Social Work Governance and Leadership
Argyll and Bute Council · 12 May 2026
Back to Argyll and Bute HSCP Clinical and Care Governance Committee — 12 May 2026 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
Page 1
1 Clinical and Care Governance Committee Date of Meeting: Tuesday 12th May 2026 Title of Report: Social Work Governance and Leadership Group Presented by: Shona Williams, Senior Manager Justice Social Work / Acting Chief Social Work Officer. The Clinical and Care Governance Committee is asked to: ▪ Note the assurance position and key risk areas across Social Work and Social Care services arising from the Social Work Governance and Leadership Group meetings held in November 2025, January 2026, February 2026 and March 2026. ▪ Note continued focused oversight of workforce sustainability, particularly within statutory services. ▪ Endorse further development of performance reporting, data quality and quality assurance arrangements. 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report provides a consolidated assurance update on Social Work and Social Care governance, performance and risk. Overall assurance across the system is partially assured with variations of assurance levels across the Services. Clear strengths are evident within Justice Social Work and Children’s Resources, alongside improving inspection outcomes in several Adult Services. However, significant and ongoing risks remain across Adult Social Work, Adult Support and Protection, Adult Mental Health and Children & Families services. These risks are primarily driven by workforce capacity, data quality limitations and variability in practice quality within high‑risk statutory functions. The Group whilst embryonic, continues to strengthen its governance role through consistent use of Service Assurance Reports, targeted scrutiny of high‑risk areas, and follow‑up of improvement actions. 2. RECOMMENDATIONS It is recommended that the Clinical and Care Governance Committee:
Page 2
2 • Note the current assurance position and key risk areas across Social Work and Social Care services arising from the Social Work Governance and Leadership Group meetings held in November 2025, January 2026, February 2026 and March 2026. • Note continued focused oversight of workforce sustainability, particularly within statutory services. • Endorse further development of performance reporting, data quality and quality assurance arrangements. 3. DETAIL OF REPORT Context and Governance Arrangements The Social Work Governance and Leadership Group provide strategic oversight and assurance across Social Work and Social Care services. It has met on four occasions since its inception in November 2025 and is chaired by the CSWO or delegate with a supporting term of reference placing it within the wider governance and regulatory oversight. Each meeting focuses on information contained within written Service Assurance Reports provided by Senior Managers across the Social Work Service. Overall Assurance Summary (as of March 2026) Service Area Assurance Narrative Adults (Adult Social Work, Adult Social Care, ASP) Overall assurance across adult services remains partially assured, with significant pressure driven primarily by workforce capacity and increasing complexity of demand. Adult Social Work continues to experience sustained vacancies, high caseloads, sickness absence and reliance on agency staff, particularly Service Area Latest Assurance Level Commentary Adult Support and Protection Partially Assured Persistent staffing pressures and rising referrals impact performance and recording quality. Adult Social Work (Operations) Partially Assured High caseloads, vacancies and delayed discharge pressures limit assurance. Adult Social Care Resources Assured Improving inspection outcomes; ongoing risks in care at home and medication management. Adult Mental Health Social Care Partially Assured Statutory delivery maintained but MHO shortages and agency reliance remain. Children & Families Social Work Partially Assured Strong strategic progress offset by practice and workforce variability across localities. High vacancy rate. Children’s Resources Assured Stabilized workforce and effective improvement activity. Justice Social Work Strongly Assured Strong statutory compliance and embedded quality assurance.
