BASW Festive Message 2025

Before looking ahead to 2026, I want to take a moment to personally wish you, your family, friends and loved ones, a happy, healthy and peaceful festive period. 

I know many of you will still be working hard over the festive period to support individuals and families who depend upon social work services, and my heartfelt thanks and appreciation go to you for your dedication and commitment to supporting people over this period. I hope you all have time to rest, recharge, reflect on all your professional and personal accomplishments this year, and spend time with your loved ones over the next few weeks.

Many of the societal problems and social injustices that our profession encounters on a day-to-day basis are often more acutely felt by the people we serve and our communities at this time of year. Cost of living pressures, ill-health, substance use, homelessness, loneliness, domestic abuse and all those expectations of the festive period.  It is an important reminder of the valuable, and often critical, difference that social workers make to people’s lives, but also a poignant realisation of how much more needs to happen at political levels across our four nations to tackle and prevent these issues in the first place.

At BASW, we are under no illusions of the essential role we have as a professional body in using our position to press governments to take meaningful and decisive action in these areas and we will continue to do so throughout 2026.

The past year has seen shoots of progress that our efforts have contributed to, in collaboration with our partners across social work, social care, and beyond. This includes a reformed Mental Health Act for England and Wales, improved social work student bursary funding in Scotland, the impending introduction of a Hillsborough Law, being part of the UK Right to Food campaign launched at Westminster, and the scrapping of the horrendous two-child benefit cap across the UK. 

There is still much work to be done though. Many of us are rightly concerned about the hostile environment being fuelled by those who seek to divide us, and the impact that it has on policymaking. BASW will always act to promote an inclusive, more equal and equitable society and challenge prejudice in all its guises. We will also continue to advocate for a fairer, more humane and compassionate asylum and immigration system.

Disabled people and many of our members were subject to immense stress and anxiety before the summer on proposed changes by the UK Government to the welfare system. While most of the proposals were eventually dropped, uncertainty remains on whether reforms might yet be considered again. Any further review of social security must be done in co-production with those that will be affected, a point that we have stressed to UK Ministers.

The fight for better and fairer working conditions across social work will be a key focus for us next year too. In partnership with SWU, the only trade union specifically for social workers in the UK, our joint campaign – Stronger Social Work, Better Lives – will lobby for vital improvements for our profession. This builds on our recent Westminster launch, parliamentary reception at the Senedd, BASW Northern Ireland meeting with the Minister for Health at Stormont, and SASW’s One Deal for Social Work Petition being delivered at Holyrood.

So, what else is in store for 2026? There will be national elections in Scotland and Wales and a fresh opportunity to amplify our voice with new parliamentarians and, potentially, new governments. A review of adult social care through the Casey Commission in England which must deliver better outcomes for social care and not just a further shuffling of the cards. The role of Artificial Intelligence in social work is a question that our profession must come together to debate and discuss sensibly. The law on assisted dying in England, Wales and Scotland may well change with potentially significant implications for social work. Our cross-party group on social work in partnership with SWU has built a strong base of MPs and Peers who are ready to engage with us to elevate social work’s standing with Ministers. 

And our Big Conversation, which has just begun and is set to run until the Spring, will hopefully give us rich feedback of ideas to help formulate a new long-term vision for a more modern, dynamic, and ambitious BASW. This is an exciting moment for all of us involved in social work across the UK to contribute to shaping our profession's future, with BASW playing a leading role in promoting conversations, listening, and acting upon your direction. We’re committed to serving you, championing our profession, and fighting for a fairer society. The Big Conversation will help us to be even sharper in each of these areas.

Our professional association is strong because of you – our members. Your collective input drives all we do across every inch of our vast organisation. We work for you, with you, by your side. Nothing demonstrates this better than our highlights from the last 12-months:

• Celebrating five years of our Professional Support Service and our Black and Ethnic Minority Professionals Symposium.
• Member-led conferences in Cardiff (BASW Cymru), Wolverhampton (Diaspora Social Workers Special Interest Group) Manchester (UK Conference), a social work event at the Festival of Politics in Edinburgh, as well as online conferences for SASW, BASW England and our UK student community.
• New practice guidance and a member-led Special Interest Group launched on artificial intelligence in social work.
• The BASW Independents Toolkit has supported many of our Independent members this past year following its launch in December 2024.
• Representing the profession though high profile media appearances amplifying the voice of social work on Channel 4 News, BBC Radio 5 Live, LBC Radio, The Guardian, The Independent, The Sunday Times, and many more!
• The highest ever number of nominations recognised for our Amazing Social Worker campaign, celebrating social work and the achievements of our workforce, and highlighting positive examples of social work in the media through our Journalism Awards.
• Representing the views and experiences of our members on two modules in the UK Covid-19 Inquiry and the House of Lords committee on the Assisted Dying Bill for England and Wales.
• Securing key changes to the Mental Health Bill, the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill and the National Care Service (Scotland) Bill on behalf of social work and those with lived experience.

Supporting thousands of our members through our dedicated Advice & Representation service, expertly delivered CPD and learning programmes, comprehensive range of research and guidance resources, proactive groups and branches, and personally tailored coaching and mentoring services.

It goes without saying, thank you for all your extraordinary support and contributions throughout 2025. Our members, our staff, our Council, our Honorary Officers, our groups, our branches, our committees, our experts by experience, our trainers, our coaches, our partners, our allies. You all play an integral part in the success of BASW and in turn a stronger, better connected, and supported social work profession.

I will be in touch again in January to outline the next parts of our Big Conversation, how you can get involved, and other ways you can help shape our priorities for the year ahead.  I’m looking forward to working alongside you all in 2026 and excited by what more we can achieve together. 

BASW Interim CEO, Professor Sam Baron