Scottish Social Service Sector Workforce Data (SSSS-WD)
Measures describe a question asked to a participant during a survey or an item of information requested from a manager when they fill out a data return. For example, ‘Who do you live with?’ is a measure and the possible responses might be, mother, father, brother, sister etc.
| Question/Data item wording | Response scale wording | Need OR provision OR receipt | Description of measure | Start Year | Age of interest | Age from | Age to | Informant | Multiple rater | Reporting term | Sweep title | Standard instrument | Notes | Physical health measures | Dataset | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Response rates by sub-sector, 2024 |
This is broken down for: And given under: |
Provision; | Scottish social service workforce - response rate by sector | 2015 | 16-120 | 16 | 120 | Data manager | No | Past year | Scottish Social Services Council Official Statistics Report on 2024 workforce data | No | SSSS-WD | |||
Percentage of services by sub-sector that provided a current staffing figure, 2024 |
Response rate given for: Adoption services |
Provision; | Scottish social service workforce - % services by provided staff figure | 2015 | 16-120 | 16 | 120 | Data manager | No | Past year | Scottish Social Services Council Official Statistics Report on 2024 workforce data | No | SSSS-WD | |||
Number of providers, and headcount of providers, 2024, by size and employer type [1] see Table 36 for definition of size. |
Size of provider is given for: And given for: |
Provision; | Scottish social service workforce - no. providers/headcount | 2015 | 16-120 | 16 | 120 | Data manager | No | Past year | Scottish Social Services Council Official Statistics Report on 2024 workforce data | No | SSSS-WD | |||
Provider size bands based on headcount |
Staff Headcount is broken down: Micro 1 to 10 |
Provision; | Scottish social service workforce - provider size bands | 2015 | 16-120 | 16 | 120 | Data manager | No | Past year | Scottish Social Services Council Official Statistics Report on 2024 workforce data | No | SSSS-WD | |||
Number of providers of active services and social work services and their staff headcount, by sub-sector. At December 2024. [1] Some providers operate over multiple sub-sectors therefore Total providers will not match the sum of providers across individual sub-sectors. |
This is broken down into: And given for: |
Provision; | Scottish social service workforce - no. providers of active services | 2015 | 16-120 | 16 | 120 | Data manager | No | Past year | Scottish Social Services Council Official Statistics Report on 2024 workforce data | No | SSSS-WD | |||
Number of providers of active services and social work services and their headcount, by employer type. At December 2024. Percentage share of employer type in parentheses. [1] excludes childminding services which are run by 2,978 private providers and have a headcount of 3,030 staff |
This is broken down into: And given for: |
Provision; | Scottish social service workforce - no. providers of active services % share as employer | 2015 | 16-120 | 16 | 120 | Data manager | No | Past year | Scottish Social Services Council Official Statistics Report on 2024 workforce data | No | SSSS-WD | |||
Headcount of local authority ASP Council Officers, 2024 |
Headcount given for: |
Provision; | Scottish social service workforce - LA ASP Council Officers | 2015 | 16-120 | 16 | 120 | Data manager | No | Past year | Scottish Social Services Council Official Statistics Report on 2024 workforce data | No | SSSS-WD | |||
Percentage of staff by job function and sub-sector, 2024 [1] We have excluded childminding since no job function classification exists for it. In previous workforce data reports the total included childminding services, but we have excluded it from this year’s total. |
This is broken down into, Auxiliary, Care, Managers, Unknown Adoption services |
Provision; | Scottish social service workforce - % job function & sector | 2015 | 16-120 | 16 | 120 | Data manager | No | Past year | Scottish Social Services Council Official Statistics Report on 2024 workforce data | No | SSSS-WD | |||
Percentage of staff by disability and sub-sector, 2024 |
This is broken down into: And given for: |
Provision; | Scottish social service workforce - disability & sector | 2015 | 16-120 | 16 | 120 | Data manager | No | Past year | Scottish Social Services Council Official Statistics Report on 2024 workforce data | No | SSSS-WD | |||
Percentage change in headcount between 2015 and 2024, by job function and sub-sector [1] The figures reflect a reclassification of some staff from central and strategic teams to fieldwork (generic). See Appendix A for more information. |
This is broken down into: This is further down into: |
Provision; | Scottish social service workforce - % job function & sector | 2015 | 16-120 | 16 | 120 | Data manager | No | Past year | Scottish Social Services Council Official Statistics Report on 2024 workforce data | No | SSSS-WD | |||
