Independent report

Chief Social Worker's annual report: 2021 to 2022

Published 11 May 2022

Applies to England

Minister’s foreword

The last 2 years have been, without a doubt, the most challenging, tumultuous and eventful period in the recent history of our nation.

Those of you working as or with social workers in adult social care have felt the negative effects of the pandemic on the health and wellbeing of our communities more keenly than others. Even so, you have risen to the challenges and you continue to respond with compassion, empathy and dedication, in protecting and promoting people’s opportunities to have the best possible lives.

COVID-19 has touched all of us in different ways, but as social workers, you not only had personal experience, you also witnessed its often devastating effects on others. I deeply admire your hard work, tenacity, understanding and kindness to everyone around you. Along the way, I know many of you will have lost colleagues, friends, and family members to the virus. I hope the resilience, reflection and support of your profession has provided at least some comfort in those dark times.

In the months since I became Minister for Care and Mental Health, I’ve learned that much of your practice is about establishing and strengthening community and service connections, based on a person’s fundamental needs, aspirations and human rights. I hope these skills have sustained you, just as you have continued to sustain others.

In such periods of disruption, you have enjoyed the benefit of the combined wisdom and experience of not one, but 3 Chief Social Workers. Fran Leddra and Mark Harvey jointly assumed the role while Lyn Romeo took an extended sabbatical to care for her mother in Australia.

During this period, they initiated and progressed some vitally important work, including updated practice guidance for adult safeguarding, collaborated with the Department of Education and Skills for Care in the development and roll out of the Social Care Workforce Race Equality Standard and also championed changes in law and practice to better serve those with mental ill health.

Adult social work has also been at the very heart of our plans for social care reform and even greater integration of health and care services. Both recently published white papers, People at the heart of care and Joining up care for people, places and populations have had the benefit of social workers’ wise counsel, reminding us to keep individuals, families and communities at the forefront of our proposals.

If the pandemic taught us anything, it was the need to forge even closer cooperation and collaboration across the health and care sectors. Social workers are so often the all-seeing eye of coordinated health and care planning, making vital linkages to make sure people with care and support needs don’t fall through the gaps in provision. Their deep understanding of the Care Act, Mental Health Act and Mental Capacity Act makes them respected voices, helping individuals, carers and the clinicians treating them make informed decisions about treatment and support.

In short, we have never needed the expertise and insights of social workers more than we do now. As we emerge from the privations of the pandemic, only to face fresh anxieties and tragedies borne of war in Eastern Europe, we will be turning to the profession for advice, guidance, leadership and support. Social workers understand the human condition, and the individual in their social and physical context, but also the capacity for people to do great things for others. They bring out the best in us and long may they continue to do so.

The Chief Social Worker for Adults’ foreword

I will start by saying how enormously grateful I am to every individual working in the social care sector, regardless of role. You have been amazing across this very difficult period and because of your commitment, many people at the heart of the health and care system are safe and well. The road to recovery will not be straightforward but I will do my best to support you as well as I can, in aspiring to our ambition to serve people to have the best possible lives.

When I was preparing to resume my role as Chief Social Worker for Adults, I expected the path ahead would be one of recovery from COVID-19. Indeed, much of the focus of the last 12 months has been to consolidate positive developments arising out of this global public health emergency. This included collaboration across the sector to mitigate negative impacts on the lives of individuals, families and the social care staff who worked tirelessly to support people, their carers and each other.

It continues to be a very long, hard road with everyone very tired, especially following the recent Omicron outbreaks which compounded the stress on the whole health, social care and public service system. 

I have been humbled by the efforts everyone has made to manage very challenging and uncertain times. Many thanks to Fran Leddra and Mark Harvey, who covered the Chief Social Worker role during the most challenging of times and who stepped up to ensure the social work response was the best it could be during such an unprecedented period.

Social work has always been at its best in dealing with uncertainty, ambiguity and crisis. However, the difficulties in accessing resources to support people have placed unprecedented strain on ethical decision making and challenges the principles of human rights and social justice for those we are here to serve. What is clear is that there will be no return to the status quo after COVID. 

As we recover and grapple with the changes and the ‘new normal’, the challenge for social work is to take a big leap forward by redesigning and reimagining practice working alongside people, their carers and the communities in which they live, to be ambitious for the best possible lives and outcomes for all.

