The newly appointed Chief Social Worker for Children and a fast-track training model for high-flying graduates each have the potential to improve social work in England but must not go the way of...
Commenting on the New ‘Passport to Support’ for adopters, Nushra Mansuri, professional officer at the British Association of Social Workers, said: “The new “adoption passport” is a step in the right...
As the Care Inquiry publishes its findings of an eight-month inquiry into the care system by eight leading children’s charities, including the Fostering Network, TACT and the British Association for...
Michael Gove has had a stupendously busy month, fairly cavorting his way over the top of one educational sacred cow after another. The Daily Mail’s Quentin Letts this week went so far as to describe...
A BASW survey suggests widespread lack of awareness of the Assessed and Supported Year of Employment (ASYE) in England, six months on from the launch of the scheme aimed at supporting newly qualified...
BASW professional officer Joe Godden on Labour’s plans to launch an independent commission led by former Department of Health specialist Sir John Oldham to investigate how best to integrate health...
As Alan Milburn and Baroness Shephard, chairman and deputy chairman of a new Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission call on Government to do more to meet the global 2020 target on child poverty...
None of us could have failed to have been moved last month as a verdict was reached in the Philpott trial where six children tragically lost their lives as a result of arson committed by Mick and...
BASW has described Ofsted’s decision to inspect local authority child protection and services for children who are looked after under a single, combined framework as “puzzling”, and urges the...
Following reports of the Department for Education’s (DfE) decision to pull funding from the Children’s Improvement Board (CIB), BASW has described it as a “callous move” that constitutes a major blow...
BASW statement on Sandwell council children's services being rated 'inadequate' by Ofsted.
BASW responds to the Philpott arson case sentencing.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has revealed a widespread lack of understanding among residential carers about the Mental Capacity Act and the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards, finding excessive...
Social workers have expressed concern that multi-disciplinary working in mental health services is being eroded under cost-cutting measures which are putting people’s health at risk. A snapshot...
BASW is urging members to take part in a survey to find out if new standards – setting out clear expectations of employers for helping you in your work – are operating effectively. The Advisory...
Write to your Member of Parliament to express concern in the loss of valuable expertise independent social workers bring to the family courts.
As the Government response to the Francis report into care failings at Mid Staffs hospitals is published, the Social Workers Union has echoed the call for whistle blowers to be protected, and said...
The vital role that social workers play in reducing inequality was the clear message sounded at BASW’s event to mark World Social Work Day in Westminster.
Speaking at a celebration event in Westminster later today, BASW Interim Chief Executive Bridget Robb will tell an audience of MPs and social work professionals that money is not the answer to all of...
As a new report from MPs claims the youth justice system is currently failing children in care and care leavers, BASW has reiterated the need to treat looked after children as individuals. The report...
Public sector cuts risk eroding social cohesion, warns BASW, following concerns raised by the highest judge in the land that cuts to legal aid may see people "take the law into their own hands".
BASW has endorsed a major report that lifts the lid on the lack of multi-agency understanding about how to tackle human slavery and called on social workers to “play their part” to stop this abuse.
BASW has said that difficult questions remain about the approach taken to staff involved in the Baby Peter Connelly case, following today's decision by the Court of Appeal to reject a claim of unfair...
BASW has responded to comments made by home secretary Theresa May that the Government “can only do so much” and that people must speak out against violence against women and girls, with a reminder...
Following the failings identified by the Jimmy Savile case and the exploitation of young girls by gangs, the director of public prosecutions Keir Starmer QC has called for a new approach to tackle...
BASW has responded to education secretary Michael Gove’s assertion that the current social work reform agenda will enable social workers to spend the time they need with at risk children by calling...
The British Association of Social Workers (BASW) has issued strong support for today's comments by Baroness Butler-Sloss, Chair of the House of Lords Select Committee on Adoption Legislation, who has...
The need for a relationship-based approach to social work practice is greater than ever but public sector cuts are reducing the role of social workers to little more than one of “managing crisis”....
BASW welcomes the opportunity that the Frontline initiative provides to explore the potential for diversity in the delivery of social work education. BASW has some concerns about the current shape of...
Winterbourne View, the Francis Report, the Children and Families Bill, plus career guidance, will all be explored in detail by BASW spokespeople at a major exhibition on 4 March. Offering a range of...