Percentage of staff by contract type and sub-sector, 2024 All NGH = All no guaranteed hours contracts which may be different to the sum of individual elements due to rounding. |
This is broken down into: These are then broken down into: |
Provision; | Scottish social service workforce - contact type & sector | 2015 | 16-120 | 16 | 120 | Data manager | No | Past year | Scottish Social Services Council Official Statistics Report on 2024 workforce data | No | SSSS-WD | |||
Median weekly hours by employer type and sub-sector, 2024 |
This is broken down into: This is broken down into: |
Provision; | Scottish social service workforce - employer & sector | 2015 | 16-120 | 16 | 120 | Data manager | No | Past year | Scottish Social Services Council Official Statistics Report on 2024 workforce data | No | SSSS-WD | |||
Percentage of part time and full time workers by sub-sector, 2024 |
This is broken down into: And given for: |
Provision; | Scottish social service workforce - part time/full time by sector | 2015 | 16-120 | 16 | 120 | Data manager | No | Past year | Scottish Social Services Council Official Statistics Report on 2024 workforce data | No | SSSS-WD | |||
Numbers of social workers 2023 and 2024 [1] WTE is rounded to the nearest whole number, using LA measure of WTE, not 37.5 hour measure. |
This is given for: And broken down into: |
Provision; | Scottish social service workforce - numbers of social workers | 2015 | 16-120 | 16 | 120 | Data manager | No | Past year | Scottish Social Services Council Official Statistics Report on 2024 workforce data | No | SSSS-WD | |||
Number and WTE of local authority social workers, 2024 [1] WTE is rounded to the nearest whole number, using LA measure of WTE, not 37.5 hour measure. |
This is given for: And broken down into: |
Provision; | Scottish social service workforce - WTE of LA social workers | 2015 | 16-120 | 16 | 120 | Data manager | No | Past year | Scottish Social Services Council Official Statistics Report on 2024 workforce data | No | SSSS-WD | |||
Numbers of occupational therapists, 2023 and 2024 [1] WTE is rounded to the nearest whole number, using LA measure of WTE, not 37.5 hour measure. |
This is given for: And broken down into: |
Provision; | Scottish social service workforce - numbers OTs | 2015 | 16-120 | 16 | 120 | Data manager | No | Past year | Scottish Social Services Council Official Statistics Report on 2024 workforce data | No | SSSS-WD | |||
Number and WTE of local authority occupational therapists, 2024 [1] WTE is rounded to the nearest whole number, using LA measure of WTE, not 37.5 hour measure. |
This is broken down into: And given for: |
Provision; | Scottish social service workforce - LA of OTs | 2015 | 16-120 | 16 | 120 | Data manager | No | Past year | Scottish Social Services Council Official Statistics Report on 2024 workforce data | No | SSSS-WD | |||
Estimated number of nurses by sub-sector and employer type, 2024 |
This is broken down into: And given for: |
Provision; | Scottish social service workforce - no of nurses - sector and employer type | 2015 | 16-120 | 16 | 120 | Data manager | No | Past year | Scottish Social Services Council Official Statistics Report on 2024 workforce data | No | SSSS-WD | |||
Estimated number of teachers by sub-sector and employer type, 2024 |
This is broken down into: And given for: |
Provision; | Scottish social service workforce - no. teachers - employer/sub sector type | 2015 | 16-120 | 16 | 120 | Data manager | No | Past year | Scottish Social Services Council Official Statistics Report on 2024 workforce data | No | SSSS-WD | |||
Percentage of staff by ethnic classification and sub-sector, 2024 |
This is broken down into White, Mixed, Asian, Black, Other, Unknown And given for: |
Provision; | Scottish social service workforce - ethnicity & sector | 2015 | 16-120 | 16 | 120 | Data manager | No | Past year | Scottish Social Services Council Official Statistics Report on 2024 workforce data | No | SSSS-WD | |||
Percentage of staff by ethnic classification and employer type, 2024 [1] ‘Black’ combines the new census categories, ‘African’ and ‘Caribbean or Black’. |
This is broken: White, Mixed, Asian, Black, Other, Unknown And given for: |
Provision; | Scottish social service workforce - % ethnicity & employer type | 2015 | 16-120 | 16 | 120 | Data manager | No | Past year | Scottish Social Services Council Official Statistics Report on 2024 workforce data | No | SSSS-WD | |||
Percentage of staff by gender and sub-sector, 2024 Adoption services |
Sub-sector broken down into Female, Male, Other, Unknown |
Provision; | Scottish social service workforce - % of staff gender/sector | 2015 | 16-120 | 16 | 120 | Data manager | No | Past year | Scottish Social Services Council Official Statistics Report on 2024 workforce data | No | SSSS-WD | |||
