Negative stories about social workers can put people’s lives at risk, political commentator and The Guardian columnist Owen Jones warned.
Last month PSW launched a search to find the individuals you believe have had the biggest influence on social work in the UK. The top five as chosen by you will be published in the Encylopedia of...
England Conference and Annual Meeting: A big thank you to members, staff, guest speakers and workshop leads for your fantastic contribution in the planning and delivery of the England Conference...
Social workers in Birmingham must be given “the tools to do their job”, the British Association of Social Workers (BASW) said in the wake of another damning Ofsted report for child protection in the...
BASW was instrumental in developing new standards setting out the level of support social workers in England can expect from their employers.
BASW and SWU have launched an online petition opposing proposals by the Coalition Government that pave the way for the privatisation of children's social care. The plans are outlined in a...
BASW comment on delegating children's social care function consultation
The latest set of quarterly data prompted by the Winterbourne View Concordat, which aims to end inappropriate hospital placements for learning disabled people, has shown that 1,702 patients out of a...
This week Think Ahead, a ‘fast-track’ scheme for training mental health social workers has been launched by care minister Norman Lamb and the IPPR. While the programme is yet to be fine-tuned,...
The Government’s troubled families initiative was criticised as based on a “spurious target” and showing little evidence of sustained change by the British Association of Social Workers.
More consideration needs to be given to the safety of social workers who increasingly face abuse and violence while trying to keep others safe, BASW’s Chief Executive Bridget Robb said.
Letting children under the age of 13 have a Facebook account is tantamount to child abuse and like “giving a ten-year-old a packet of cigarettes” an expert in child protection and parenting warned.
The Child Protection All Party Parliamentary Group has issued six recommendations for the prevention of child sexual abuse and better support for victims. The group highlights concerns that, despite...
Personalisation means social workers must respect the right of individuals to live with risk in their lives, England’s Chief Social Worker for Adults said.
As an undercover investigation for BBC Panorama revealed abuse and neglect at two separate care homes in different parts of the country, BASW has commented that the sector is not in a “good place”...
Social workers must challenge the “discourse of failure” upon which the profession is judged and instead celebrate the “heroic professionals” trying to change lives, a child protection head said.
England’s Chief Social Worker for Children called for social workers to have a “new relationship” with local authorities that recognises their skills rather than just holding them to account.
Increase in membership: England membership continues to increase – notably we have seen growth in student membership, members in full-time employment and those working independently. The annual...
BASW has pledged its commitment to working with CQC to address the problem of a national shortage of ‘places of safety’ where young people who experience episodes of mental ill health in public...
As the NSPCC releases its annual How safe are our children? report showing that strained frontline social work teams are struggling to provide anything other than an ‘emergency service’, BASW has...
Responding to Julian Le Grand’s report to the Secretary of State for Education on ways forward for children’s social care services in Birmingham, Bridget Robb, Chief Executive of the British...
Coverage of BASW England's World Social Work Day event in Birmingham, held on 19 March
Commenting on today's Ofsted report describing the effectiveness of the Local Safeguarding Children Board in Coventry as 'inadequate', following the tragic death of Daniel Pelka in 2012, BASW Chief...
The importance of working together with service users to tell both good and bad stories of social work was a key theme of NIASW’s World Social Work Day conference at Titanic Belfast.
The implications of changes to care legislation that will affect every adult in England were outlined to social workers.
Social workers must stay focused on being reflective, research-minded practitioners amid the “pandemonium” of Government legislation impacting on their profession.
Children forced to be soldiers during Sierra Leone’s civil war that ended a decade ago have growing into a generation of traumatised adults in need of support.
This house notes World Social Work Day on 18 March; recognises social work as a global profession and commends social workers across the UK for their dedication and hard work with some of the most...
A stark insight into the lives of the eight million children institutionalised in orphanages globally was given by a charity founded by Harry Potter author JK Rowling.
It has been a busy time for the England Team, members and branches. Thanks to you all - by working together we achieve so much more. This report details some of that activity and hopefully will...
