When in 2005 Scottish Ministers gave her the opportunity to lead the Social Work Inspection Agency (SWIA) under the direction of the Parliament, Alexis Jay did not hesitate. She had previously been in the position of having to make things happen from scratch.

The most challenging yet exciting task in her career so far was being part of the group that formulated the Free Personal Care for Older People policy – an extremely radical and controversial move in the early years of the Scottish Parliament. She was then asked to oversee the implementation of that policy in a ridiculously short timescale. I like social policy work because of the intellectual challenge it often presents - Alexis admits.

As Chief Executive of SWIA and the Chief Inspector of Social Work in Scotland nowadays Alexis Jay can rely on her previous operational experience of how things work at the frontline when making decisions. SWIA, a member of ESN, is a government agency that inspects and scrutinises the delivery of social work services by Scotland’s 32 councils in order to improve the quality of services provided either by the NGO sector, the private sector or by the councils themselves. 

So how does the inspection work? We send teams of highly qualified, professional staff to inspect each council and then publish a report on their findings, highlighting good practice and areas for improvement - explains Alexis. Her working day is often filled with reading and commenting on draft reports, policy documents, good practice publications etc. Reading is the main but not the only exercise. Following inspection reports, SWIA goes back to councils and helps them set up action plans for improvement and continues to oversee their implementation.

Alexis is also the chief professional adviser on social work to Scottish Ministers, so part of her work involves meetings with ministers, as well attending government working groups on specific issues. On top of this busy schedule, she also accommodates travel to and presentations in many conferences around UK, Europe and beyond. So what motivates Alexis? Commitment to a fairer, more just society and seeing dedicated social services staff helping to make people’s lives better - she says.

As a member of the ESN working group on Long-term Care in 2008 she worked with European colleagues and this brought home to her the differences between countries. Some countries are more advanced than others in the quality of care provided but we can all learn from each other’s successes and mistakes. It is my hope that with the coordination and leadership from ESN we are able to drive up standards for all who need to use social services - she says. Alexis is particularly interested in quality and public assurance about quality and she believes that much could be done at European level.

Decisions, however, are ultimately in the hands of politicians, and having spent many years in local government, local politics has loomed large in Alexis’ life. Despite a healthy dose of scepticism – not cynicism – she knows only too well that positive influence on politicians can deliver good results in securing resources and convincing them that social work is an important public service. Also, on some agendas, social workers have not been good at recognising the genuine concerns of ordinary citizens who have to put up with, for example, problem behaviour of some young people in the community or the accommodation of sex offenders. Politicians do have a key role in helping the public with such issues.

After thirty years of experience what would she change in her career if she could go back in time? One thing I would change is that I didn’t realise early enough in my career the importance of evidence-based practice - Alexis says. She knows now that research, inspection findings, good data, good analysis, benchmarking are a very powerful tool for convincing others about your good ideas.

But over coffee Alexis would mention that had she had the talent she would have liked to be a film director or writer, to possess that extra possibility to influence social policy through pictures. With her stylish earrings and a beautiful brooch on the right side of her jacket – she could easily pass for an art producer. After all, improving people's lives is often the best script one could have, and Alexis is already living her film.