive and senior Elected Members. v. The CSWO is accountable to the Chief Executive, the Corporate Management Team and the Council as part of the Chief Officer’s Group which manages public protection risks on a partnership basis. Heads of Service have responsibility for the management of risk within their respective service areas. vi. Representing Renfrewshire Council at local, regional and national level. vii. Chairing the bi-annual meeting of all social work managers from both Children’s Services and the HSCP. viii. Management of risk. ix. Specific Duties associated with the position, the CSWO within Renfrewshire Council acts as: • Final point of appeal in relation to Adoption and Fostering decisions. • Recipient of all Mental Health and Adults with Incapacity Orders and Guardianship cases; and • Decision maker in relation to Secure Care application for children.
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___________________________________________________________________ 5. Activities of the Chief Social Work Officer 2024/25 5.1 The report attached as Appendix 1 summarises the key activities of the Head of Children and Justice Social Wok in his capacity as Chief Social Work Officer in Renfrewshire during 2024/25. It does not provide an exhaustive description of the full range of duties and responsibilities undertaken but seeks to provide a broad overview of the CSWO role. The report will be submitted the Office of the Chief Social Work Officer to inform a national overview report. 5.2 The next report on the activities of the CSWO will be submitted to Council in Autumn 2026. ___________________________________________________________________ 6. Overview Social Work Services 6.1 The CSWO has a range of duties which are detailed in Appendix 1 to this report, this also includes detail of demand and provision in those area. 6.2 The Chief Social Work Officer Report 2024/25 describes the services which are performing well with many other areas evidencing innovative practice; both inspired by the creativity of teams with the aim of improving service delivery, or in direct response to existing or predicted challenges. 6.3 Social work and social care services are delivered by a substantial number of staff from statutory, third and independent sector organisations. Across all sectors involved in the delivery of social work and social care services, workforce remains a key focus, both in terms of recruitment and retention. Key priorities for 2025/26 6.4 Based on an assessment of internal and external factors the CSWO has identified key priorities for the year ahead: • Continue to effectively discharge our public protection role and working closely with partners to ensure that vulnerable children and adults live as safely as possible within local communities. • Strengthen the approach to supporting children and families in the community through the implementation of the Children’s Service Partnership Plan. • Support the delivery of the Promise in Renfrewshire. • Supporting the Council to deliver on the corporate and community priorities.
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• Continue to ensure strong and positive links between Children’s Services and Renfrewshire Health and Social Care Partnership. • Ensure that the voices of children and young people are heard and included, in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. _______________________________________________________________ Implications of the Report 1. Financial – none 2. HR & Organisational Development – none 3. Community/Council Planning – this report details the progress made by the service- to protect vulnerable children and adults, reduce offending behaviour, increase community safety, and promote early intervention, independent living and wider health improvement. It highlights partnership working, details the measure which ensure the workforce is skilled and effective and highlights achievements in relation to support to the communities, customer service and consultation. 4. Legal - none 5. Property/Assets - none 6. Information Technology - none 7. Equality and Human Rights – The recommendations contained within this report have no negative impacts on equality groups or potential for infringement of individuals’ human rights because it is only for noting. If required following implementation, the actual impact of the recommendations and the mitigating actions will be reviewed and monitored, and the results of the assessment will be published on the council website. 8. Health and Safety - none 9. Procurement – none 10. Risk – none 11. Privacy Impact – none 12. COSLA Policy Position – none 13. Children’s Rights - none 14. Climate Risk – none ___________________________________________________________________ Report Author: John Trainer, Head of Children and Justice Social Work/ Chief Social Work Officer Contact Officer is Annie Torrance, Senior Policy Officer Email: annie.torrance@renfrewshire.gov.uk
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1 hief Chief Social Work Officer Annual Report 2024/25
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Chief Social Work Officer Annual Report 2024/25 2 Table of Contents 1. Foreword ............................................................................................ 3 2. Role of Chief Social Work Officer ....................................................... 4 3. Governance and Accountability ........................................................ 5 4. Statutory Service Provision: Children and Families Social Work ....... 6 5. Statutory Service Provision: Adult Social Work and Social Care ..... 13 6. Statutory Service Provision: Justice Social Work ............................ 16 7. Duty of Candour Statement from 2024/25 ...................................... 19 8. Service Quality and Performance .................................................... 19 9. Workforce ......................................................................................... 24 10. Resources ......................................................................................... 26
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Chief Social Work Officer Annual Report 2024/25 3 1. Foreword I am delighted to present the annual Chief Social Work Officer (CSWO) Annual Report for Renfrewshire for the period 1st April 2024 to 31st March 2025. The CSWO is a “proper officer” in relation to the social work function of the local authority. As such, the CSWO is given responsibility on behalf of the local authority in respect of social work functions and the jurisdiction to discharge some functions in law on an individual basis. In carrying out my role as CSWO, I am supported by the Director of Children’s Services, the Strategic Manager for Children and Justice Social Work, three Children’s Services Managers and the Justice Services Manager. Within the Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP), I am supported by the Chief Officer and the Heads of Service. I would like to acknowledge their support in helping me address the delivery of social work and care services in Renfrewshire. I would also like to take the opportunity to express my thanks to social work and care staff for their ongoing commitment to those who have required support over the past year. This report provides an overview of social work and care activity against a backdrop of an increasingly complex and challenging environment. Our communities continue to face a cost- of-living challenge, with social work services witnessing increases in scale of need and demand caused by households facing financial difficulty. This report does not detail all the social work and care activity within Renfrewshire, but rather serves to provide an overview of services. It highlights the commitment of our social work and care staff and the work undertaken to ensure the most vulnerable people in our communities are provided with the support and care they need. John Trainer, Chief Social Work Officer
