Poverty indicators are generally lower than average. The local crime rate is 598 per 10,000 population, below the Scottish average. Misuse of drugs and alcohol has an impact on the range of services, notably in relation to childcare. Services are provided by a social work department under a director who carries the responsibilities of chief social work officer. The Social work HQ team is split between two sites.
Most services are available in each of the main centres of population.
Home-based services are being developed from family centres to meet the needs of geographically isolated families and those who might not have the confidence to access a centre based service. Angus has experienced recruitment and retention problems and it has proved difficult to retain qualified social care staff because of career opportunities in Dundee and Aberdeen. The Council encourages voluntary and private sector provision, for example, the Salvation Army shopping service. The Council has invested to upgrade its IT infrastructure and extend e-mail and Intranet facilities. The Council is moving away from providing traditional home help services to providing services for people who need more personal care.