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Making your voice heard

As a SASW/BASW member, you are social work's greatest strength. SASW campaigns hard for our policy positions, and we have excellent working relationships with MSPs, MPs and Councillors across the political spectrum. But, for politicians, nothing quite compares to hearing directly from your own constituent. That's why we have created the toolkit below to support you in raising our campaign asks, and maybe some of your own, with your local politicians.

We have given links, at the end of this page, which will take you to our work on terms and conditions: One Deal for Social Work and our Manifesto: A secure future for Scottish social work. We have also included blogs and other recent position statements, which will give you the tools you need to raise issues affecting the social work profession with MSPs, MPs or Councillors.

Quick guide to contacting MSPs, MPs and Cllrs

⭐ Why a local politician may be more engaged with a constituent

  • Elected politicians have a duty to help the people who live in their area.
  • When a local person contacts them, it is part of their job to respond.
  • A message from a local resident carries more weight because that person votes in their area.
  • MSPs, MPs and Councillors must prioritise local people first, even though they still value hearing from organisations.

⭐ What is the difference between an MSP, MP and Councillor

MSP (Member of the Scottish Parliament)

  • Works in the Scottish Parliament, Holyrood, and is responsible for devolved policy issues, which include most social work issues.
  • Can help with local issues, casework, and national policy.
  • Has an official MSP email address and office.
  • Is obliged to respond to any enquiry from a constituent. (MSPs can refuse to take a matter up if, for example, they disagree with it politically, but they must explain that.)

MP (Member of Parliament)

  • Works in the UK Parliament, Westminster, 
  • Is primarily responsible for reserved issues, for social work that mainly means immigration, but overall budget issues affect the amount of money Scotland gets. So, MPs still have a role to play in Scottish services.
  • Has different constituency boundaries from Scottish MSPs.
  • Rules about how and when they must respond are set out differently from MSPs, but they are still expected to engage with constituents. 

Cllr (Councillor)

Councils in Scotland elect members in 3- or 4-member wards. These elect their members every 5 years, like MSPs, but they use a slightly different system. Each of the 3 or 4 elected councillors for the ward has the same power and standing as their colleagues. It is up to you which one you contact. You can contact all of them, but it is expected that only one will take your issue forward at a time to prevent duplication and wasted effort.

A ward is just a mini constituency covering your local area. Cllrs still call their electors constituents.

Cllrs are responsible for local council services, setting council budgets, and supporting constituents with issues affecting them that the council is responsible for, but like with Holyrood and Westminster, Council budgets are largely dictated by the Scottish Government, and councils have a legal duty to set a balanced budget. 

⭐ How to contact MSPs, MPs and Cllrs

  • Use their official email address. All MSPs, MPs and Cllrs should be contactable by email.
  • Check their party website. Parties often list contact details for their elected representatives
  • Use writetothem.com. When you input your postcode, this site shows who is elected in your area and how to contact them. It also has templates that you can fill out online to email them directly. This is the easiest way to email your elected representatives. 
  • Look for campaign social media accounts. Politicians often post updates and contact details on social media.

These routes allow you to raise issues and ask your representatives to respond to you without breaking pre-election rules.

⭐ Respect is key, even when disagreeing

Not all elected representatives will share your views; some may hold positions you find difficult to accept, or that go completely contrary to your personal beliefs. We don't always have to agree on everything. Maintaining a respectful tone and conversation will not only make someone much more willing to hear your point of view, but it is also essential to a civilised democratic society. Elected representatives, or their staff, do not need to respond to communication which is abusive or threatening. Always treat others as you would want to be treated, even when discussing the most sensitive and difficult topics. 

Below are a few external links which may help with having difficult conversations from across the pond. It might not be Thanksgiving, but the idea is the same:

Simple tools to disagree better this Thanksgiving | Harvard Kennedy School

How to Stay Calm During Difficult Conversations (like at Thanksgiving!) - Mediate.com

How To Have Constructive Conversations At A Divisive Thanksgiving : NPR

You can find BASW’s code of ethics and social media policies below as well:

Code of Ethics | BASW

BASW's social media policy | BASW

⭐ Politics is busy

You are entitled to get a response, but it is worth remembering that generally, times are as busy as it gets for politicians, and if any are new, they may still be getting up to speed and recruiting their staff etc. 

  • Give it a week or so before chasing any emails.
  • If you aren't getting anywhere, try a different mode of communication. Perhaps email the candidate's Party and ask for them to forward your correspondence.
  • Try a telephone call.
  • Ask for a meeting.
  • Remember, if they haven't responded, the likelihood is that it isn't deliberate. 

Supporting others to take part in the democratic process, Promote the Vote

Promote the Vote (PTV) is a campaign aiming to raise awareness with adults supported by the Learning Disability Service of their rights to register to vote and to subsequently vote in elections should they choose to do so.

This ‘How To’ Guide has been designed to help social workers and social work students supporting individuals with a learning disability in the lead up to local elections and a possible General Election in 2024. It is based on the experience of social workers in Bradford.

It covers the meaning and the value of voting, and the end-to-end process around PTV. Including feedback and good practice advice from social workers, this document encapsulates what involvement in voting looks like and the benefits it can bring to those participating.

Download the Promote the Vote Guide here

Everyone's vote matters

A community-led project, Everyone’s Vote Matters, has launched free voting guides in 20+ languages, Easy Read, Large Print and Audio formats. Designed to help New Scots, disabled people and first-time voters understand how voting works in Scotland.

See more and download the guides here

Letter templates

Please use the letter templates below to write to your MPs, MSPs, Councillors and or candidates if there is an election.

The template is for any representative or candidate, whether sitting or not. This can be tweaked and edited, but is designed to provide you with a starting point for your email.

As always, if we can be of any help, email Scotland@basw.co.uk or contact our Senior Public Affairs and Communications Officer, George, on george.hannah@basw.co.uk. 

Relevant policy materials

This guide is intended solely to support members in reaching Scottish politicians standing for or already elected to the Scottish Parliament in order to raise our organisation's goals or matters of interest to them personally. We have made every effort to ensure the information in this guide is accurate and will attempt to keep it updated; however, we cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information published herein, or take responsibility for anything which later changes. We are not responsible for content on external websites.