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Chief Social Work Officer Annual Report 2024/25 4 2. Role of Chief Social Work Officer The role of CSWO was originally designed to provide professional advice on social work services to elected members and council officers, to assist local authorities in understanding the complexities inherent in social work and social care services. The growing incidence of strategic partnerships across the public sector, whether legislated for or developed through local joint working, adds a level of complexity to the role of CSWO. In Renfrewshire, social work services for children and families and justice social work are delivered by Children’s Services. Each local authority is required to appoint a CSWO, an officer with an appropriate social work qualification, to oversee the functions of social work. Social work and care services for adults are delegated to and delivered by Renfrewshire Health and Social Care Partnership. The CSWO has oversight of how the delegated functions are delivered and is active in the Renfrewshire Health and Social Care governance arrangements. In assessing and supporting social work and care staff to deliver the best services possible, the CSWO meets with managers and frontline staff to discuss their work. Regular performance reports are considered at strategic meetings, to identify challenges in delivery and find solutions for staff and those who access services. The CSWO is a member of the Council’s Corporate Management Team and the Chief Officers Group. They have a key role in multi-agency public protection arrangements and are a member of the Child and Adult Protection Committees. The CSWO co-chairs the Equally Safe in Renfrewshire Multi-agency Partnership and is a member of the Alcohol and Drugs Partnership. “Social work is a practice-based profession and an academic discipline that promotes social change and development, social cohesion, and the empowerments and liberation of people. Principles of social justice, human rights, collective responsibility and respect for diversities are central so social work. Underpinned by theories of social work, social sciences, humanities and indigenous knowledge, social work engages people and structures to address life challenges and enhance wellbeing. The above definition may be amplified at national and/or regional levels.” Definition of social work agreed by the International Federation or Social Workers, 2014
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Chief Social Work Officer Annual Report 2024/25 5 3. Governance and Accountability The CSWO reports to elected members, primarily through two policy boards and the Integration Joint Board (IJB). The Education and Children’s Services Policy Board has the remit for matters relating to Children and Families Social Work and the Communities and Housing Policy Board has the remit for Justice Social Work, as part of its overall responsibility for Community Justice in Renfrewshire. All matters pertaining to Adult Social Work and Social Care are dealt with by the IJB, which has representation from NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde’s Board as well as elected members. The CSWO has operational responsibilities in their post as Head of Children and Justice Social Work and is line managed by the Director of Children’s Services. They provide professional advice on social work functions to the Chief Executive, the Corporate Management Team and Elected Members. They also provide professional advice on adult social work and care to the Chief Officer and Senior Management Team of Renfrewshire HSCP and to the Integration Joint Board (IJB). The table below illustrates the range of structures in which the CSWO participates to inform the delivery of the role: Structure Role Council • Corporate Management Team (CMT) • Head of Service Meetings • Advice to elected members on social work issues Children’s Services • Children’s Services Senior Management Team (SMT) • Education and Children’s Service Policy Board Integration Joint Board (IJB) • Executive Governance Group • Standing member of IJB • Clinical and Care Governance Board Public Protection • Chief Officer Group for Public Protection (COG) • Child Protection Committee (RCPC) • Adult Protection Committee (RAPC) • Equally Safe Partnership • Alcohol and Drug Partnership (ADP) • Community Justice Partnership (CJP) Community Planning • Children’s Services Partnership Board (CSP) Other Council Policy Boards • Communities and Housing Policy Board (for justice services)
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Chief Social Work Officer Annual Report 2024/25 6 4. Statutory Service Provision: Children and Families Social Work Service Redesign A comprehensive review and redesign of how the Council organises its services for children’s social work was undertaken in 2022/23 to 2023/24. The redesign focussed on ensuring the service is better able to effectively respond to needs at the earliest stage and to deliver purposeful and time-limited interventions aimed at keeping more children safely in the care of their families. To do this, we needed a service with greater management capacity, stronger scrutiny and quality assurance, and more resource targeted at early intervention and family-based supports. This work has ensured our service is fit for the future and has the flexibility and capacity to meet new challenges. This approach also aligns closely with our work under Whole Family Wellbeing which aims to simplify, streamline and support families in need of support in new, people-centred and effective ways, allowing them to get the help they need, in the ways they need at the time it is needed. The service redesign was implemented in November 2024.
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Chief Social Work Officer Annual Report 2024/25 7 Key aims of the service: • Reduce the need for statutory intervention by responding to need at the earliest stage. • Deliver better targeted and more effective and time-limited interventions to families in need. • Keep more children safely in the care of their families. • A consistently high-quality service to the children and families of Renfrewshire. • More capacity for management support, scrutiny and quality assurance. The main changes: • New management structure. • New Social Work ‘Front Door’ including authority-wide Initial Response (duty) Team and Pre and Post Birth Team. • Initial Response Team to be based in Paisley and will deal with all new referrals to Children’s Services Social Work. • Move to authority-wide Children and Families Teams to undertake medium to longer term work with families instead of four separate locality teams. Children and Families Teams to be based in Renfrew and Johnstone but will work with families anywhere in the authority. e.g. Child might live in Paisley, attend school in Paisley and have younger siblings might have a Health Visitor based in Paisley but the family will be supported by a social worker based in either Johnstone or Renfrew. This will not impact on families’ receiving local services as the Social Worker will travel to the family and meetings can take place in location suitable for the family. • Introduction of Independent Decision Makers (IDMs) responsible for all Child Protection and Looked After decisions and plans. The IDMs are independent of day-to-day case management and perform a scrutiny and quality assurance function. • Dedicated Kinship Carer Support team. • Introduction of Senior Practitioner role. Like any significant change, time is required to embed the change, and we are closely monitoring our data around new referrals, allocated casework and the numbers of children who are Looked After and who are on the Child Protection Register to ensure the changes are having the intended impact. Early indications are that the implementation is going well, with the initial response team being very effective at preventing cases going forward for longer term allocation to the Children and Families teams.
