BASW North East Branch Statement in Support of North East Directors’ of Children’s Services Submission to the Review of Children’s Social Care

The 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 services.

We endeavour to uphold the International Federation of Social Workers’ Global Definition of Social Work, drawing on principles of social justice, human rights, collective responsibility, and respect for diversities. As such, we welcome the recent bold and public intervention by the twelve Directors of North East Children’s Services in their ‘North East Submission to the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care’.

The North East branch supports and endorses all of the recommendations outlined within the twelve North East DCS’s report. Child poverty and the resultant social ills can no longer be swept under the carpet as an inconvenient reminder of the failure of government policy. Cuts to Local Authority grants must be reversed and children and families given the resources they need to thrive within their local communities. The government must act now to address the profiteering and waste of public resources that blights children’s social care.

The North East as a region has been left behind and is suffering disproportionately from the consequences of politically chosen austerity and socially unjust government policy. Our region has seen the steepest increase in relative child poverty over the last decade: of the twenty local authority areas across the UK which saw the sharpest increases in child poverty, North East Councils account for 12 of these. The North East has the highest rate of referrals to children’s social care and highest rates of children in care. A clear and deeply concerning gap between the North East and other regions is emerging.

The North East branch recognises the picture outlined within the report, the corresponding challenges within social work practice and the suffering within our communities. We call on the Review of Children’s Social Care to challenge the government to address and tackle the stark inequalities in economic and social conditions that we observe in regions like the North East. We call on the Review of Children’s Social Care to engage with the ‘causes of the causes’ of so many of our social ills and to challenge government to consider what children, young people and families need from each other, from their communities and from local and national government in order to flourish.

The Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated the challenges of day-to-day life for many within our communities. This is not a time to tinker with systems and processes. This is a time for government to listen to its citizens and create a society where we can work together to address and tackle the collective challenges we face — not least among them politically-chosen poverty and social and economic deprivation — in what feels for too many like an increasingly precarious and fragile human existence.

The North East is a proud region, with a proud history of getting the people’s voices heard by government. The North East branch will continue to work to ensure the voices of people impacted by government policy are heard.

The North East branch is committed to principles of equality, diversity and inclusion and we are keen to increase membership and engagement across the North East region. If you are a social worker, or someone with lived experience of social work services and interested in finding out more please contact us via our Twitter account @BASW_NorthEast or by email or phone via BASW head office. Please also check the BASW events listings page for details of upcoming events.