Median age of the workforce by sub-sector and employer type, 2024 [1] There is age data missing from 49 fieldwork service (children) staff records. This may have a small impact on the median presented here for public sector fieldwork service (children), causing it to be under- or over-estimated by no more than one year. |
Adoption services |
Provision; | Scottish social service workforce - age by sub sector & employer type | 2015 | 16-120 | 16 | 120 | Data manager | No | Past year | Scottish Social Services Council Official Statistics Report on 2024 workforce data | No | SSSS-WD | |||
Distribution of registered services by size band and sub-sector, 2024 |
Divided into size bands as follows: 1-4, 5-9, 10-24, 25-49, 50-249, 250+ Adoption services |
Provision; | Scottish social service workforce - service distribution | 2015 | 16-120 | 16 | 120 | Data manager | No | Past year | Scottish Social Services Council Official Statistics Report on 2024 workforce data | No | SSSS-WD | |||
Median staffing complement of registered services by employer type and sub-sector, 2024 Adoption services |
Sub-sector given for Public, Private, Voluntary |
Provision; | Scottish social service workforce - Median staffing complement registered services employer type | 2015 | 16-120 | 16 | 120 | Data manager | No | Past year | Scottish Social Services Council Official Statistics Report on 2024 workforce data | No | SSSS-WD | |||
Stability index by sub-sector, 2022-2024 [1] Start date in post data not available for childminders. |
Sub sector given for 2022 (%), 2023 (%), 2024 (%), |
Provision; | Scottish social service workforce - Stability index - Sub sector | 2015 | 16-120 | 16 | 120 | Data manager | No | Past year | Scottish Social Services Council Official Statistics Report on 2024 workforce data | No | SSSS-WD | |||
Stability index by employer type, 2022-2024 |
Employer type given for 2022 (%), 2023 (%), 2024 (%), |
Provision; | Scottish social service workforce - Stability index - Employer type | 2015 | 16-120 | 16 | 120 | Data manager | No | Past year | Scottish Social Services Council Official Statistics Report on 2024 workforce data | No | SSSS-WD | |||
Working Time Equivalent, headcount and ratio by sub-sector, 2024 |
WTE (37.5 hours), Headcount (HC), Ratio are given for: Adoption services |
Provision; | Scottish social service workforce - WTE & ratio | 2015 | 16-120 | 16 | 120 | Data manager | No | Past year | Scottish Social Services Council Official Statistics Report on 2024 workforce data | No | SSSS-WD | |||
Headcount of the Scottish social service workforce 2015, 2023 and 2024 |
Numbers of employees are given under: This is given for years 2015, 2023 and 2024. |
Provision; | Scottish social service workforce - workforce headcount | 2015 | 16-120 | 16 | 120 | Data manager | No | Past year | Scottish Social Services Council Official Statistics Report on 2024 workforce data | No | SSSS-WD | |||
Working Time Equivalent and headcount figures for the Scottish social service workforce, 2015-2024 |
WTE (37.5 hours), Headcount (HC) and Ratio of WTE to HC are given for: 2015 |
Provision; | Scottish social service workforce - WTE & headcount | 2015 | 16-120 | 16 | 120 | Data manager | No | Past year | Scottish Social Services Council Official Statistics Report on 2024 workforce data | No | SSSS-WD | |||
Number of active services registered with the Care Inspectorate at 31 December 2015, 2023 and 2024 |
Number of active services are given under: This is given for years 2015, 2023 and 2024. |
Provision; | Scottish social service workforce - active services registered | 2015 | 16-120 | 16 | 120 | Data manager | No | Past year | Scottish Social Services Council Official Statistics Report on 2024 workforce data | No | SSSS-WD | |||
Headcount of services, number of services and number of providers as at December 2015, 2023 and 2024 |
Headcount given for 2015, 2023 and 2024. This is broken down into: Providers |
Provision; | Scottish social service workforce - headcount of services & no. + | 2015 | 16-120 | 16 | 120 | Data manager | No | Past year | Scottish Social Services Council Official Statistics Report on 2024 workforce data | No | SSSS-WD | |||
Estimates for excluded groups, 2024 The volunteer estimates relate to volunteers in registered services only |
Estimates for the below groups are given for: |
Provision; | Scottish social service workforce - excluded groups | 2015 | 16-120 | 16 | 120 | Data manager | No | Past year | Scottish Social Services Council Official Statistics Report on 2024 workforce data | No | SSSS-WD | |||
Headcount of the Scottish social service workforce, and the number of services, by children/adult grouping 2015, 2023 and 2024 [1] In headcount of filled posts a small amount of double counting of individuals may exist. We round figures to the nearest 10 which means that individual columns may not sum to the totals. |
2015, 2023 and 2024 headcounts % change since 2015 were given for: Also, 2015 services, 2023 services, and 2024 services and a second % change since 2025 were given for these same four categories. |
