A secure future for Scottish social work
Social work is at the heart of our public services and forms the backbone of our social support and protection systems. With crucial connections to health, social care, education, and justice systems, social work is and must be a profession embedded within our communities. Where social workers are recognised as skilled, autonomous professionals, central to upholding human rights and promoting social justice, they can transform lives.
The Scottish Association of Social Work’s manifesto for the 2026 Scottish Elections, A Secure Future for Scottish Social Work, outlines the need for radical action to tackle the crises facing our local public services and the communities they serve.
The Scottish Government must address poverty, which drives the now unsustainable demand for public services. SASW supports the idea of a Minimum Income Guarantee (MIG) and that if rolled out at maximum speed, the MIG could reverse the tide of intolerable poverty and mitigate the increasing demand on services.
Social work is suffering a crisis in workforce recruitment and retention of highly qualified and committed people in the profession. This is mainly due to a perfect storm of poor working conditions and increasing workloads, driven by demand for support services, coupled with ever-decreasing funding. Some local authority teams are operating at only 50% capacity, increasing pressure on new and remaining social workers.
Alison Bavidge, National Director, SASW“Social work is central to Scotland’s public services and to thriving and safe communities. Our manifesto highlights that local government currently does not have the resource to support citizens who are struggling with crisis in their lives or to help people who just need a bit of help to avert a potential crisis.
"We need funding for local services that is based on fair pay and conditions for workers. Funding to local government must move from short term, one-year budgets to a position where people can rely on local support services year-on-year, in which local workers can be confident that they will have good quality jobs."