Here he looks forward to working with registrants, employers and other key stakeholders including people using services in his new role.
It’s more than five years since I joined as a member of the SSSC Council and during that time I’ve already seen lots of changes, not least the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the sector.
It was an important time of learning for organisations like the SSSC and other regulators as it reinforced my belief that the voice of people using services, their families and carers should remain central to what we do in social work, social care and children and young people services.
Involvement
Involving people in our work is also about making sure that the more than 170,000 people who register with us and their employers can help shape how we deliver our services to them and how we can best support them to provide trusted, skilled, confident and valued care.
We co-designed the changes we made to registration, qualifications, skills and the Codes of Practice in 2024 with registrants, employers and other key stakeholders. Listening to and learning from them helped make sure the changes were effective and met their needs.
Accessible
I want to make getting involved in the SSSC’s work straightforward and accessible. We need to make sure everyone in the workforce has an effective voice, can share their views and help us improve. The SSSC’s commitment to co-design and our annual registrant survey helps us achieve that.
Accessibility also means making sure that people can find the information they need easily and quickly. The updated SSSC website, launched in May, helps us meet the needs of more users by using plain language, being accessible and current.
We’re also publishing more information in different formats, including the Codes of Practice in easy read, BSL and multiple languages. We’ve also published easy read versions of our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Mainstreaming and Outcomes Report 2025-2029, Raising a concern guidance and key fitness to practise factsheets.
Supporting the workforce
Earlier this year we published the findings of the first Have Your Say Workforce Wellbeing Survey which showed that two thirds of respondents came into social work, social care and children and young people services to make a difference to people’s lives.
Eighty-one per cent of respondents said they feel valued for the work they do by the people they support and even more (85%) said they wanted to improve their knowledge and skills.
This reflects what I see, a highly committed and proactive workforce striving to provide the best possible care for those they support.
I also acknowledge that the survey findings raise many challenges too, that less than half feel the public value their role and issues around pay and conditions.
We plan to run the survey annually and will use its findings to inform our support for the workforce and employers and share them in conversations with government and other stakeholders to help guide their work.
I want registrants, employers, people using services, their families and carers to know the SSSC is there to listen to them and support them with registration and regulation.
Our data
The Have Your Say Survey is just one example of the many valuable sources of data the SSSC has on the social work, social care and children and young people workforce.
I’m committed to using and sharing this data to help understand the workforce and its needs better. This will help the SSSC, and others, improve outcomes for the workforce and the people they support.
I look forward to continuing working with and hearing from you about what the SSSC can do differently to improve our support for the workforce.
Peter was appointed a SSSC Council member in September 2019 and Interim Convener from October 2024. He’s also Chair of Bon Accord Care, which provides adult social care across Aberdeen city.
You can read more about his appointment on the Scottish Government website news page.