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Chief Social Work Officer Annual Report 2024/25 8 The newly introduced Senior Practitioner role is viewed as having added value. These roles were created on a temporary basis initially to understand if they would be effective, a plan will now be progressed to recruit Senior Practitioners on a permanent basis. Whole Family Wellbeing Children’s Services are committed to supporting and nurturing our children, families and communities, through our approach to the whole family wellbeing model. Progress continues to be made to develop Renfrewshire’s approach to early and effective whole family support measures. The aim of the Family Wellbeing approach is to provide appropriate family supports focussing on early intervention, and providing opportunities for children, young people, parents, and carers to shape the services that impact them. Local insight has presented a strong case that children and young people’s needs are best understood and met within the context of their families. Through the Scottish Government’s Whole Family Wellbeing Fund, Children’s Services is engaging with partners to develop collaborative proposals to address the needs of Renfrewshire’s families in a way that is non-stigmatising, community-based, and underpinned by children’s rights. There is recognition of the benefit to have services linked and access to support being in one place. Positive learning from the successful implementation of the REN10 mental health and wellbeing family support service is also being applied to the whole family wellbeing approach. The Whole Family Wellbeing Service has seen a rise in the average family wellbeing score across all measures while the Education Advisor to CAMHS has directly supported over 900 children and families across all Renfrewshire schools. The Promise The work and activity around Renfrewshire’s response to The Promise is at a key stage in the 10-year programme, following the publication of the Scottish Government’s Promise Implementation Plan and The Promise Plan 2024-30. In February 2025, Renfrewshire published its Five-Year Report on Keeping The Promise, marking a significant milestone in its transformational journey. The report captures progress, learning, and impact to date, while setting a clear direction for the future. To ensure accessibility, it was published in two formats: a comprehensive version for professionals and a concise, user-friendly summary for children, families, and community members. Both are available digitally and have been widely disseminated, reflecting a commitment to transparency and inclusion. Children’s services with its wider partners continues to demonstrate a strong and enduring commitment to The Promise, ensuring that the voices, rights, and needs of care
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Chief Social Work Officer Annual Report 2024/25 9 experienced children, young people, and their families remain central to service design and delivery. Now in its fifth year, Renfrewshire Promise approach has evolved into a mature, strategic, and community-rooted multi-agency effort. The Renfrewshire Promise Strategic Oversight Group, chaired by CSWO, plays a pivotal leadership role in ensuring that The Promise is fully integrated into all levels of planning and practice across the region. This group reports directly to the Children’s Services Partnership and is closely aligned with three key workstreams: the Whole Family Wellbeing Steering Group, Supporting the Workforce, and the Children’s Hearings Improvement Partnership. Each of these workstreams is led by senior leaders from across the Children’s Partnership, ensuring a strong and focused alignment with both national priorities and local implementation efforts. A cornerstone of Renfrewshire’s approach is the Promise Keeper Network, now comprising over 330 members from across social work, education, health, housing, libraries, and the third sector. Promise Keepers are trained, visible, and empowered to lead change, promoting trauma-informed, rights-based practice. The network is supported by the Promise Ambassador, who provides ongoing guidance, facilitates quarterly sessions, and ensures feedback informs continuous improvement. Post-training support includes mentoring, co-presentation opportunities, and access to a Promise Keeper Directory, fostering collaboration and shared learning. Renfrewshire’s Language Policy, co-designed with care experienced young people, continues to challenge stigmatising language and promote person-centred communication. The policy continues to be embedded across services and will be reviewed and updated in Autumn 2025 to ensure continued relevance. The Promise Champs, a youth-led group supported by Youth Services, have continued to thrive. Activities in 2024/25 included the Promise Present Drive, festive events, summer clubs, and leadership training. These initiatives provide meaningful opportunities and amplify the voices of care experienced young people in shaping services. Promise-funded projects at Johnstone High School and St Andrew’s Academy focus on advocacy and improving transitions for care experienced pupils. These co-produced initiatives are informing wider education policy and practice, with learning shared through oversight mechanisms and national partners. The service continues to demonstrate its commitment to workforce development through a range of innovative initiatives. One such initiative is The Promise Human Library, which fosters meaningful connections between care-experienced young people and professionals, helping to build valuable social capital. Additionally, a Care Experienced Staff Network is
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Chief Social Work Officer Annual Report 2024/25 10 currently being piloted to offer peer support and contribute to organisational development, ensuring that the voices and experiences of care experienced individuals inform and shape workplace practices. Child Protection Renfrewshire Child Protection Committee (RCPC) continues to monitor data in relation to referrals, investigations, child protection planning meetings and registrations. There were 389 Inter-agency Referral Discussions (IRDs) between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025, relating to 636 children. Of these, 393 proceeded to a child protection investigation. RCPC collects and reviews data in line with the Version 2 of the Minimum Dataset for Child Protection Committees in Scotland. The number of children whose names are placed in the Child Protection Register is reviewed quarterly by RCPC and the Child Protection Register is reviewed weekly by senior managers from the key agencies. On 31 March 2025, the names of 63 children were on the Child Protection Register compared to 61 children in March 2024. Of these children, 18 had been on the register for between 13 and 26 weeks, 12 had been on the register for between 27 and 52 weeks and 2 for more than 52 weeks. The RCPC Complex Case Oversight Group continues to review all children whose names have been on the register for a year or more. As at 31 March 2025, all children whose names had been on the register for a year or more had been reviewed by the group. Two Learning Reviews were completed by RCPC in relation to Child 2 and Child 3. The executive summary for the Learning Review for Child 3 was published in August 2024 and the executive summary for the Learning Review for Child 2 was published in November 2024. Two short life working groups were established in late 2024 to develop improvement plans for each of the Learning Reviews. The short life working groups have representation from the key agencies involved in each case to whom the areas for consideration apply. Membership of both groups comprises both children’s and adult services. Both groups are progressing with the development of their respective improvement plans. As anticipated there have been some similar themes are emerging in relation to each. The groups have both noted that improvement work is already underway which addresses some of the areas for consideration highlighted in the reports – notably, the development and delivery of joint child and adult protection awareness training which has been delivered monthly since September 2024. Review of single agency procedures has also been undertaken in relation to one of the areas for consideration for Child 2. A joint meeting of RCPC and RAPC was convened for both Committees to approve the draft improvement plans for each of the Learning Reviews.