Flexible and collaborative approaches to working with health partners and improved approaches to working with the community sector, who have stepped up across the country to respond to people in their communities, have shone a light on strength-based practice and the benefits of community-led, asset-based approaches to supporting people in achieving the changes that matter to them.

Principal Social Workers, supported by directors of adult social services, have put in place risk assessment tools and defensible decision-making frameworks to assist and support staff in prioritising care to meet individual needs. The wellbeing of staff has also become much more central. Ensuring practitioners have access to supervision and peer support as well as continuing professional development opportunities is a top priority.

The development of digital capability and using technology to engage with and support people have contributed significantly to keeping things going, as well as giving practitioners access to seminars and conferences that they may have otherwise not been able to attend. Having more virtual meetings has meant I have been able to engage more regularly with Principal Social Workers and with social work teams across the country. Social work emphasises the social environment of people and their relationships and is a deeply participative venture. This will continue to be central in our changing models of practice.

Social care reform is here

I know this will look and feel different to every one of you and some of you who have been around as long as I have will no doubt say, ‘it’s about time, but let’s get it right’. I will continue to work across the department, and indeed government, to ensure that social work practice is at the heart of the reforms and the social work profession contributes to shaping practice and guidance in the implementation of the reforms. 

Safeguarding

I am pleased to say we have recently published the Revisiting Safeguarding guidance that encourages practitioners and those responsible for adult safeguarding to reflect on and revisit their current practice, using this document to support and assure themselves of the quality and responsiveness of their adult safeguarding work. We also published Bridging the Gap: transitional safeguarding and the role of social work with adults to improve practice and support for young people moving into adulthood. Both these documents have been co-produced with the sector and people with lived experience. The webinars to launch and promote the use of these tools have been oversubscribed and the intention is to repeat them in the coming year.

I also co-chaired a roundtable event with colleague, Melanie Brookes, Director of Adult Social Services in Nottinghamshire, to address the needs of homeless people and to promote better social work practice in safeguarding and ensuring their needs for care and support are met. The intention is to produce a briefing note in the coming year to support practice in this vital area.

Mental health

Following publication of the Mental Health Act Reform consultation, we were delighted to appoint Jason Brandon on a 2-year secondment into the role of Mental Health Social Work Lead. He is working closely with the Mental Health Act Reform team and key stakeholders to strengthen Approved Mental Health Professional (AMHP) workforce arrangements and introduce monitoring mechanisms to illustrate AMHP activity. We continue to support improvements relating to section 140 and section 117 practices, to facilitate a strengthened role for Safeguarding Adults Boards and the welfare of people using mental health services, and to ensure that social care is central to the development of the statutory care planning arrangements in the context of the Mental Health Community Transformation.

Current work is being undertaken in partnership with Health Education England (HEE) and NHS England (NHSE) on the development of a national AMHP workforce strategy, a Transforming Mental Health Social Work programme, guidance on the support of mental health social workers working in the NHS, independent or integrated services, and a Forensic Social Work Scoping study. 

The year ahead

Over the next year we will focus on supporting the social care reform priorities and strengthen social work post qualifying standards, including those for supervision. Additionally, supporting recovery from the impact of the pandemic on staff and those individuals, families and communities we serve remains a key priority. Reinforcing improved integrated responses across social care and health will be essential in supporting people to have better lives.

There are lots of challenges ahead, but social work is well placed to respond to those challenges and to make a vital contribution to helping people to live happier, healthier lives for longer in their communities.

Reflections from Fran Leddra

The CSW annual report gives us the opportunity to look back over the last year and reflect on the progress made and celebrate achievements. As communities started to venture out after the devastating effects of COVID-19, the demands on adult social care and safeguarding became even greater. Social workers continued to step up and face these challenges head on, always putting people first while skilfully navigating a changing landscape of social work practice in response to the pandemic.

Thank you – we continue to feel proud of our profession.

2021 saw a wide array of proposals culminating in the publication of the ‘reforms’ white paper. It was a privilege to be supporting these proposals. All social workers can continue to shape and influence the reform agenda, so please participate in consultations as they arise. 

Lyn returned from her career break in May 2021 which meant the end of my and Mark Harvey’s secondment as joint Chief Social Worker. We would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to everyone that supported us both across the social care profession and at the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC). We worked alongside very talented civil servants who helped us transfer our ideas and social care values into tangible outputs. Two examples are the implementation of the Social Care Workforce Race Equality Standard and the Revisiting Safeguarding guidance.

