Social work and The Promise

Public Affairs is so much more rewarding when a shared understanding of purpose takes precedence over politics.

The Promise is one of those areas where there is a shared will to achieve a purpose. Our roundtable, jointly arranged with colleagues from Social Work Scotland, in the Scottish Parliament last week brought together front-line practitioners, MSPs from across the political spectrum, sector leaders, civil servants, and the Minister herself to discuss Social Work’s central role in delivering The Promise. 

While there are huge challenges ahead, what struck me most during this conversation was the intent and how clear it is that improving the lives of care-experienced children and young people matters so much to everyone.

Significant progress has been made since 2020 to improve Scotland’s care system. There has been a committed and sustained effort from individuals and teams delivering services to challenge themselves to improve practice and make trauma-informed and person-centred ways of working an everyday reality. 

Government remain committed, and it was clear last week that the new Minister for Children, Young People, and the Promise, Siobhian Brown MSP, and her civil servants, are determined to create change for the better, eager to listen and engaged.  Moreover, this is a legacy she carries forward from her predecessor, who, right up until her last speech in Parliament, used her influence to challenge the status quo. Some might argue to her professional and personal detriment. This commitment to positive change is so hugely important and welcome.

However, that is where the good news ends. The roundtable highlighted sector concerns about progress, and areas of significant concern over relationship-based practice, sustainable funding, the volume of legislation, transitions, and accountability for success, amongst others. Unless these challenges are addressed, and relatively quickly, the ambitions of The Promise will remain unrealised for too many children and young people. 

A consistent message from sector leaders, the workforce, Chief Social Work Officers, The Promise, and the Oversight Board is that keeping The Promise is not simply a question of commitment or ambition. It is about creating the conditions that enable delivery. Increasing demand, workforce pressures, constrained resources, insufficient placement capacity, and challenges accessing support services are making it harder to provide the preventative, relationship-based support that children, young people and families need.

And that phrase, relationship-based support, goes to the core of what is important. Social work is a relationship-based profession; it does not follow the medical model: diagnosis, treatment and discharge. Rather, it relies on time, trust, understanding and a network of support and community-based services that can help those struggling with the realities of modern life meet their own needs and the needs of the people that they support. For parents and young people in or on the edges of care, this is more crucial than ever. 

This is vital to understand because nearly every report, thematic review, and SSSC survey points to a dedicated workforce who are striving to meet the needs of the people they support, but who are hampered by a lack of time: time for relationship-based practice. We know of children and families’ social workers regularly carrying active caseloads of 30 or more children. Giving less than one hour a week per child is incompatible with delivering the type of care and support that we describe in our national ambitions.

Time is what social workers and, crucially, the children and families they are supporting, need. And often time is money. But nothing is ever that simple. Alongside reasonable monetary resources in the system, our members and their colleagues need changes to their working environments. Changes such as a reduction in bureaucratic administrative processes, time to train and maintain professional development, and time to reflect on their work to ensure it is to the highest standards. 

I am not neglecting the increasing demand for services, contributed to in part by reduced investment in early help. Genuine and credible action to alleviate demand in our communities would go some way towards reducing unmet need in our society, which is currently masked by charging policies in local government, and therefore reduce the demand for support. Unmet need should be recorded nationally, and not masked,  to create a picture of the size and type of workforce that is truly needed.

My final thought rests on the recently announced proposals for public sector reform. This, in its most basic form, is about reducing cost and cutting staff. Whether the structures that come out of that process are better is yet to be seen, as plans are far from solid.

It is well understood that keeping The Promise goes far beyond social work. However, it is clear that meeting these goals, whatever the outcomes of the planned reforms, will require a collegiate, respected, and supported social work profession.

That challenge lies in front of every policymaker over the next few years. If we can harness the collective will to achieve, it might just be possible. 

George Hannah, Policy and Public Affairs Advisor