Welcome to Social Work Services

The Social Work Services Department provides a wide and important range of services for individuals, families and communities. Our services support some of the most vulnerable people in our community. Today we are providing services to around 11,000 people throughout the Borders. Every day, we make a vital difference to people's lives. The Department is organised into three main areas:

Social Care and Health

Community Care - for people aged 16 years and over

Children Services and Criminal Justice

Housing and Social Work Strategy

Services are provided in a variety of settings and depending on individual care needs, these may be in your own home, at a day centre, in the community or a residential care home. Some services are provided directly by the Council. The Council also contracts with independent providers for some services. Priority is always given to those in greatest need and at most risk.

Contact Social Work Services

For information and advice about all the services we provide, please contact us as follows:

Tel: 0300 100 1800

Email: Social Work Services

Our offices are open Monday to Thursday 8:45am-5:00pm and Friday 8:45am-3:45pm. In an emergency outside office hours, call 01896 752111. Contact details for Social Work offices are also available.

Providing quality services

The Director of Social Work, Andrew Lowe has overall responsibility for all our operational and business functions. Our elected Executive Member is Councillor David Raw. The Department is accountable to the:

Scottish Government (which has set the National Care Standards for Services)
Social Work Inspection Agency
Care Commission
Scottish Social Services Council

Information about the financial and administrative management of the Social Work Department can be found in our Business Management section.

Performance Inspection of Social Work Services

Between May and September 2008 the Social Work Inspection Agency (SWIA) carried out a comprehensive inspection of the Department. The outcome and final report (pdf 410kb) was published on 20 February 2009.

Publications

Social Work Services Annual Report 2006-07 pdf 1.2mb.
Complaints Procedures Annual Report 2007-08 (pdf 160kb)

You can get paper copies of the above from the Communications Co-ordinator on Tel. 01835 825080.

Access to files

Social Work Services keeps records about all its service users. These are considered confidential and kept securely. You do, however, have a right to see any information that is held about you. Please follow this link for more information about how to access your files.

Comments and complaints

Your comments, ideas and suggestions for improving our services are always welcome. We also want to hear from you if you are dissatisfied with a service or have been refused a service. Please follow this link for details of our comments and complaints procedure.