Both Mark and I, along with Lyn Romeo, would like to say a big thank you to every social worker and social care practitioner across the country. We continue to be in awe of your commitment, your skill and your dedication to the profession.

Fran Leddra and Mark Harvey, Interim Joint Chief Social Worker 2020 to 2021

CSW priorities for 2022 to 2023

Advise and influence proposals for social care reform and COVID recovery

Our priorities in this area are to:

• continue to advise on placement capacity and support to students, including the need to ensure we have sufficient social workers with professional values, skills, knowledge and behaviours  

• influence HEE and integrated care system (ICS) people board and frameworks to ensure recognition of the regulated professions in the HEE mandate

• ensure that the proposed assurance framework for local authorities has a strength-based practice focus and recognition of social work as a key enabler in adult social care

• provide effective guidance and support for the sector in managing the impact of the pandemic, future social work practice and support for staff wellbeing

• improve legislation and guidance on charging reforms, liberty protection safeguards and discharge to assess arrangements

Promote and advise on investment in research

Our priorities in this area are to:

• address the top 10 priorities for social work research

• influence investment to increase research mindedness and capability in the local authority social care sector

• promote a pipeline in social work for academics and researchers

• advise on further research for emerging issues, including COVID-19 impact and recovery, social work leadership, social work practice in working with homeless people, digital capability and models for future social work practice   

Social work contribution in improving the lives of people needing support with their mental health

Our priorities in this area are to:

• ensure the voice of people with lived experience is at the heart of practice and care – to support and enable them to have greater control in their care and treatment arrangements

• promote the value that social work mental health expertise can contribute across all service areas

• work with colleagues on implementing the range of proposals for changes in law and practice in mental health

• increase the headcount of approved mental health professionals

• advise on the development of social approaches to mental health support

Principal Social Workers

Our priorities in this area are to:

• continue to lead, support and advise the PSW Network on best practice and achieving good outcomes

• review the package of support to develop proficient leaders and improve supervision capability

Support personalisation and continue to promote and encourage choice and control for service users

Our priorities in this area are to:

• promote personalised care and the drive for co-production and inclusion of people with lived experiences in the design and delivery of key policy and guidance and practice development

• support the ‘push’ for an increased take up of direct payments

Promote improved practice on equality, diversity and inclusion

Our priorities in this area are to:

• promote access to continuing professional development for all social care staff

• see evidence and be assured of good leadership approaches

• advise on the roll out of the Social Care Workforce Race Equality Standard

Partner organisations 

We are enormously grateful to the number of sector organisations who support our work, who proactively led strands of work on our behalf, who always step in (sometimes at very short notice) to support improving practice and capability through guidance, professional development opportunities, research and analysis, and who are there as a critical friend at all times.

British Association of Social Workers

The British Association of Social Workers (BASW) is the independent professional association for social work and social workers across the UK. We represent the voice of our members and the wider social work profession within government and other national bodies. We have a strong working relationship, and collaboration, with the Chief Social Worker and can raise issues from the perspective of practitioners in all fields of social work to and collaborate on solutions, ideas and resources.

In a second challenging year of COVID-19, this relationship has continued to be vital. We have welcomed recent discussions on sector wide collaboration, which have helped us all to offer enhanced support and advice on service recovery and resilience.

In 2019 the Capabilities Statements and continuing professional development (CPD) pathways for social workers working with adults with learning disabilities and for social work with autistic adults were published. The Capabilities Statements show social workers what they need to know to make positive changes in the lives of autistic adults and adults with learning disabilities.

A further piece of work was commissioned and funded by the Department of Health and Social Care to develop additional resources and activities to support organisations and social workers to embed the Capabilities Statements into social work practice. This was supported by a cross-sector advisory group including practitioners, experts-by-experience and educators and informed by wider consultation. BASW led on this work in partnership with the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) and Research in Practice for Adults (RIPfA).

The aim of this work was to develop a consistent pathway for professional development for social workers, and their employers, and help to ensure that people who use services are supported by social workers with consistent levels of professional skills. This work has also been essential in supporting newly qualified as well as experienced social workers to build and maintain relationships with people and families, to work in a person-centred way, providing a framework and evidence base for practice, a feedback loop and tools to aid critical reflection.

