BASW calls for social workers to be prioritized for fuel

Clarity needed as members tell us of difficulties making statutory visits

BASW and SWU are calling on the Government to be clear as to whether social workers and social care staff have priority access to petrol.

With widespread panic buying and queues at petrol stations occurring for the third day in a row, members have contacted BASW and SWU voicing their frustrations that they cannot fill up their cars with fuel to make statutory visits to people’s homes.

Currently, there is no clear list of which key workers have priority to fuel. While NHS staff and paramedics are widely accepted to have priority, many other health and social care staff are not being treated the same way.

This is clearly unacceptable, statutory visits in cases such as child protection investigations or for adult care assessments are absolutely vital – there is a clear risk to service users if these cannot be completed.

The Government urgently needs to give clarity here and make sure social workers are prioritized alongside their healthcare colleagues.