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Chief Social Work Officer Annual Report 2024/25 11 Looked After Children Census On 31 July each year, local authorities complete a census for the Scottish Government in relation to the number of children who are looked after, the 2024 data report from the Scottish Government was published on 22 April 2025. A summary is provided below; however, it is worth noting that Renfrewshire operates under the principles of minimum necessary intervention and “no-order”. This means that a significant number of children and families being supported by social work aren’t reported in national statistics. The minimum necessary intervention principle requires social work to provide support and intervention at the right level at the right time to allow children and families to move out of the system quickly when challenges are addressed and resolved. The “no-order” principle means that a children’s hearing or court should only impose a compulsory order on a child where it is better for the child to do so than not have the order in place. Renfrewshire Summary 610 children were looked after by Renfrewshire on 31 July 2024. This was a reduction of 30 children from the previous census on 31 July 2023 when there were 640 looked after children in Renfrewshire. This was a reduction of 4.7% from the previous year which was higher than the national reduction of 2%. Renfrewshire had the 6th highest number of looked after children in Scotland, As the 9th largest local authority in Scotland, we continue to aim to reduce the number of looked after children when it is safe and appropriate. 68% of Renfrewshire’s looked after children were in the care of their own parents or birth family through a kinship care arrangement, significantly higher than the Scottish national figure. Just over 25% of Renfrewshire looked after children were cared for at home with their parent(s). This is a higher proportion than the Scottish position. Almost 43% of Renfrewshire’s looked after children are cared for in a kinship arrangement. This is the highest looked after group in Renfrewshire and again a significantly higher percentage than the national figure. Looked after children placed with a Renfrewshire foster carers account for 18.7% of our looked after population. Just under 4% of Renfrewshire’s looked after children are placed in external foster care. This means that just over 22% of Renfrewshire’s looked after children are in foster care compared to 32% of Page 142 of 157 the looked after population at a national level. Renfrewshire has a lower use of external foster care than the Scottish percentage (4% compared to 10%). Our low use of foster care is balanced by a higher use of kinship care. This is seen as good practice in ensuring children remain with a member of their birth family if they can’t be cared for by their own parents.
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Chief Social Work Officer Annual Report 2024/25 12 Just over 4% of Renfrewshire’s looked after children are in external residential provision with 3% in our internal houses. This give a total of 7% of Renfrewshire’s looked after children being in residential care compared to 11% at a national level. 3.15. The number of looked after children in Renfrewshire cared for at home by their parents on 31 July 2024 has reduced by just over 33% compared to the 2014 census. Over the same period the number of children looked after in kinship care has increased by 45%. The 2024 census shows there were12% fewer children looked after in internal foster care compared to the 2014 census. There was almost 79% fewer looked after children in external foster care at the 2024 census compared with the 2014 census. This is a positive impact of Renfrewshire’s strategy to support children in their own birth family but also the support we offer to our internal foster carers. In 2020 Renfrewshire had 6 children’s houses which provided accommodation for 48 children. We presently operate 4 children’s houses which provide accommodation for 22 children or young people. The internal children’s houses encourage young people to remain in continuing care and as a result they were fully occupied in 2024. The total number of looked after children in residential provision has reduced by 27% from the census in 2014 to the census in 2024. The balance of provision has changed from most placements in 2014 being internal residential provision to most placements in 2024 being in external residential provision. Children’s social work continues to engage in a partnership approach with the police, RHSCP, education and other council services to ensure the protection of children at risk of harm is a priority. The largest areas of concern pertaining to child protection registration continued to be parental substance misuse, parental drug misuse, neglect, domestic abuse, parental mental health and parental alcohol misuse. By ensuring that robust child protection procedures are in place, we will protect the most vulnerable members of our communities, including children and young people who are at risk of harm.
