Praise and blame for council in report card
FIFE'S social work department has earned criticism and praise from Scotland's top inspector.
In his annual report of local authorities the Chief Social Work Inspector gave the Kingdom a pat on the back for continual improvement in its care of elderly people.
But he called for urgent action to raise the educational attainment of children in care.
The inspector, Angus Skinner, also commended a dramatic reduction in offending, brought about by the region's youth drugs team.
But he called for a faster pace in work which is done jointly with the NHS.
In the year 2002/03, more older people in Fife received community care, and, although the number of people of all ages getting home care dropped, it remained high compared with the rest of Scotland.
Fife Council welcomed the report's praise but also acknowledged its criticism.
Care in the community spokesman Councillor Irene Connelly said: "I'm pleased the report highlights so many of the areas where Fife Council has focussed its efforts to secure better services for some of the most vulnerable people in our communities.
"This is largely down to the dedication of our employees working in some very challenging fields.
"The report highlights areas where further progress is required.
''For many of these Fife Council has already demonstrated improvement, for example in the area of educational attainment of all looked after children, and in improving the performance in provision of reports to children's hearings."
The chief inspector also said increasing demand for social work services nationwide required effort to recruit and retain staff.
Mrs Connelly said: "In Fife there is less of a problem in recruiting qualified social workers than in other parts of Scotland but we are not complacent.
"There are a number of initiatives to recruit and retain qualified social workers including a Fife trainee scheme. ''