Mental health officer Sandy Watt won the Scottish Association of Social Work’s (SASW’s) Social Worker of the Year award for 2012, a reward for his 20 years as a “model professional”.
Social workers must recognise the key role their profession can play in the ongoing fight for social justice, attendees at a Westminster launch of the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social...
As social workers mark World Social Work Day today, the British Association of Social Workers (BASW) issues a warning about a twin threat to both the profession in England, and to service users.
The philosophy of social pedagogy is largely alien to the UK’s care system, yet as social workers mark World Social Work Day, it is a good time to consider how much we could learn from how the...
Some asylum seekers in Scotland are being left destitute and social workers must play a role in ensuring their wellbeing, delegates to SASW’s World Social Work Day conference have heard.
World Social Work Day (WSWD) offers a chance to link social workers throughout the UK with colleagues around the world who are working, and have worked, to support those in need, delegates to the...
Social workers should absorb BASW’s revised Code of Ethics, published in January this year, and use it in all aspects of their work, professionals at a Scottish Association of Social Work (SASW –...
Social workers have been warned by the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) to ensure they do not do anything in their private lives that could call into question their suitability to practise.
Plans to integrate Scotland’s health and social care services by 2014 must learn lessons from similar efforts elsewhere in the world where successes and failures highlight the perils of attempting to...
BASW Cymru has described plans to legislate to legally enshrine the role of social workers in specific tasks, including adult and child protection work, as “an extremely welcome and positive step for...
BASW has expressed concern that senior figures in social care aren’t “prepared to rock the boat” and tackle the culture revealed by a Which? report.
Practitioners from across the public and voluntary sector gathered in the Long Gallery of Parliament Buildings, Stormont – home of the Northern Ireland Assembly – to celebrate World Social Work Day...
The Scottish government has written to the Scottish Association of Social Work (SASW – part of BASW) to indicate that it will press on with plans to abolish prison visiting committees but will...
The Scottish Association of Social Work (SASW – part of BASW) has reiterated its concerns about wholesale restructuring of health and social care after it was criticised in the Scottish parliament by...
Early intervention with families of infant children living in high-risk child protection situations has a proven impact on outcomes and can dramatically reduce public spending on future offenders.
BASW Cymru has urged the Welsh government to offer the people who use social services the additional safeguard of ensuring that the employers of social workers are legally required to give adequate...
A former pub and club bouncer who went on to become a social worker has been recognised with a prestigious lifetime achievement award for his work with disadvantaged people.
Most children in care believe their lives are better for being removed from their families but want more support in making the transition to adulthood, according to a report.
Securing post-qualifying qualifications can help make social workers more resistent to burnout, initial findings from research into building resilience amongst social workers in Northern Ireland has...
BASW has responded to the latest government plans to reform the adoption system in England by insisting that a child’s right to the best possible outcome should not be sacrificed in a “knee-jerk”...
Ofsted has now revealed that adoption breakdown will be factored into inspections, despite no reference to this issue when it announced that only local authorities who place children for adoption...
BASW has endorsed the views of Graham Hodkinson, director of Adult Services at Wirral Council, in which he emphasised the importance of social work in the local authority’s future performance.
BASW has called for the proper regulation of all private fostering arrangements in the wake of the convictions of Eric Bikubi and Magalie Bamu for the murder of 15-year-old Kristy Bamu
BASW is one of a number of organisations who submitted evidence to the commission for dignity in care draft report, which has just been published.
In a response to the Health Professions Council’s (HPC) consultation on student registration, BASW has stated that scrapping the social work student register would pose a risk to service users.
In a move claimed to ‘speed up’ the adoption process, Ofsted have announced that local authorities will only be given an outstanding rating, if they place children for adoption within 12 months.
The Scottish Association of Social Work (SASW – part of BASW) has urged the government to embrace flexible and creative solutions to public sector reform in order to ensure the best possible outcomes...
England’s Children’s Rights Director Roger Morgan has released the annual children’s care monitor.
The Children’s Society have published a report, I Don’t Feel Human, about the shocking levels of destitution among refugee, asylum-seeking and migrant children and young people in the UK.
