BASW England and the Social Workers Union (SWU) write to minister over statutory duties

Letter co-signed with partner organisations seeks clarity over safeguarding

BASW England, the Social Workers Union (SWU) and partner organisations, Article 39, Childrens Rights Alliance for England and Just For Kids law, have written a letter to the Secretary of State at the Department of Education, Gavin Williamson, seeking urgent clarification on recently released guidance for local authorities on children’s social care.

The letter raises many concerns over the apparent relaxing of statutory duties, stating “…we are alarmed that this new guidance suggests that local authority statutory duties can be dispensed with, when there have been no changes to legislation to allow this. In doing so, the guidance risks unlawfully removing vital, hard-won statutory safeguards”.

The full letter can be viewed here and BASW will update members on any response.