BASW at Westminster

BASW has been engaging with parliamentarians at Westminster throughout January on three significant pieces of proposed legislation that stand to impact upon social work practice and the lives of individuals and families social workers support in England and Wales.

Below we’ve provided a summary of the stages that all three Bills are at, what changes to the law they could make, and how BASW is representing social work’s voice throughout the legislative processes.

If you would like to discuss these, or any aspects of our parliamentary activity, please contact jonny.adamson@basw.co.uk. You can also contact your MP here.

Assisted Dying

The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill aims to legalise the option of assisted dying for adults who are terminally ill (with fewer than six months to live) in England and Wales.

It’s a Private Member’s Bill, so has been brought forward by a backbench MP and not the government. It passed its second reading on 29th November, meaning that MPs agreed on the general principle of the legislation.

A Public Bill Committee – comprising a cross-section of MPs on both sides of the debate – will now hear evidence from stakeholders and consider amendments (changes and additions) to the Bill. This will be a thorough process, expected to run until end of April when a revised version of the Bill will return to floor of the house to be debated and voted on by all MPs.

This month, BASW met with the lead sponsor of the Bill, Kim Leadbeater MP alongside the Association of Palliative Care Social Workers. The meeting was an opportunity for us to underline the importance of social work’s voice in this debate, following our concerns at second reading that the Bill currently frames this issue as a predominantly health care decision, without consideration of the equally important wider social context.

Key points and suggested changes we raised were:

Since the Bill reverses the presumption of capacity, it is incompatible with the Mental Capacity Act which, unless addressed, will create significant legal and practical issues
There needs to be a mandatory, full safeguarding assessment considered on a case-by-case basis and undertaken if deemed necessary, by professionals who are trained to carry out such an assessment.
Legal protections under ‘no obligation to provide assistance’ must be extended to include social workers, not just healthcare professionals.
A new clause should be introduced to establish multi-disciplinary teams of appropriate registered professionals who are trained and registered to independently assist and advise individuals and their families in determining an application for an assisted death.
The right to access advice and support should be available up to two years before any potential assisted death.

These points are discussed in length in the recent Let’s Talk Social Work episode here.

BASW wrote to all MPs in November and has highlighted these issues and suggested changes in our submission to the Public Bill Committee ahead of its scrutiny on the Bill. MPs are already starting to lay amendments for the committee to consider, which you can follow here.

Mental Health Bill

A key ask in BASW’s General Election Manifesto was for the new government to reform the Mental Health Act for England and Wales. It was therefore welcome that the government introduced a Bill to parliament in November with the intention of doing just that.

Unlike most legislation, the government chose to begin this Bill in the House of Lords, where it received its second reading on 25th November. A committee of the whole house then examined the Bill in more detail over the course of four sittings in January, where amendments were proposed and debated. The next committee sitting to debate the remaining amendments will take place on 24th February.

BASW briefed all Peers involved in this process alongside ADASS, informing them of our views on the amendments being laid and suggesting new amendments for tabling. While we welcome much of what the Bill proposes, there are areas where it can be stronger, including a greater focus on early intervention and prevention.

We were therefore pleased that Baroness Tyler of Enfield worked with us to lay an amendment to the Bill that would place a duty on local authorities to promote good mental wellbeing. This will be debated at the next sitting.

Most of the amendments at committee stage were either withdrawn or not moved, either because there was not enough support, or the government signalled its intention to address them through their own amendments at a later stage.

The Bill will now progress to Report Stage in the House of Lords where more amendments will be debated and voted on.

Children’s Wellbeing & Schools Bill

The government introduced proposals in December for changes to child protection and education in England, including around school reform and safeguarding measures.

The Bill was debated in the House of Commons at second reading in early January, and BASW England shared a briefing with all MPs in advance, which you can read here.

As the government has a sizeable majority, the Bill passed its first hurdle with ease, and is now being examined by a Public Bill Committee. This is scheduled to last until 11th February, shortly before parliament recess, but could finish sooner.

BASW England submitted further written evidence to the committee to consider during its deliberations. Their key points included:

Prioritise investment in social work by delivering a fully resourced programme of professional development and addressing workforce challenges to ensure that children and families receive high-quality, rights-based support.
Honour the £2.6 billion funding recommended by the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care, alongside urgent measures to strengthen retention, reduce reliance on profit-making providers, and empower social workers to deliver the stability and care children need to thrive.
Greater clarity is needed on the remit, structure and governance of the multi-agency teams being proposed
While capping profit making in children’s social care is a welcome step, we want to see local authorities supported to build children’s homes and deliver in-house, relationship-based services focused on welfare, local placements, kinship care, and better residential care.

Additionally, BASW England spoke to the Children, Young People and Education Spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats, Munira Wilson to discuss areas where we would like to see the Bill amended. Munira then quizzed the Education Minister on what the government is doing to address workforce retention challenges in children's social work, including on pay, conditions, flexible working and training and development opportunities. Read the exchange here.

BASW England will continue to work with MPs to raise these issues with the government and to propose improvements to the Bill during its progress through parliament.