'The backbone of our society' - social work praised and pressures highlighted in Commons

Published by Professional Social Work magazine, 24 November, 2022

MPs from across the political divide spoke in support of social workers in the House of Commons.

The comments came during a debate on children’s social care on the day a practice review into the death of seven-year-old Logan Mwangi was published.

During the debate, minister for children families and wellbeing Claire Coutinho also revealed the government’s promised response to England’s Independent Review of Children’s Social Care has been pushed back “early in the New Year”.

Shadow education minister Helen Hayes said: "I pay tribute to social workers across the country who are working every day to support families, to keep children safe, and to provide stability and security for looked-after children, but they are all too often working in incredibly difficult circumstances.

"The most recent survey of social workers by the British Association of Social Workers revealed that more than a third reported that their caseload had increased since the start of the covid-19 pandemic. The Department for Education’s own analysis shows that the number of children’s social workers quitting children’s services altogether rose more than a fifth during 2021."

Former children’s minister Tim Loughton (East Worthing and Shoreham, Con), said: “Social workers do not kill babies and vulnerable children; it is evil carers or parents who do that. For social workers, it is a question of how and when they can intervene, hopefully to lessen the chances of adults doing cruel things to children, which they will always do."

Loughton said the issues facing social workers were identified ten years ago in the Munro review, adding: “We find ourselves coming almost full circle to high vacancy rates in the social work profession. Too many experienced, grey-haired social workers are burnt out and leaving the profession early, and are unable to pass on their great wisdom, experience and mentoring skills to new social workers coming into the profession. We find ourselves with case loads that are, again, too heavy.

“The problem is that we are still losing too many experienced social workers by overloading them.”

Rachael Maskell (York Central, Lab/Co-op), highlighted the pressure on social workers: “One of the things that has constantly dogged the profession has been the pressure, the extent of the caseloads and the circumstances that social workers and other professionals work under. Those pressures are not abating at the moment, as local authorities are facing significant pressures as well.”

Wera Hobhouse (Bath, Lib Dem), described social workers as “the backbone of our society, helping future generations to thrive”.

She added: “Unfortunately, the government have treated them with utter contempt, asking more and more of them. No wonder we are seeing staff shortages. Who would want to work in an industry where people feel overlooked and undervalued?”

She urged the government to do more to make social work a “valued profession it deserves to be” and do more to encourage people to both enter and stay in the sector.

Jim Shannon (Strangford, NUP), said social workers were “bending over backwards to support the families”. He urged the government to tackle the increased number of referrals and social work vacancies.

David Simmonds (Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner, Con), stressed that despite criticisms of the system, child safeguarding in the UK is “among the best in the world”.

“The few international studies that provide effective comparisons demonstrate that the UK is seen as an exemplar for effective safeguarding in pretty much every aspect of providing effective child protection,” he said.

However, the system was being put under increased strain over the last decade, he said, with a seven per cent rise in referrals to children’s social care; a 129 per cent rise in section 47 inquiries, a 32 per cent rise in child protection plans and a 24 per cent rise in children coming into care.

Against this backdrop, he warned against rising thresholds for intervention: “When resources are tight, agencies simply say the point at which they respond will be when things have gone more wrong than would have been the case previously.

“We need to ensure that we do not get into a situation where tight resources mean there is less and less early intervention and, therefore, a cohort of children going through our system for whom life will be much more challenging, whose cost to the taxpayer will be higher, and whose ability to contribute to and thrive in our society will be reduced.”

Timpson urged the government to not shirk from finding the £2.1 billion investment in children’s social care recommended in the children’s social care review.

“We spend £136 billion a year on the NHS and £51 billion a year on education - I do not quibble with that - so when looking for this £2.1 billion, we must remember that it is a one-off payment that will, over the next four years, give children in the system now and in future a much better opportunity to have a fulfilling life.”

He maintained all government departments should help with this “because every department will benefit from these changes”.

Responding to the debate, Coutinho said: "The dedication of social workers, family support workers, directors of children’s services, foster carers, kinship carers and others up and down the country who work determinedly to improve children’s lives deserve our fullest praise."

She said acting on the findings of the review was "the thing that is keeping me up at night", adding: "It is a huge priority. I committed to publishing our implementation strategy early in the new year and I look forward to returning to this House to set out our plans in full."

Campaign launch

BASW UK has launched a campaign with the Social Workers Union for a 'better supported workforce in a more equal society'. The campaign focuses on increasing the mileage rate, improving remote working allowances, and increasing bursaries for student social workers.