The General Medical Council’s (GMC) pledge to back doctors who report suspected child abuse, even if their fears are later proved groundless, has been endorsed by BASW.
BASW has endorsed a report by three UK children’s charities which warns that the number of children living in vulnerable families in Britain is likely to rise to over one million by 2015.
Commenting on government plans to compel councils to consider placing children with approved adopters and remove what ministers have described as “groundless doubts about whether ‘Fostering for...
Students and newly qualified social workers (NQSWs) could win one of six £50 Amazon vouchers if they take part in BASW’s 2012 annual survey of their experiences of training, supervision and...
Among the 17 local authorities to respond to BASW’s State of Social Work survey at the time of going to press, many accepted that social workers were under pressure, particularly in children’s...
BASW has called for radical improvement to current residential care facilities, and a right for children to be cared for near to their own communities, following reforms announced by Children’s...
The Health Professions Council (HPC) has published new proficiency standards for social workers in England ahead of assuming regulatory responsibility for the profession from the General Social Care...
An assessment of 11 years in the life of the soon to be deceased General Social Care Council has shown an overwhelmingly female profession in England, a mixed racial background and an average age of...
The Health Professions Council (HPC) has responded to significant concerns about its abolition of student registration by launching a new ‘suitability scheme’ to oversee education providers in the...
BASW members used the Association’s Annual General Meeting to unanimously reaffirm support for ongoing negotiations with The College of Social Work (TCSW), with the aim of securing a unified UK...
A motion proposing greater BASW transparency in “opening up its business to members” was passed unanimously.
BASW’s trade union arm the Social Workers Union is dealing with increasing calls from members as escalating workplace challenges impact on working conditions, prompting the Association to launch a...
BASW’s Social Workers Educational Trust awarded £14,000 worth of grants for applicants seeking to further their learning during 2010/11
BASW’s AGM concluded with the award of Honorary Life Membership to three longstanding members for their dedication and contribution to BASW’s work over the past 40 years.
BASW chief executive Hilton Dawson offered a glowing analysis of the Association’s current state in his annual report to members.
A collection of news articles and updates from the 2012 BASW AGM.
BASW has increased the funding it provides for social workers facing financial difficulty, as evidence grows that more and more hard-up professionals are falling into debt.
The General Social Care Council (GSCC) has marked its imminent demise by publishing a poll in which more than half of all social work respondents named ‘protection of title’ as the policy which has...
Three global organizations join forces to make an impact on social development. The three international social work, education and social development bodies have committed to working together with...
BASW has described government proposals to slim down child protection guidance as “disingenuous”.
BASW’s 2012 Annual Conference will take place on 14 June, pursuing the following themes: 1. The implications for the profession of the BASW’s State of Social Work survey 2. The latest situation in...
Commenting on plans to be unveiled tomorrow by Communities Secretary Eric Pickles that all 152 top-level councils in England will be incentivised to send in “trouble-shooters” to deal with problem...
New figures released by the NSPCC show that reports of neglect to its helpline have doubled over the last two years to reach record levels.
Commenting on new research from Cafcass that claims that local authorities are acting more quickly to process care applications.
Gillie Christou and Maria Ward , two social workers involved in the case of Baby Peter Connelly, have lost their appeal against an employment tribunal ruling that they were fairly sacked, prompting...
Commenting on Professor Eileen Munro’s progress report into the review of the child protection system.
BASW member Janet Foulds has written a Guardian blog "Child grooming – what social workers should know".
Read BASW’s latest Huffington Post blog Our social workers are cleaning toilets instead of protecting children.
BASW has called for a “sustained governmental commitment” to child protection following the publication of a serious case review examining the circumstances prior to the murder of five-year-old Tyler...
BASW has expressed concern at the government’s publication of adoption scorecards, which rank local authorities on how long children in their care wait to be adopted.
BASW has responded to media stories about social workers standing in the way of adopted parents being able to change the name of the children they adopt by emphasising the importance of maintaining...
My initial reaction to news that the Draft Care and Support Bill had made it into the Queen’s Speech was one of relief followed by disappointment that there was no mention of attempting to resolve...
BASW has expressed disappointment at the conclusion of the Health Professions Council (HPC) that registration of social work students by the same body that regulates qualified practitioners is not...
Read BASW’s latest Huffington Post blog which poses the question “Why do we only take notice of our teenagers when rapists are convicted?”
Elderly and disabled people are being left ‘in quiet desperation, trying to cope alone, often ending up in hospital or crisis care’.
The BASW UK AGM 2012 This will be held on Thursday 14th June 2012, at Novotel Hotel, Birmingham, B1 2HT
Social workers are being encouraged to get their nominations in for the 2012 Social Worker of the Year Awards.
With evidence gathering for the white paper on adult social care drawing to a close this week, in BASW’s latest blog for the Huffington Post, the Association urges the government to “buck the trend...
Following pressure from a number of concerned groups including BASW, the UK Border Agency has been forced to suspend a dental x-ray pilot scheme to determine the age of child asylum seekers.
BASW has welcomed the advertising of a vacancy for the position of chief social worker within the Westminster government.
BASW has highlighted the pressures facing social work teams in the wake of Torbay’s children’s services coming under the spotlight for the fact that two out of five children at risk are not being...
Commenting on Cafcass figures showing that the number of local council care applications has passed 10,000 for the first time.
The important role of independent social workers in family court proceedings won support from a high court judge at a Family Justice Review Public Summit.
The Department of Health (DoH) is inviting BASW members to comment on how better to support families who are worried that a loved one is at risk, and also those who are coping with the aftermath of a...
A Public Law Summit on the Family Justice Review (FJR) heard an upbeat assessment of the potential for an “effective, powerful College of Social Work”.
BASW has welcomed aspects of an Ofsted report into the causes of delays in the adoption system, a document that found adoptive parents to be happy with the overall service offered by professionals.
BASW has restated its reservations about the dangers of integration as the UK’s largest merger of local authority and NHS care services prepares to go live.
BASW has set out the four cornerstones for improving the effectiveness of serious case reviews, following sharp government criticisms of the serious case review (SCR) into the case of two boys who...
Social workers should resist “becoming de-politicised and part of the status quo” and must not be afraid of reclaiming community work even though it has a reputation as “too radical”, a leading...
Welcoming this morning’s announcement that dementia funding is to be more than doubled by 2015.
Social workers should be given a more integral role in supporting teams of workers who assist with natural disasters and humanitarian emergencies.
Disillusioned by the “process bound approach” of working for a local authority, a social worker has told BASW England’s World Social Work Day event how setting up as an independent social worker had...
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...
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...
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.
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.
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”...