Provision; | Scottish social service workforce - no. of services | 2015 | 16-120 | 16 | 120 | Data manager | No | Past year | Scottish Social Services Council Official Statistics Report on 2024 workforce data | No | SSSS-WD | |||
Headcount of the Scottish social service workforce, and the number of active services, by service grouping 2015, 2023 and 2024 [1] Headcount of filled posts; a small amount of double counting of individuals may exist. We round figures to the nearest 10 which means that individual columns may not sum to the totals. |
Figures given under Service Grouping, 2015 Headcount, 2023 Headcount, 2024 Headcount, % change since 2015, 2015 services, 2023 services, 2024 services % change since 2015 for the following categories: Adult Social Care |
Provision; | Scottish social service workforce - no. of active services | 2015 | 16-120 | 16 | 120 | Data manager | No | Past year | Scottish Social Services Council Official Statistics Report on 2024 workforce data | No | SSSS-WD | |||
Headcount by local authority area and employer type, 2024 [1] A small number of staff in the private and voluntary sectors have given office addresses outwith Scotland. |
Figures given for Public, Private, Voluntary, Total for these Scottish local authorities Aberdeen City |
Provision; | Scottish social service workforce - LA area & employer type | 2015 | 16-120 | 16 | 120 | Data manager | No | Past year | Scottish Social Services Council Official Statistics Report on 2024 workforce data | No | SSSS-WD | |||
Work Time Equivalent densities by local authority area, 2024 [1] The Edinburgh WTE figure reflects a notably higher number of social workers than reported in previous years. See Appendix A for more information. |
Figures given for Population, WTE, Density (per 10k) for the following LAs: Aberdeen City |
Provision; | Scottish social service workforce - WTE densities | 2015 | 16-120 | 16 | 120 | Data manager | No | Past year | Scottish Social Services Council Official Statistics Report on 2024 workforce data | No | SSSS-WD | |||
Table 11: Headcount by sub-sector and employer type, 2024 [1] The figures reflect a reclassification of some staff from central and strategic teams to fieldwork (generic). See Appendix A for more information. |
Figures for Public, Private, Voluntary, Total Adoption services |
Provision; | Scottish social service workforce - sub sector & employer type | 2015 | 16-120 | 16 | 120 | Data manager | No | Past year | Scottish Social Services Council Official Statistics Report on 2024 workforce data | No | SSSS-WD |
Overview
Aims
The dataset aims to provide an annual, comprehensive picture of the paid workforce employed across Scotland’s social service sector. It combines administrative data from the Care Inspectorate with information collected directly by the SSSC from local authorities. The overarching purpose is to support workforce planning, assess sector stability, identify trends across sub‑sectors, and inform national and local decision‑making.
Institution
Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC)
Geographic coverage - Nations
Scotland;
Start date
2008
Minimum age at recruitment
16
Sample Size
214,750
Sample
Study design
Administrative dataset
Sample details
The sample represents all paid staff working in registered social service roles in Scotland. It is a census-style dataset rather than a survey sample.
Sex
All
Sample Characteristics
All paid staff working in Scotland’s social service sector
Sample size at most recent sweep
The dataset covers the entire paid workforce employed in Scotland's social service sector at the end of each year. For the most recent published sweep (2024 data): 214,750
Data
Individual data available (e.g. upon special request)?
No
Data Access Level
Fully open source
Data Access
https://data.sssc.uk.com/data-publications/22-workforce-data-report/423-scottish-social-service-sector-report-on-2024-workforce-data
Regional variable present?
Yes
Local Authority variable present?
Yes
Complementary Data
Care Inspectorate - Staff vacancies in care services
NRS small - area population and SIMD
Public Health Scotland - Scottish Morbidity Records (SMR)
Public Health Scotland - SOURCE social care data
SSSC Registration data
Genetic Data Collected
Linked Data
Care Inspectorate Annual Returns
Six‑monthly PSW collection
SSSC Local Authority Social Work Services (LASWS) Staffing Return
HDR UK Innovation Gateway
Additional information
Website
https://data.sssc.uk.com/data-publications/22-workforce-data-report
Notes
Related Measures
Study Code
SSSS-WD
Reference paper(s)
Scottish Social Services Council (2025) Scottish Social Service Sector: Report on 2024 Workforce Data. [online] Available at: Workforce Data Report 2024 PDF
https://data.sssc.uk.com/images/WDR/WorkforceDataReport2024_211125.pdf
Funders
Scottish Government non‑departmental public body (NDPB)