BASW is backing an urgent campaign to prevent the Westminster government from using a regulation in the new Health and Social Care Bill that will force GPs to privatise more and more services.
In a Huffington Post blog, BASW’s press officer assesses how the media is being used to promote the government’s proposals on welfare reform by demonising benefit claimants such as mum of 11 Heather...
BASW professional officer Joe Godden assesses the latest incarnation of the Dilnot report.
Writing for the Guardian Social Care Network, BASW professional officer Sue Kent examines how Facebook is increasingly being used for unplanned communication between adoptive and birth families.
BASW has expressed serious concern at comments by the new and unelected Chair of The College of Social Work that she expects four more years of government funding and is seeking ways around data...
In spite of the snow in January and February, it has been a good and productive start to the year for BASW England staff and members. England professional officer Nushra Mansuri attended a meeting...
BASW professional officer Sue Kent examines the issues raised by a new report from the Child Protection All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG), that highlights a family courts system under extreme...
As the Chief Inspector of Ofsted publishes a new report that highlights the lack of reliable data on the number of children who go missing from care and the need for urgent action to establish a...
As a study from HM inspectorate of Probation of 24 male sex offenders, (10 of whom were minors) indicates that early signs of future sexual offending were missed in the majority of cases, BASW...
Writing for the Guardian Social Care Network, BASW's acting chief executive Bridget Robb explains why the Mid Staffs NHS scandal is also a disgrace shared by the social work profession.
As children’s minister Edward Timpson today introduces the Children and Families bill to parliament, BASW issues a reminder to government that social workers need more help to keep families together...
BASW's Chief Executive Bridget Robb calls on David Cameron for action as inquiry reveals 'shocking truth' of treatment of asylum-seeking children.
BASW calls on policy makers and service providers to act after the Care Quality Commission highlights concern over the treatment of people detained under the Mental Health Act in England.
As the world remembers the persecution of Jews in Nazi Europe on Holocaust Memorial Day, BASW highlights the role of social workers in standing up against injustice and supporting the most vulnerable...
Daughter of Kindertransport Jew fleeing Nazi persecution says support for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in UK is inadequate.
BASW's Acting Chief Executive Bridget Robb backs concerns raised by the Local Government Association over adoption reforms in England which could see the role of councils reduced.
Interview with the Government's 'adoption tsar' Martin Narey to feature in February's issue of Professional Social Work magazine.
BASW Council has completed the independent investigation into allegations made about the conduct of suspended Chief Executive Hilton Dawson. Following a subsequent period of mediation, recommended by...
Ofsted has reclassified Kent's children's services from "inadequate" to "adequate" after a two-year £30million improvement drive but BASW warned Government cuts are putting children at risk across...
An 'adoption hotspots' map launched by the Government today is described as a "simplistic approach" to a complex issue by BASW's Acting Chief Executive Bridget Robb.
As new research highlights the need for social workers to develop emotional resilience, BASW stresses employers also have a part to play in protecting staff from the danger of burnout.
Following reports that 8,425 from an estimated 88,000 social workers have not registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) in England, BASW professional officer Joe Godden is...
BASW's Acting Chief Executive Bridget Robb uses a column in The Times to respond to ministerial plans for all children in England who are admitted to hospital accident and emergency departments to be...
House of Lords backs BASW stance against Government claims that "politically correct" social workers are preventing ethnic children from getting adopted by white candidates. An inquiry by peers also...
The England team would like to wish you a good Christmas break and wish you all a happy new year. The month leading up to Christmas made no allowances for festivities, starting with the second...
Writing in the Huffington Post, BASW's press officer debunks the stats being used to promote the Troubled Families initiative.
BASW’s Special Interest Group (SIG) on Alcohol and Other Drugs has produced five pocket guides to put basic information, hints, tips and reminders literally into the hands of frontline practitioners.
BASW is pleased to hear a pledge of support from care services minister Norman Lamb MP for the social work view that long term care for adults with disabilities should be based on treating the person...
BASW England Manager Ruth Cartwright on why the social work profession should support nurses.
The imposition of six month targets for placing children in care for adoption will lead to rushed and inadequate assessments, potentially making the process too fast for would-be adopters and open to...