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Chief Social Work Officer Annual Report 2024/25 13 5. Statutory Service Provision: Adult Social Work and Social Care In Renfrewshire, the delivery of adult social work and social care services is delegated to the Renfrewshire Health and Social Care Partnership (RHSCP). Mainstream social work services are delivered on a locality basis by two teams – one covering Paisley and the other covering the rest of the local authority area. There are also social work services delivered alongside NHS services in joint teams. In 2024/25 there were 1525 adult protection referrals which was similar to 2023/24 referrals at 1527. The number of adults these referrals related to were 1050, highlighting that 475 referrals (31%) were repeat referrals for adults at risk of harm. One of the significant changes from the revised Code of Practice is regarding the recording of Inquiries and Investigations, where an Inquiry is the overarching process within which Investigatory powers can be utilised. This has required some changes in practice and the recording process to be consistent with the Code of Practice.
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Chief Social Work Officer Annual Report 2024/25 14 The total number of Inquiries for 2024/25 was 1363. Of these 792 were completed with the use of Investigatory powers. Within these figures, there were 188 inquiries where an enhanced risk assessment was required - previously referred to an Investigation. This compared to previous end of year reporting of 92 investigations during 2023/24. In all activity related to Inquiries and Investigatory activity, Renfrewshire complies with the Code of Practice using Council Officers and the recording is consistent with the requirements of reporting through the newly established Adult Support & Protection National Minimum Dataset. There were 71 Council Officers completing Inquiries this reporting year. The highest care group of adults at risk of harm who had inquiries undertaken were those with Mental Health conditions (excluding Dementia) accounting for 374 (27.63%) followed closely by those with Dementia accounting for 364 (26.7%). These two care groups continue to be highest groups where inquiries are undertaken. Additionally, 51.2 % of our inquiries were for adults 65 years and over. The data confirms that the location where harm occurs with 723 (53%) of inquiries is the adults own home (owner occupied or tenant) and 319 or 23.4% within a care home. The location of harm occurring in a care home has reduced slightly on the previous year. Physical Harm continues to be the principal type of harm in inquiries with it being the main type of harm in 371 inquires (27.22%). Adults with Incapacity Demand for Adults with Incapacity (AWI) reports, which require to be completed by a qualified Mental Health Officer (MHO), remains high for both private and Chief Social Work Officer (CSWO) applications. There were 264 requests for AWI mental health officer reports during the period compared to 250 requests in the previous year. PRINCIPLE HARM COUNT OF INQUIRIES % OF INQUIRIES Physical Harm 371 27.22% Psychological/Emotional Harm 204 14.97% Financial or Material Harm 174 12.77% Self-Harm 152 11.15% Self-Neglect 148 10.86% Other 124 9.10% Neglect or Acts of Omission 113 8.29% Sexual Harm 55 4.04% Domestic Abuse 21 1.54% Human Trafficking / Exploitation 1 0.07% TOTAL 1363 100%
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Chief Social Work Officer Annual Report 2024/25 15 The high rate of local requests can in part be caused by discharges from the Royal Alexander Hospital located in Paisley. All request for AWI reports for delayed hospital discharges are allocated immediately and where appropriate the MHO service will ask for the use of interim orders. Welfare Guardians Orders where the CSWO is appointed Welfare Guardian fell slightly over the last year, from 124 in 2023/24 to 102 in 2024/2025. Each order requires a qualified social worker to act as the “nominated officer” on behalf of the CSWO for day-to-day management of the case. In addition, there were approximately 151 private welfare guardianship orders which require a minimum of one statutory visit by a guardianship supervisor after being granted. The MHO Service continues to deal with a high volume of work under the Mental Health (Care & Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003. Demands for MHO consent to detention under the Act continues to rise since the COVID – 19 pandemic and shows no sign of slowing. MHOs have a statutory role to supervise and review criminally disordered (restricted) patients alongside a multi-disciplinary team and these procedures are overseen by the Scottish Government. The Mental Health area of work is difficult to navigate as there is no provision for the number of detentions that will occur at any given time. MHO staff continue to meet their statutory duties and work closely with the NHS Consultants and Mental Health Teams. MHOs provide a duty service to consider the need for Emergency and Short-Term Detention Certificate’s. Following from this the MHOs complete Compulsory Treatment Order (CCTO) applications and attended Mental Health tribunals as well as multi- disciplinary meetings. Currently there are 162 long term pieces of work allocated within the MHO team. Care Homes/ Large-Scale Investigations Enhanced clinical and care oversight arrangements for care homes have been in place since early in the COVID-19 pandemic to support care home staff to keep residents safe. Clinical and care professionals continue to have a leading role in the oversight for care homes and meet on a monthly (previously fortnightly) basis. Partners remain proactive, as soon as issues are identified the necessary supports are deployed through clinical and care teams, who work with partners to improve standards and reduce the risk to the residents. There were no Large-Scale Investigations (LSI) during the reporting period. Care homes on the cusp of an LSI were managed under a preventative approach, where RHSCP balanced a supportive approach with a statutory duty under Adult Support and Protection legislation. The HSCP was proactive, as soon as issues were identified and deployed the necessary supports, via HSCP clinical teams.
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Chief Social Work Officer Annual Report 2024/25 16 6. Statutory Service Provision: Justice Social Work Our Justice Social Work (JSW) service continues to adapt and practice effectively supporting the Scottish Government’s “Vision for Justice in Scotland”. Working to nationally based standards the service uses evidence-based assessment and intervention tools, working within a trauma informed and person-centred approach. JSW monitors and supports some of the most vulnerable and high-risk members of our communities who have an involvement at different stages within the wider criminal justice system. This includes people charged with an offence, community-based sentences for those convicted and throughcare support for individuals who have received custodial sentences. Our highly skilled and busy practice teams continue to adapt flexibly to meet the council’s statutory obligations and national policy requirements within a fast moving and ever-changing landscape. Our justice service works to the national community justice principles of shifting the balance between the use of custody and justice in the community, where it is safe to do so. Essential to this is close and effective collaboration with a wide variety of key local and national partner organisations.