Ahead of the government’s adoption action plan, due to be published next month, in a speech at the Isaac Newton Centre today, Michael Gove, the Secretary of State for Education, has reignited the...
Care Quality Commission (CQC) chief executive Cynthia Bower has resigned her post as a critical Department of Health report is published.
The Local Government Association (LGA) has announced that 1.6 million council workers across England, Wales and Northern Ireland will have their pay frozen for the third year in a row.
Nominations are now open for members to put themselves forward for the England Committee.
The final programme in the three-part Protecting our Children series on BBC2 gave further insight into some of the difficult cases that arise so often within children and families social work.
New statistics from Cafcass reporting record numbers of children being referred to social services have sparked widespread debate in the media, even drawing in ITV’s flagship daytime show, This...
Commenting on Cafcass’ announcement that the number of children referred into care in England has hit a record high, Sue Kent, BASW professional officer, said: “It is necessary that referrals are on...
Social workers in Northern Ireland are invited to come along to the Long Gallery in Stormont to mark the 2012 World Social Work Day on Monday 12 March.
Free workshop for members on ‘gaining influence in government’ BASW Cymru is hosting two interactive workshops.
Social workers in Wales will mark World Social Work Day with a conference featuring a presentation on multi-agency working from Gwent Police, and life as a social worker overseas, presented by the...
BASW professional officer Sue Kent shares her perspective on the second of the three Protecting our Children documentaries on BBC2.
A major event in Perth on 20 March offers social workers a chance to advance their professional development while joining with fellow professionals across the globe in marking World Social Work Day.
The Scottish Association of Social Work (SASW – part of BASW) has hit out at plans to abolish prison Visiting Committees.
BASW has responded to the government’s decision to reject the stance of the Family Justice Review and press ahead with legislation that would enshrine the rights of both parents to have access to...
Social workers have reacted strongly to the first episode of ‘Protecting Our Children’ on BBC2, a documentary following the case of a family in Bristol subject to the intervention of the council’s...
The Social Workers’ Educational Trust is encouraging social workers to apply for one of two £1,500 grants for undertaking research into key areas of practice.
Ahead of the first episode of ‘Protecting Our Children’ on BBC2 on Monday, BASW urged local authorities to follow Bristol City Council’s example in allowing cameras to follow their social workers as...
Following lobbying from the British Association of Social Workers (BASW), an All Party Parliamentary Social Work Group has held its first meeting, a move aimed at moving social work higher up the...
BASW has welcomed a report from Action for Children in which the charity highlights social workers’ powerlessness to intervene in suspected neglect cases.
The British Association of Social Workers (BASW) and The College of Social Work (TCSW) have each agreed to appoint one independent person to work together as mediators and negotiators seeking to...
The British Association of Social Workers (BASW) has updated its Code of Ethics for social workers as evidence emerges that frontline workers being put under pressure to turn a blind eye to unethical...
BASW Cymru has highlighted the pressures facing social workers in Wales and called for a change in culture among employers to offer more scope for social workers to raise concerns about resource...
The British Association of Social Workers (BASW) is hearing from increasing numbers of social workers facing financial difficulty, with some turning to payday loans with extortionately high interest...
Membership continues to rise and BASW’s visibility and impact on the sector is increasing. The Association is now seeking nominations for the honorary officer posts of BASW Chair, BASW Vice Chair and...
BASW has lent its support to a report claiming that the government “misled” MPs and peers over the levels of “hostility” to disability benefit reforms.
BASW is urging social workers who have qualified overseas to take part in a survey aimed at better understanding the information and support people receive on arriving to practise in the UK.
With cross party talks on the future of social care due to begin again, BASW has added its support to a letter, published in the Daily Telegraph.
BASW has raised concerns that proposed proficiency standards for social workers would place unreasonable expectations on newly-qualified social workers.
The Health Professions Council (HPC) has launched a consultation on whether it should keep a voluntary register for social work students.
The University of Bedfordshire have published a report entitled ‘What’s Going on?’ into safeguarding children and young people from sexual exploitation.
Three prominent social work figures who have held discussions with leaders of BASW and the Interim Board of the nascent College of Social Work over the past year, attempting to resolve key...