The BASW England ‘Homes not Hospitals’ campaign is a response to issues with the current system that sees too many autistic people and people with learning disabilities detained in hospital assessment and treatment units (ATUs), or restrictive care arrangements and seclusion units. The purpose is to look at ways to work in partnership with service providers, local authorities, the NHS and people with lived experience, families and carers with a view to influence policy and practice reform, with a human rights focus. There is a specific thematic focus upon human rights, historical and current concerns and promoting models of best practice within local authorities,the NHS and across the sector.

Cross sector partnership working, which includes DHSC / Office of the Chief Social Worker, has enabled a suite of resources (endorsed by a range of strategic partners) to be co-produced with social workers and people with lived experience which promote preventative approaches in terms of commissioning, human rights-based practice and the role of social work and legal literacy.

The resources can be used to review and benchmark existing working practices and to support critical reflection, learning and development, providing evidence towards the professional regulatory standards.

Other highlights of our work with the Chief Social Worker included:

• continuing work to implement and embed the DHSC commissioned work on social work practice and post-qualifying standards for social work in learning disability and autism

• collaborating on writing and promoting ‘Bridging the Gap’ guidance on transitional safeguarding for young people at risk of sexual and other exploitation

• contributing to the ongoing work of the CSW’s Research Group including linking the group with BASW’s major journal, the British Journal of Social Work and providing support to early years researchers in social work with adults

• continuing to support the Social Care Workforce Race Equality Standard

• working with the CSW to address sector-wide ‘post COVID recovery’ for practitioners and managers, through our social work in emergencies and disasters workstream

• supporting the mental health social work lead through the England Mental Health group and contributing to the implementation of the Mental Health Act Review

• providing support to the Principal Social Workers for adults

Contribution from Maris Stratulis, National Director and Ruth Allen, Chief Executive Officer

Music for Dementia

Collaborating with the Office of the Chief Social Worker has been instrumental in helping to make music a part of dementia care both within policy and practice. Their commitment and passion to helping improve dementia care through music has been recognised by local authorities and adult social care services across England and the UK more widely, with agencies adopting the guide as part of their practice.

The social workers’ guide has also gained recognition from government, with the partnership and the guide itself being referenced and commended in a House of Lords debate in December 2021, having previously been referenced in the House of Commons. This level of recognition demonstrates how great partnership working can help to achieve meaningful outcomes not only to help our vital health and social care systems work more effectively, but also to ensure the right outcomes for individuals in providing personalised, meaningful care.

It is wonderful to have the support of the Chief Social Worker and her team and to be able to collaborate in the ways we have, and I look forward to what we can achieve together in 2022 in improving health and social care for those with dementia through music.

Contribution from Grace Meadows, Campaign Director

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence

Over the last year, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has worked alongside national social work organisations and regional PSW social work networks to raise awareness of the range of support and guidance available.

NICE produced a series of videos to demonstrate how social workers, including students, can use their guidance and resources to empower their practice and inform their CPD.

Alongside other organisations and people who draw on social care, NICE informed BASW’s Homes not Hospitals work and shared relevant guidance that could support social workers, commissioners and others working with autistic adults and people with learning disabilities, such as how to support human rights based practice.

NICE worked with a range of social workers in hospital and community settings to develop presentations and learning about how their guidance can be used in forensic social work practice.

Social Work England (SWE) and NICE have run a number of joint regional events for social workers aimed at helping social workers make best use of guidance and meet the requirement of SWE professional standard 4 on maintaining CPD. Attended by over 460 social workers, they were well received with one social worker commenting, “I’m not one to shine praise unduly so believe me when I say this was a fantastic seminar and something that can be applied to all professionals”. Another attendee said, “this has been the most helpful session to support me with my CPD I have ever attended! Thank you”. This was the first time that NICE and SWE had come together for this kind of event. The positive reception from attendees demonstrated the value of partnership working and further events are planned for next year.

NICE is working with a range of people with lived and learned experience to produce guidance on supporting adults with complex needs.

Contribution from Charlotte Goulding, Policy and Practice Support Manager

National Institute for Health Research

Social work research has risen to the challenge presented by the COVID-19 pandemic in England as elsewhere. Despite the pressures of their work, frontline social workers and their managers have continued to take part in research, helping to build the evidence base for reflection and to inform any future emergencies. The research community has taken advantage of new funding, particularly from the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR), to consider the impact of the pandemic on practice. Studies have covered important facets of changing practice such as working online and communicating with service users and carers by remote means. Social workers have described what they have been doing at work and provided important information about the impact of working from home on work/life balance. One important finding has been the general resilience of the profession and its commitment to service users, but there are warning signs about coping declining and greater risks of mental ill-being.