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Chief Social Work Officer Annual Report 2024/25 17 Our day-to-day activity continues to evidence an upward trend in almost all areas, reflecting national priorities and policy direction. This reflects ongoing measures to address the legacy backlog of unheard cases in Court stemming from the pandemic, the contemporary challenges of a growing prison population and the vision to shift the balance to more community-based supervision, where it is safe to do so. Reflecting our resource investment, pre-sentencing activity for 2024 /25, shows significant increases from last year: • Diversion from prosecution cases rose by 44%, bail supervision cases also rose fivefold and the number of same day reports for Court rose by 62%. • The service completed 869 Justice Social Work Reports (background reports for sentencers) in 2024/25. This was 19 more than last year and a significant increase compared to 706 in 2022/23. • There was also a sizeable increase for new Community Payback Orders with 522 made in 2024/25, compared to 450 the previous year. 372 of these Orders included an unpaid work and other activity requirement, again a sizeable increase from 338 the previous year. There was also significant activity this year in terms of the early release of prisoners and we anticipate a rise in overall activity as the new Bill settles in. Similarly, the Sentencing and Penal Policy Commission has been set up in February 2025. It is anticipated this will result in recommendations that will aim to reduce the prison population, particularly around the remand population and increase community-based options. This would consequently bring additional statutory service expectations and activities required for JSW and the Council. Funding for JSW comes directly from a “ringfenced” grant from the Scottish Government. This year brought a small reduction in the overall grant which brings its own challenges. Positively, however it did reduce some double ring-fencing elements which will allow us to reduce the use of temporary positions and make these permanent. This offers greater stability for workers and in planning longer term service delivery. This year, for the first time, we also utilised some of the grant for a pilot community justice grant scheme. Recognising the value of the 3rd sector, this scheme supports local third sector organisations to deliver innovative support and learning to those within or at risk of entering the criminal justice system. Nationally too, there is work ongoing in partnership with COSLA about a revised funding formula for JSW. Any implications are not yet known for Renfrewshire. As well as performing well and maintaining all our key duties and responsibilities the last year has been familiarly busy, JSW has undergone some significant internal changes in both structure and staff in implementing our service redesign.
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Chief Social Work Officer Annual Report 2024/25 18 This has included embedding a new senior management team, augmenting our capacity and resilience with 4 new senior social work practitioners and very recently reconfiguring our management structure within our Unpaid Work team. The Whole systems and RADAR teams are now managed by the JSW service but maintain their identity and inextricable links to children’s service practice and approaches. The service has also experienced some significant changes in staffing across its different teams however has been successful in its recruitment, which has been a challenge in the last couple of years. Despite all the changes, as the statistics above demonstrate, the staff and teams have continuously practised and delivered very effectively working to a strong core set of social work and social justice values. Service stability has remained reassuringly strong. At the end of 2024 the service developed its first Justice Improvement Framework. This will progress a more structured approach to quality assurance and how we continuously adapt the service and individual teams within a fast-changing national landscape. Practitioners and managers across the service are involved in progressing areas such as workforce development, measuring what we do more effectively (including service user voice) and managing resources together effectively to meet the consistently changing demands and key policy priorities. Our JSW service also tangibly recognises that women involved within the justice system often offend differently, for different reasons and consequently require a different response. It proudly does this and will continue to do so by providing all interventions through the women’s service, staffed only by women, from the beginning to the end of their involvement with us. We do recognise the building the service is based within is not an ideal setting. Although this is mitigated in some way by the team’s flexibility, we will continue to work on ways in which we can improve upon this. Finally, a critical role JSW has is within public protection. As a key partner, JSW continues to play a significant contribution within the joint Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) and manages the risks and complex circumstances of several high-risk individuals. Alongside key partners JSW robustly supports and monitors them with the central, shared purpose of reducing the risks, where possible, of serious harm to the community.
