Social workers reject government reform plans

Controversial measures contained in the Children and Social Work Bill would allow councils to apply to the Education Secretary to be exempt from some children's social care legislation.

Other measures in the bill include the introduction of a new system of regulating social workers, and allowing the creation of social work trusts.

?However, a survey report released by Unison has found that nearly nine in 10 social workers think that the government's planned reforms do not address the main concerns that the profession is facing.

?Of the 2,858 social workers that were surveyed by the union, 69 per cent said that the bill's so-called exemption clause would lead to more children being placed at risk.??

Nearly nine in 10 also said they think social workers should be regulated by an independent body compared with 10 per cent that said they should be directly regulated by the government.   

??In addition, nearly 96 per cent of social workers said that private companies should not be allowed to take over the running of social work functions from local councils, and almost 99 per cent said they do not trust the government not to privatise social work functions. ??

Dave Prentis, Unison general secretary, said that the government is "hell-bent on undermining social services in England".

"The safety of our children is one of the most important responsibilities of government," he said.  ??

"But these plans show painful lessons from the past have been forgotten by ministers who are now prepared to withdraw essential protection from those least able to help themselves.

"The government is squandering an opportunity to make genuine improvements to vulnerable children and social work services by failing to engage and listen to the profession."??

Unison has now called on the government to scrap the "dangerous and controversial" exemption clause from the bill and ensure social workers continue to be regulated independently.??

It has also called on the government to meet frontline social workers to discuss challenges facing the profession, to listen to the views of looked-after children, and to invest in more resources in supporting social workers.

??Carolyne Willow, director of Article 39, called on the Education Secretary to heed the findings of the survey.

??"Justine Greening was not involved in the development of this bill, there was no public consultation and 39 organisations, including many professional associations, oppose opting out from children's law," she said.

??"It is time for the minister to withdraw the clauses and ask children, and those who work with them, what would really help improve their care and protection."

Last month, the government proposed an amendment to the bill that would see an expert panel be established to consider applications from local authorities to be exempted from children's social care legislation.

A Department for Education spokeswoman said:"Excellent social workers transform lives and the Power to Innovate is about giving staff on the ground the freedom to develop new and effective ways of supporting children.

"Any changes must undergo a strict approval process and it is wrong to suggest councils will simply be able to exempt themselves from statutory duties.

"We are also clear that our plans do not include any measures to enable privatisation and we have promised to establish the regulator as a separate legal entity to ensure it is independent."