Government urged to engage with social work crisis

Hilton Dawson, chief executive of the British Association of Social Workers (BASW) said he would use a meeting with Children's Secretary Ed Balls on Monday to underline these problems.

"There is nothing I have seen from government which really demonstrates they are fully aware of the real depth of the crisis in social work departments," said Dawson. "The government and local authorities need to get out and talk to people on the frontline about their concerns."

Dawson said that a series of meetings he is holding with child protection workers around the country had unearthed consistent complaints about a lack of staff, massive caseloads, poor IT systems and low morale - all of which were driving experienced professionals away from social work.

BASW wants Balls to instruct local authorities to work with it to listen to the views of child protection social workers and to report back by the end of September with a statement of urgent issues for the consideration of the Social Work Taskforce and for immediate local action.

"The first stage has to be a realistic understanding of the current situation. From there we can move forward," said Dawson.