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Chief Social Work Officer Annual Report 2024/25 19 7. Duty of Candour Statement from 2024/25 All social work and social care services in Scotland have a duty of candour. This is a legal requirement which means that when unintended, or unexpected, events happen that result in death or harm as defined in the Health (Tobacco, Nicotine etc. and Care) (Scotland) Act 2016, the people affected understand what has happened, receive and apology, and that organisations learn from the experience and put improvements in place. An important part of this duty is the requirement for organisations to provide an annual statement detailing how the duty of candour is implemented across services. During the period 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025, there were no incidents where duty of candour applied (These are unintended or unexpected incidents that result in death or harm as defined in the Act, and do not relate directly to the natural course of someone’s illness or underlying conditions). 8. Service Quality and Performance Many of the social work services are delivered by locality teams in Renfrewshire or by one of the specialist services. In addition, the council and Renfrewshire HSCP (RHSCP) operates 23 services registered with the Care Inspectorate – four children’s houses, three care homes for older adults, five day services for older adults, five day services for adults with learning disabilities, one day service for adults with physical disabilities, one residential respite service
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Chief Social Work Officer Annual Report 2024/25 20 for adults with learning disabilities, Care at Home Service, Fostering Services, Adoption Services, and a housing support service for care leavers. The Care Inspectorate undertakes regular inspections of all registered services and indicates a formal assessment of the standard on a graded scale. The Care Inspectorate grades are: • Unsatisfactory – major weaknesses • Weak – important weaknesses • Adequate – strengths just outweigh weaknesses • Good – important strengths with some areas for improvement • Very Good – major strengths • Excellent – sector leading The Care Inspectorate reviews the following quality indicators when undertaking inspections by assessing: • How well people’s wellbeing is supported? • How good is the leadership of the service? • How good is the staff team? • How good is the environment? • How well are care and support planned? Unannounced Inspections In the course of 2024 / 2025 unannounced inspections by the Care Inspectorate have been completed in relation to two children’s houses operated by Renfrewshire Council and one supported living project for care experienced young people. Barrochan Road has continued their improvement journey over recent years; progressing from a grading of weak in 2022, to adequate with good features in 2024. Generally, an assessment of adequate shows that strengths just outweigh weaknesses, however in this instance the inclusion of good offers encouragement of the house’s trajectory. The inspection recognised positive development in systems and their application but felt that there remained scope for further progression around these to make it operationally as robust and as effective as it could be. To support this, one requirement was directed and three areas for improvement documented. These have been incorporated in a development plan for the service to take forward, with the aim of superseding the current gradings in future inspections. It is noteworthy that despite the areas deemed adequate by inspectors, they assessed the criteria of ‘Children and young people are safe, feel loved and get the most out of life’ as good. They also recognised developments since the new permanent manager had come into post, recruiting a vibrant, enthusiastic and developing team; both areas we would deem to be foundational for future development.
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Chief Social Work Officer Annual Report 2024/25 21 Beech Avenue also continues on it’s improvement journey. Following an inspection in 2023 / 2024 where it was graded as adequate, the team along with external management have implemented robust development plans to make service improvements. These efforts resulted in inspectors grading Beech Avenue as good in all areas assessed in 2025. They recognised that the previous requirement and three areas for improvement had all been met within the identified timescales. Within this inspection, no requirements were identified for Beech Avenue and the suggested areas for development have been incorporated into a development plan to assist Beech attain its aspiration of very good in the next inspection. Following both inspections, the CSWO supported the management team to raise issues with elements of both inspections and their gradings. Reservations were raised about how the inspectors approach appeared to differ quite significantly from when they were reviewing independent and third sector provisions to statutory ones like we provide. It was felt the combination of marketing from those organisations and greater flexibility on accepting young people into their care was not fully appreciated by inspectors and this impaired our gradings. Some of these challenges were upheld and we hope that this will help create a better mutual understanding for us to take our next steps in improvement. Renfrewshire Council’s Charleston Square supported living service for care experienced young people was also subject to review by the Care Inspectorate in 2024. Again, they were able to demonstrate positive progressions in our journey for supporting looked after and care experienced young people. This service has benefitted from a consistency in management and staff team who have over recent years taken forward their improvement agenda. Consequently, the inspector for Charleston Square graded the service as very good in all assessed areas, recognising how young people, irrespective of their background were being supported effectively to achieve positive outcomes. They were also complimentary around the structures and systems implemented within the service to support positive practice. Inspections of Services for Children and Adults at Risk of Harm or in Need of Support and Protection. In 2024, Renfrewshire Council’s Social Work Services for Children and Adults were part of wider inspections of services for children and adults at risk of harm or in need of support and protection in the Renfrewshire Community Planning Partnership. Both inspections were undertaken by the Care Inspectorate. The joint inspection of services for children at risk of harm in the Renfrewshire community planning partnership area commenced on 8 April 2024 and concluded 18 September 2024. It covered the range of partners in the area that have a role in meeting the needs of children and young people at risk of harm and their families and considered the period 8 April 2022 to 8 April 2024.
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Chief Social Work Officer Annual Report 2024/25 22 The inspection team listened to the views and experiences of 49 children and young people and 47 parents and carers involved with social work over the 2-year period the inspection focussed on. This included face to face meetings, telephone or video calls and survey responses. They reviewed practice by reading a sample of records held by a range of services for 60 children and young people at risk of harm with a particular focus on social work records. The Care Inspectorate provided one evaluation. This was for quality indicator 2.1 as it applies to children at risk of harm. This indicator considers the extent to which children and young people: • feel valued, loved, fulfilled and secure • feel listened to, understood and respected • experience sincere human contact and enduring relationships • get the best start in life. The report was published on the 22nd of October 2024 and found Renfrewshire’s services, in respect of quality indicator 2.1 to be very good, one of only five areas in Scotland to achieve this grade. This was a very positive report which outlines key strengths in the social work supports provided to children in Renfrewshire, which included partnership working in Renfrewshire. Clear evidence was found that staff were confident in their ability to recognise and report child abuse, neglect and exploitation. A reassuring theme throughout the report was the positive relationships between staff and children and families. The inspectors highlighted the impact of trauma-informed and relationships-based practice across all agencies and services. Inspectors observed nurturing and trusting relationships between staff and children and heard that children felt safer as a result. The report highlighted a good practice example within the social work service, this was the Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children (UASC) Team, which was established in 2017, The Care Inspectorate highlighted the team’s responsive approach which fosters trusting and sustained relationships, ensuring all UASC held Looked After Child status, a strategic decision in Renfrewshire to offer substantial opportunities to these young people. The UASC Team adopted a rights-based approach, prioritising the young person’s views from the outset. They remained vigilant about the risk of re-trafficking and were proud that no re-trafficking incidents had occurred, attributing this success to their focused commitment and responsive support. The joint inspection of adult support and protection in the Renfrewshire partnership area took place between 18 November 2024 and 18 March 2025 and was led by the Care Inspectorate in collaboration with Healthcare Improvement Scotland and His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland.