Our own research has benefitted from the continued support of the Chief Social Worker and her colleagues. This has enabled us to demonstrate that research on social work and adult social care commands the confidence of the profession’s senior leadership. While COVID-19 is an important focus, our own studies continue to address longstanding questions for the profession, with research ongoing on questions related to hoarding and self-neglect, safeguarding and the Care Act 2014, access to section 12 doctors for mental health assessments, leadership in integrated teams, and decision-making in dementia care. Our studies that are specific to COVID-19 include one investigating the Easements to the Care Act 2014 permitted by the Coronavirus Act 2020. This has reached out to the small number of local authorities that publicly announced they had adopted Easements and to other local authorities that did not go down that path. The support of the Chief Social Worker has been invaluable in helping us keep our focus on the importance of learning lessons from this turbulent time.

There is a great expansion of adult social work and social care research at present – and one co-ordinating force is the Chief Social Worker and her adult social work research advisory group. This provides a valuable opportunity to share ideas and developments, and to make sure that different threads are brought together. As well as the very active NIHR School for Social Care Research, this past year has seen another development within the NIHR: the creation of a national priority programme for social care and social work as part of the applied research collaborations that operate regionally. While all such developments are undertaking much needed research in collaboration with the profession and service users and carers, they are also helping to build research capacity, some of which is being done directly with local authority social workers who are being funded as part of pre-doctoral and doctoral studies. With the Chief Social Worker’s encouragement, there look set to be further opportunities in the year ahead.

Contribution from Jill Manthorpe, Professor of Social Work

Research in Practice

This year Research in Practice (RiP) has continued to support the implementation of the post qualifying standards (PQS) for practice supervisors through facilitating sessions with most of the regions within England. We have developed a number of additional new resources to support the implementation of the PQS, which are hosted on an open access website.

In October 2021 RiP were successful in bidding for the contract to support both the adults and children and family’s Principal Social Worker networks. To date, we have developed new webpages for the networks which host information and resources to support PSWs, and planned a programme of monthly CPD sessions providing the opportunity for PSWs across adults and children and families social work to share their skills, knowledge and experience.

Research in Practice has also been involved in the development of a key resource to support transitional safeguarding, an area of policy and practice we continue to promote and raise the profile of.

Contribution from Lisa Smith, Assistant Director, Research in Practice

Skills for Care

Skills for Care (SfC) continues to support the priorities of the Chief Social Worker through our key programmes focussed on the social work workforce.

A major area of focus has been to examine and act upon racial inequality in outcomes and the experience of those participating in the Assessed and Supported Year in Employment (ASYE) programmes. Informed by the analysis of ASYE registration and outcomes data, SfC have been highlighting and promoting this this with employers and Newly Qualified Social Workers (NQSWs). We were delighted to co-host a roundtable on anti-racist social work in partnership with Social Work England.

The impact of the pandemic has been significant on NQSWs. Registration data from Skills for Care indicates that there was a 10% reduction in NQSWs in 2020 to 2021 as compared to 2019, although registrations have now returned to pre-pandemic levels.

Evidence from a series of quality assurance visits (undertaken by Skills for Care) and the most recent National Moderation panel (November 2021) demonstrates that, despite the challenges, employer commitment to the ASYE has remained strong. Employers adapted quickly to new ways of virtual working and much of this learning will be retained in the longer term as organisations commit to a hybrid model of working. NQSWs entering the profession over the past 12 months have experienced challenges but have also demonstrated resilience and creativity. The crucial importance of regular supervision and protected caseloads in supporting NQSWs’ wellbeing cannot be underestimated.

ASYE assessors have a pivotal role in delivering high quality supervision and support to NQSWs, and yet evidence suggests disparity in the level of support and training available to them. In recognition of this, the opportunity to take part in cross-organisation action learning was made available. The interest and demand for these opportunities sends a clear signal about their support needs.

Looking forward, the post qualifying standards for social workers who supervise in adults’ services will be further implemented in the coming year. SfC working together with Research in Practice will continue to ensure that support is available to the sector.

There are currently 46 PSWs, many new to the role, who have been undertaking a virtual leadership programme since March 2020. This continues to provide a valuable learning opportunity alongside principal occupational therapist colleagues.