Page 3
3 within Adult Mental Health and ASP. These pressures have impacted timeliness of statutory activity, including reviews, inquiries and Mental Health Officer (MHO) duties, although core statutory functions continue to be delivered. Adult Support and Protection activity remains a key area of risk. Rising referral volumes, limited council officer capacity and variable quality of recording have constrained assurance. Training for council officers and revised role clarity are underway to strengthen investigative capacity. Adult Social Care services show a mixed picture. Registered services, demonstrate stronger assurance through stable management, routine audits and improving inspection outcomes. However, care at home services continue to present risks relating to workforce stability, medication management, complaints handling and data consistency. Improvement plans are in place and subject to ongoing scrutiny. Key risks for adults relate to workforce sustainability, delayed discharge impacts, inconsistent recording within Eclipse, lack of clear KPI’s and the resilience of specialist statutory roles. Children & Families Social Work Children & Families services are assessed as partially assured. Strategic direction is clear and aligned with national developments, including implementation of Bairns’ Hoose and refreshed practice guidance. These developments provide a strong framework for improvement. However, assurance is reduced by variability in practice quality and performance between localities. Workforce pressures due to vacancies and high number of newly qualified social workers persist in specific areas. This has impacted supervision capacity, consistency of decision‑making and quality of recording. Audits and inspections identified deficits in child protection case recording, risk assessment and oversight, particularly in complex cases. Improvement activity is underway, including strengthened management oversight, enhanced supervision expectations, and targeted QA sampling. Eclipse performance and data quality remain a recurring issue, limiting the groups’s ability to gain full assurance that activity, outcomes and risks are clearly evidenced. Resources (Children’s Resources and Adult Resources) Resources services are collectively partially assured, with a generally positive trajectory. Children’s Resources have shown significant improvement over the reporting period. Workforce stability has improved, leadership arrangements are more robust, and service development plans are in place. Risks are considered manageable and subject to effective oversight.
Page 4
4 Within Adult Social Care Resources, inspection outcomes have improved overall, with some services moving to reduced inspection frequency. Internal governance, audit and improvement planning arrangements are established, particularly within registered services. Remaining risks include recruitment and retention challenges, service sustainability in rural areas, consistency of practice in commissioned care at home services, and assurance over medication management and complaints. Justice Social Work Justice Social Work provides the strongest level of assurance and is assessed as fully assured. Statutory compliance is consistently evidenced, including delivery of court reports, risk assessment, supervision and public protection arrangements. Workforce pressures have stabilised, and vacancy levels are significantly lower than in other service areas. Improvement activity within Justice Social Work is mature and well embedded, including quality assurance, audit programmes and a strong focus on culture and values. The service demonstrates effective use of data, learning from practice, and leadership oversight. Justice Social Work is considered resilient, with good governance and minimal escalation required at this time. 4. RELEVANT DATA AND INDICATORS Performance information is drawn from Service Assurance Reports, inspection outcomes, audit findings and workforce data. Limitations in Eclipse reporting and lack of consistent KPI’s across service areas remain a system‑wide risk to assurance. As noted, further development work is required to standardise reporting. 5. CONTRIBUTION TO STRATEGIC PRIORITIES The report supports strategic priorities relating to protecting the most vulnerable in our communities, improving quality and safety, and ensuring sustainable services. 6. GOVERNANCE IMPLICATIONS 6.1 Financial Impact Ongoing workforce pressures, agency costs and impacts of delayed discharge present continued financial risk. 6.2 Staff Governance Recruitment, retention, sickness absence and supervision capacity remain key staff governance issues.
Page 5
5 6.3 Clinical and Care Governance Practice quality, recording standards and compliance with statutory duties remain central to assurance. 7. PROFESSIONAL ADVISORY This report has been prepared by the Acting CSWO 8. EQUALITY & DIVERSITY IMPLICATIONS No adverse equality impacts have been identified; services continue to meet statutory equality duties. 9. GENERAL DATA PROTECTION PRINCIPLES COMPLIANCE All information complies with data protection requirements. 10. RISK ASSESSMENT The overall risk profile remains high but controlled, with active mitigation and professional oversight in place. Children’s services are under increased risk management due to highlighted gaps in workforce capacity both operationally and in management capacity affecting assurance on the capacity to deliver statutory duties. At present risk mitigation is being undertaken through exceptional measures including extended working hours and other measures. Action is being taken to address this position both in the short and long term. 11. PUBLIC & USER INVOLVEMENT & ENGAGEMENT None as internal oversight. 12. CONCLUSIONS The Social Work Governance and Leadership Group is in its early stages of development and work is ongoing to ensure consistency of reporting across all areas of social work to ensure alignment of quality assurance and performance management reporting. At the present time, Social Work and Social Care services remains partially assured. Progress is evident, but continued CSWO and Head of Service scrutiny is required to manage workforce, practice quality and data related risks 13. DIRECTIONS Directions required to Council, NHS Board or both. Directions to: tick No Directions required x Argyll & Bute Council NHS Highland Health Board Argyll & Bute Council and NHS Highland Health Board
Page 6
6 14. PREVIOUS REVIEW OF THE REPORT Meeting Title of report Date Output (if relevant) REPORT AUTHOR AND CONTACT Author Name: Shona Williams, Acting CSWO Email: shona.williams@argyll-bute.gov.uk