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Chief Social Work Officer Annual Report 2024/25 23 In line with the targeted nature of the inspection programme, the methodology included five proportionate scrutiny activities: • Analysis of supporting documentary evidence and a position statement. • Partnership staff survey to seek views on adult support and protection outcomes for adults at risk of harm, key processes, staff support and training and strategic leadership. • The scrutiny of social work records of adults at risk of harm which involved the records of 20 adults at risk of harm who did not require any further adult support and protection intervention beyond the initial inquiry stage. • The scrutiny of the health, police, and social work records of adults of risk of harm which involved the records of 20 adults at risk of harm for whom inquiries have used investigative powers under sections 7-10 of the 2007 Act. This included cases where adult support and protection activity proceeded beyond the inquiry with investigative powers stage. • Partnership staff focus groups to discuss adult support and protection practice and adults at risk of harm. A summary of the key findings include: • Renfrewshire is one of only two partnership areas in Scotland to receive ‘very effective’ progress statements. • The inspection concluded that “measures in Renfrewshire has found clear strengths in ensuring adults at risk of harm are safe, protected and supported”. • It also highlighted a series of positive attributes including, but not limited to, a "consistent delivery of high-quality adult support and protection work", "energetic leadership" and a "can-do culture" and the accomplishment of strategic leadership with elements that were "sector leading". • The inspectors found that the Adult Protection Committee’s innovative approach to communicating with partnership staff who work in adult support and protection was highly commendable including its efforts to inform and promote adult support and protection, including to the public, were highly successful. The report also highlighted the following priority areas for improvement which will be included within the Adult Protection Committee Improvement Plan: • The partnership should continue its efforts to improve the quality of chronologies and risk assessments for adults at risk of harm. • The partnership should make progress with adults at risk of harm attending their adult protection case conference. • The partnership should continue its endeavours to improve representation of adults with lived experience of adult support and protection, at strategic level in the partnership.
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Chief Social Work Officer Annual Report 2024/25 24 9. Workforce Ensuring our staff are supported in their skills and knowledge development is an essential component of delivering high quality social work supports. We have continued to commit to investing in staff by delivering a range of training opportunities on a single and multiagency basis. We continue to prioritise adult and child protection learning and have completed the review of our training on these areas to ensure we are offering those who work with children and adults joint learning opportunities so all staff are equipped to support, assist and protect all members of families they might encounter in the course of their work. We have continued to roll out the national first year in social work practice framework. This is proving to be challenging in terms of the expectations regarding completion of mandatory learning tasks and the volume of additional work this is generating for the newly qualified staff and the managers who supervise them. Renfrewshire has submitted a letter jointly with other local authorities to the Scottish Social Services Council and the Office of the Chief Social Work Advisor regarding this matter. Our care at home workforce is a frontline service who support many service users each day. This group of staff are supported with tailored learning and require having a national qualification. The demand for qualification across such a large workforce continues to be very challenging with the numbers to qualify over the next two years increasing. A plan is in place
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Chief Social Work Officer Annual Report 2024/25 25 to meet this demand and ensure our workforce meets the national standards for professional registration. The Promise and Trauma Informed Practice, both national policy initiatives are reflected in a range of social work learning programmes ensuring staff understand and reflect the developments in their practice. Innovations such as our Promise Keeper Network develop front line champions who are leading change from the ground up, partnering with our wider strategic plan. Progress continues to be made in both areas. We have continued to embed virtual learning across our range of learning provision. This innovation which uses virtual reality headsets allows staff to approach practice scenarios in a safe and supported manner, proving a realistic understanding of practice. A wrap around learning environment is provided to support learners to gain the most from the experience. The feedback from staff continues to be extremely positive. Social Work Services in Renfrewshire continue to experience challenges in relation to recruiting to social worker, home care and residential care staff vacancies. This has been compounded by a national shortage of social workers and social care workers. This position is not unique to Renfrewshire and is replicated across Scotland and the United Kingdom. Vacancy levels continue to be closely monitored, and appropriate action taken when necessary to mitigate associated risks. In addition to pressures created by vacancies, we have a workforce which is less experienced due to longer serving more experienced staff leaving the profession. New qualified and inexperienced staff require a higher level of support and cannot be allocated the same complexity of work that a more experienced social worker can undertake. Workload demands are considered on a regular basis and action taken where necessary to align resources to known operational pressure points.
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Chief Social Work Officer Annual Report 2024/25 26 10. Resources The figures below show the breakdown of expenditure on social work and social care services by Renfrewshire Council and RHSCP in 2024/25. The largest area of expenditure is on services for older people, followed by services for people with learning difficulties and Children and Families. Funding for Justice Social Work comes directly from the Scottish Government by means of a grant. Services Expenditure Addiction Services £1,870,276 Learning Difficulties £40,268,066 Mental Health £8,148,086 Older People £88,681,425 Physical or Sensory Difficulties £16,925,879 Children and Families £36,230,710 Justice £3,811,310 “In social services alone, and there, not only care but cure: a worker assigned to be with her throughout school, helping, calming, a bridge of sympathy between teacher and pupil, a dedication not far from love.” From Brothers and Keepers by Edwin Morgan
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Chief Social Work Officer Annual Report 2024/25 27 Renfrewshire Council Renfrewshire House Cotton Street Paisley PA1 1BR