Contribution from Graham Woodham, Head of Regulated Professional Workforce

Think Local Act Personal (TLAP)

The ‘re-imagining social care’ self-directed support forum, made up of people and supporters managing direct payments, has welcomed continuing dialogue with the Chief Social Worker for Adults’ office. As the pandemic evolved, it was helpful to raise emergent issues and provide real time intelligence to support recipients to stay safe and well.

Here are some points that emerged:

• the voice of people who draw on social care and support and their workers need to be heard in the debate about workforce reform

• individual employers largely, but not exclusively, recruit people with values that are aligned to their own rather than for skills and experience

• we believe people with aligned values are much more receptive to personalised training, meaning they are much more likely to be able to provide the tailored care and support people find most helpful
• it can be easier to achieve this if the people we are recruiting do not have a background of employment in care and support
• personal assistants are very loyal and happy with their jobs, in the main staying with their employer for much longer than in other parts of the care sector
• people are frustrated by the constraints put on them about pay levels: “we want to be able to pay what we feel is a fair rate for the work our personal assistants do”
• “our personal assistants are professional” and do the job we ask them to do willingly and with integrity, focusing on being human, supporting us to be independent
• we want to decide what standards need putting in place to ensure safety, they don’t need a particular qualification – our personal assistants often have emotional intelligence and significant life experience

There has been much focus on workforce reform across the sector this year and we have contributed by thinking with staff in the Office of the Chief Social Worker about the experience of individual employers and how this might be helpful to inform government thinking about the kind of workforce that is needed for the future. It was reassuring to see some of this thinking reflected in the workforce strategy chapter of the white paper ‘people at the heart of care’.

As the omicron variant took hold and pressure mounted on the broader workforce, the group were pleased to work with the Local Government Association to co-productively develop and promote a survey to better understand the impact on individual employers’ ability to recruit and retain personal assistants. We look forward to discussing the findings with the Chief Social Worker and finding ways together to respond to these emerging needs.

Contribution from Martin Walker, Policy Adviser

The Principal Social Workers’ Network

It has been a very busy and active year for the Adults Principal Social Workers’ (PSW) Network. We have focussed heavily on promoting the collective knowledge and experience of the network to ensure we are well represented across the system and our profile and expertise as a network is well understood and utilised.

COVID-19 has stretched and challenged us in many ways but has also given us opportunities to create new ways of working. The ethical framework and work on wellbeing and resilience are 2 areas which are strong examples of how we ensure we are defensible in our practice and policy decisions while ensuring that the PSW Network maintains a strong sense of support for the wellbeing of the workforce. 

Looking back, we have been focussing on:

• strengthening the Network’s profile, participation and partnerships in key strategic areas

• setting up regular chair’s meetings with Children’s Principal Social Workers (CPSW), the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS), the British Association of Social Workers (BASW) and Social Work England (SWE)

• holding a collaborative and informative annual joint conference for the Association of Professors of Social Work (APSW) and CPSW Networks

• key areas to influence social work practice: liberty protection safeguards, mental health, safeguarding and diversity and inclusion

• influencing reform, in particular the development of an adult social care assurance framework

• promoting development opportunities for PSWs such as the SpringBoard/PSW leadership programme

• ensuring robust peer support for PSWs through Network meetings (regional and national), mentoring support and action learning sets

Looking ahead, we aim to:

• influence and guide implementation of the social care white paper

• build and develop wellbeing culture as an ongoing priority and part of business as usual

• help shape the new normal alongside COVID in terms of new ways of working while maintaining good quality practice informed by the ethical practice framework

• contribute to and influence inequality programmes of other key organisations, for example ADASS, BASW – membership of ADASS group, regular meetings with BASW and SWE regarding further actions needed

• contribute to the development and review of social work education, ASYE, fitness for practice and continuing professional development

• lead and contribute to the research and ethics group 

• publish position statements from the PSW Network on key topics such as reform priorities and workforce pressures

• improve succession planning for chairs of the PSW Network

We are extremely proud of everything achieved by the Network at such a difficult time. It is testament to the leadership and commitment of all the Principal Social Workers who support and guide frontline social workers. We really want to continue building on the spirit of collaboration and ‘Ubuntu’ that has been at the core of everything we do.

Contribution from Simon Homes, Principal Social Worker at Isle of Wight and Jenefer Rees, Principal Social Worker at Islington