A sobering insight into how Government policies are impacting on service users was delivered at BASW Black Country Branch’s ‘Social Work in a Time of Austerity’ conference. Hugh Robertson reports on...
BASW is a signatory to a letter in today’s Guardian expressing members’ concerns about reported further cuts to NHS mental health services.
A House of Lords review of the Mental Capacity Act has backed a BASW proposal for oversight of its currently “patchy” implementation to be given to a single independent body.
BASW is endorsing a campaign to amend the Care Bill to provide court authorised power of access to safeguard vulnerable adults in their own homes. Campaigners want to end the situation where...
BASW has praised Professor David Croisdale-Appleby’s report Re-visioning social work education: an independent review for its “academic rigour” and depth of engagement with a wide range of...
The creation of a Chief Social Worker for England was one of the recommendations of the Social Work Task Force. Last year, the government responded, but to the dismay of some, split the role in two...
BASW England's report for the March PSW.
The future of social work regulation in England has been thrown in doubt after a major report recommended a potential role for The College of Social Work in registering individual social workers.
Social work is a single, internationally recognised profession and the social work role cannot be split into a distinct checklist of skills needed for adults and children’s social work, the British...
Secretary of State for Education Michael Gove leapt on one aspect of Sir Martin Narey’s report into the future of children’s social work training to repeat previous assertions that social work...
BASW is concerned that a number of social work employers in England, particularly but not exclusively local authorities, could be acting in contravention of the law in the way they are approaching...
BASW Professional Officer Joe Godden reflects how his family’s experience of persecution in Nazi Germany had a major impact on his life and choice of career.
Fifty years after the Holocaust, the world watched in horror as images of concentration camps and mass graves in mainland Europe once again appeared on our television sets during the war in Bosnia....
The tragic death of the six Philpott children in Derby underlines the “uncomfortable” truth that sometimes it can be impossible to predict risk to children, BASW’s Chief Executive Bridget Robb said.
BASW has welcomed a major report which calls on the Government to examine social work’s often conflicting role as both the key player in helping families to stay together and the enforcer of child...
BASW has described comments made by Ofsted chief inspector Sir Michael Wilshaw that social workers need to send out “tough messages” about taking responsibility to parents “who behave badly” as an...
BASW England's report for the February PSW
Social workers working with children or adults with learning difficulties, autism and challenging behaviour are being asked to contact BASW about their experiences, both good and bad.
Following the untimely death of Paul Goggins MP, BASW Chief Executive Bridget Robb has paid tribute to Paul for his contribution to social work.
The ambitions of the Social Work Task Force set up to reform social work in England in the wake of Peter Connolly’s death have been hampered by austerity cuts.
The Holocaust Memorial Day Trust (HMDT) is the charity which promotes and supports Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD). 27 January is the day for everyone to remember the millions of people killed in the...
The “scapegoating” of Sharon Shoesmith is symbolic of the political interference suffered by social workers across the UK, BASW’s Chief Executive Bridget Robb said. Ms Robb claimed there was a “knee-...
As Birmingham City Council unveiled its strategy to improve services for children and young people, BASW called on the Government and its team of advisors sent in to the local authority to support...
As Human Rights Day is celebrated all over the world today, BASW Professional Officer Nushra Mansuri pays tribute to Nelson Mandela. She writes …
BASW England report – January 2014 ... message from Maris Stratulis (new BASW England Manager), Media Coverage, Alcohol and Other Drugs Special Interest Group Event and Membership Involvement ...
BASW Professional Officer Sue Kent welcomes the news that looked after children can stay with their foster carers up to the age of 21 years rather than be forced to become independent at the age of...
The ability of social workers to keep children safe from harm has diminished, not improved, in the five years since the convictions in the case of Baby Peter Connelly in Haringey, the All Party...
Bridget Robb's response to media reports of an Italian woman who underwent a caesarean procedure while under sectioned under the Mental Health Act and whose baby remains in the care of Essex County...
BASW’s Chief Executive Bridget Robb praised social workers for not turning away from the people “many would rather forget”. Speaking at the 2013 Social Work of the Year Awards, Ms Robb said...