Campaigns for fairer student bursaries take next steps forward

SWU and BASW England’s campaign for better funded and fairer student bursaries has taken its next step forward with calls for the Labour Party to adopt the proposed changes as part of their manifesto plans for the next general election.

John McGowan (Social Workers Union General Secretary) and Ruth Allen (BASW Chief Executive) penned a letter to the Labour Shadow Health and Social Care front bench team asking for an opportunity to discuss the campaign’s plans for reform and to raise the concerns of many social work students. The letter also included a plea for these plans to be adopted in Labour’s next general election manifesto.

This comes after the UK Government said they have "no plans" to assess the adequacy of student bursaries in England in the coming year.

SWU and BASW England remain clear: that unless social work student bursaries are better funded and that accessibility is put at their heart then many more students will drop out or not bother to take up the profession at all.

Meanwhile, due to the recent Ministerial reshuffle at Holyrood, social work students in Scotland have written to the new Education Secretary and Minister for Higher Education setting out their case to the Scottish Government for bursary support in the final years of undergraduate placements and calling for a meeting with the new Scottish Ministers to discuss the issue. The student led campaign, being supported by SWU and SASW, already has the backing of a committee of cross-party MSPs and Social Work Scotland.

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The full letter text from Ruth Allen and John McGowan is available below.

Dear Wes Streeting MP, Bridgit Phillipson MP, Ann Black, Tom Warnett

Students on social work courses often complete front-line work as part of their courses, helping the most vulnerable in society. This means many social work students face unique levels of financial hardship as they are unable to work part-time while completing their studies.

Despite this, student bursaries for social workers in England are currently distributed unequally and only around one in six students benefit from them as they are limited in number. Where bursaries are available, the funding for them has been frozen for over eight years resulting in a real-terms cut in support for many students.

In addition, bursaries available have been capped at the same numbers (1,500 postgraduate and 2,500 undergraduate) since 2013.

It is clear the Government is not prepared to act on this problem.

Speaking to Community Care magazine, a Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said that it will soon “publish a plan for adult social care system reform. This will set out how we will build on the progress so far to implement the vision for adult social care set out in the [2021] People at the Heart of Care white paper, including how we will support the workforce.”

But in response to questions from Emma Lewell-Buck MP, Health Minister Helen Whately said the Government has “no plans” to assess the adequacy of student bursaries in the coming year.

We would welcome the opportunity to speak to you and your colleagues about the issues social work students are raising with us and how Labour can incorporate our reform of social work bursaries into the manifesto for the next general election.

Yours sincerely,

John McGowan, General Secretary, Social Workers Union (SWU)

Dr Ruth Allen, Chief Executive, British Association of Social Workers (BASW)