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.
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...
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.
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...
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.
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...
BASW’s Additional General Meeting kicked off with news that the Association’s trade union arm, the Social Workers Union, has received its Certificate of Independence from the Trade Union...
Following calls from the British Association of Social Workers (BASW) for an enquiry into the College of Social Work’s exclusive membership deal with Unison, the Education Select Committee will now...
BASW members this week voted overwhelmingly to support the transfer of the Association’s £3m assets into a future unified College of Social Work, provided the body into which it will merge has the...
BASW has described the publication of adoption league tables to identify local authorities deemed not to be adopting enough children out of care as “crude and simplistic”
BASW has challenged Ofsted to focus on causes and not just effects after the children’s service inspectorate identified key practice issues surrounding the protection of vulnerable babies and young...
BASW has questioned why the government is washing its hands of serious financial questions by refusing to properly address legitimate concerns raised by social workers over the yet to be established...
A former social work team manager based in a remote part of Scotland has written to his ex-employer raising concerns that social workers have been replaced by unqualified workers to carry out complex...
This page will be used as a rolling blog, containing contributions and updates from the BASW member’s trip to Russia, check back for regular updates.
The editors of the British Journal of Social Work invite submission of applications to act as guest editor(s) for a Special Issue with a publication month of March 2013 (Volume 43, No.2).
Social workers have told BASW that deep cuts to social work services are already impacting on the frontline, with almost all respondents to an online poll expressing concern at potentially tragic...
BASW has this week written to every local authority in England urging council leaders to spare frontline social work services from spending cuts.
Home secretary Theresa May has launched a review of anti-social behavior powers available to the police saying: “It is time to move beyond the ASBO”.
Social workers in Derby have lost their battle with the city council to keep allowances for the use of private cars, with Unison agreeing to call a halt to industrial action.
Ofsted has praised Plymouth Council’s children’s services department for the way it handled a high-profile child protection investigation.
In an Easter message to members BASW chief executive Hilton Dawson has called for a resounding ‘yes’ vote in the UK College of Social Work referendum which closes on April 21.
BASW has welcomed plans to redefine the role of the General Social Care Council (GSCC) in a move that would restrict its activities to social work, but warned that a further proposal to make the body...
BASW has warmly welcomed government confirmation of plans for a National Care Service for England that would fulfil one of the five aims set out in its Manifesto for Social Work.
BASW chair Fran Fuller has warned that rival plans for a National College of Social Work in England are ‘fatally flawed’.
Independent social workers (ISWs) are calling on the government to drop plans to slash their court fees in half, claiming that children’s lives will be put in danger. Their fees for acting as expert...
“Let us help you make the College work,” was the message from BASW chief executive Hilton Dawson after addressing a meeting of the National College steering group, chaired by the Social Care...
Almost a quarter of social workers are handling more than 30 cases at once and 56% have seriously considered leaving the profession during the last year, a BASW survey on The State of Social Work...
BASW has welcomed an invitation from two senior cabinet ministers to meet with them in the wake of the Association’s decision to ballot members on the formation of a College of Social Work across the...
To mark yesterday’s World Social Work Day celebration, BASW members have been offered free access to a selection of online articles from Practice: Social Work in Action.
As ballot papers for a referendum on launching a College of Social Work across the UK arrive on doorsteps, BASW is urging members to vote yes to its plan.
The BASW chief executive Hilton Dawson has used a letter to Community Care to sharply criticise the weekly magazine’s coverage of the Association’s plans to develop a College of Social Work across...
Social workers should be given the freedom to process referrals using their own discretion and the requirement to carry out a formal initial assessment should be scrapped, according to the Local...
Former Haringey social worker Lisa Arthurworrey has won her bid to be registered by the General Social Care Council (GSCC) after being turned down at her first attempt.