May 22Bold new chapter? Or endgame? Some initial thoughts on the Care Review recommendationsBack in March 2021, in the early days of the Review of Children’s Social Care in England, I tweeted some predictions based on my observations of the trajectory and nature of reform on children’s services in the preceding decade. …9 min read
Apr 11BASW North East branch statement on branch statementsBASW North East branch committee would like to make it clear that the following disclaimer/caveat applies to all BASW North East branch statements, past, present and future. Any statement made by, or on behalf of, the North East branch of BASW is made following consultation with committee members and is…Social Work3 min read
Mar 20Joint statement by BASW North East and Coventry & Warwickshire branches on UK social work’s links to global businesses reported to be engaged in unethical, immoral and illegal activitiesDisclaimer/caveat Prompted by recent leaks indicating Credit Suisse, a major backer of the Frontline social work training scheme, profits from supporting war criminals, dictators, drug traffickers and oligarchs, the North East and Coventry & Warwickshire branches of the British Association of Social Workers (BASW) condemn the activities of all businesses…Social Work4 min read
Mar 2The rise of the Teach First Empire: Who are Transform society? (Guest blog by Joe Hanley)I am delighted to present here a guest blog by Joe Hanley, a lecturer in social work at the Open University who has written extensively on the topic of fast-track programmes in social work and the networks behind them. Transform Society describe themselves as “the UK’s largest and most powerful…Social Work16 min read
Jan 11Fear and loathing: Why Sanctuary Social Work News’s current reporting and commentary on homicides against social workers is not only divisive and damaging, but nonsensicalI have amended and updated this blog to remove information that may identify certain individuals, not because of the complaints made by some of them to my employer, but because on reflection they detract from the wider and arguably more important points about the need to avoid the sort of…14 min read
Dec 29, 2021Responsibility: A matter of morality or necessity? (With guest co-writer, Jack Nicholls)I am grateful to Jack Nicholls for originating the idea for this blog and for doing the vast majority of the work on it. A recent press release from the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) speaks of a ‘national emergency for social care’ and asks for people…Social Work6 min read
Aug 12, 2021BASW North East Branch Statement in Support of North East Directors’ of Children’s Services Submission to the Review of Children’s Social CareThe following statement was submitted to the Review of Children’s Social Care as a response to its ‘Case for Change’. Disclaimer/caveat The North East branch of the British Association of Social Workers (BASW) is a collective of social work practitioners, academics, students, and people with lived experience of social work…3 min read
Jul 22, 2021‘Oh, what a tangled web…’ — The continuing, curious and concerning tale of Sanctuary Personnel Social Work NewsThis is an addendum to my previous blog ‘“And the winner is…” — Why we still need to talk about the Social Work Awards’ which provides background/context to what follows. In brief, the concerns set out in that blog are: - Social Work News is the magazine of Sanctuary Personnel…4 min read
Jul 14, 2021Guest Blog by Robin Sen, Lecturer in Social WorkShort Version This a summary version of a much longer blog which follows below. The key points in the longer version are: Under Government proposals to regulate currently unregulated accommodation for children in care, 16- and 17-year-olds in care will have no right to receive care. This is despite the…Social Work24 min read
Jul 4, 2021Blog #26On 30th June 2021, I and John Radoux met with Josh MacAlister, the chair of the current review of children’s social care in England (the ‘Care Review’). Also present was civil servant Shazia Hussain, who had also been at the first meeting. John and I have tweeted about the first…Care Review14 min read
