How SASW works to support you

What we are doing across the social work world, from public policy to conferences and professional development.

Thank you SASW members; for what you do in your day and the support and hope you bring to your communities. Thank you for supporting us.  Your contribution benefits you personally but also creates a collective voice, influencing changes that are going to affect you and the people you serve.   

Recently your support let us respond to consultations such as the proposed ban on conversion therapy, the bill for learning disabilities, autism and neurodiversity, and payments for care leavers.  We’ve engaged with Government on the Children and Justice Bill, child abduction and the SSSC on their Future Proofing Programme affecting registration, returning to practice, and professional learning requirements.  We’ve met with Ministers and MSPs about the future for social work, recruitment and retention, capacity and wellbeing. We may not always achieve exactly what we hope but we certainly ensure that social work and workers are taken account of. 

The National Care Service (NCS) takes vast amounts of our capacity and attention.  The Government’s approach to using legislation to patch over the political relationship of blame and antagonism between national and local government is exhausting and pointless in terms of improving anything for you and people who need support. The fact that there is a small team of civil servants (who are talented, and values focussed) devoted to a workforce charter that can only amount to a poster on a wall boils my blood. I recently wrote to both Cabinet Secretaries for Health and Justice to express our collective aspiration to make things better and our collective frustration at those futile exercises in which Government seems unable to meaningfully listen but wants to be able to say, “social work contributed”.   

Of course, there is NCS adjacent work that is crucial and brings me hope such as ethical commissioning and the work on fair pay for social care.    There is also some fabulous work being done by one single civil servant on bringing adults social services to people in prison who are still not realising their basic equal rights to social services.   Work towards a National Social Work Agency is moving on; this is productive and positive.  SASW is at the heart of this work which will bring a national professional perspective to social work; Government, employers and professionals together.  This is where SASW will be putting your valuable energy and contribution, in regards to public policy for social work.   

SASW is campaigning for better working conditions specifically for social workers on your behalf. I hope you’ve seen the SASW campaign on working conditions and have signed the petition. 

Sometimes I hear people who are not members ask, “Where is the voice of social work?  Who speaks for us?”  I tell them to join something collective, to be part of a bigger community to create a louder voice.  SASW offers you opportunities to be, contribute to that social work voice in the key decisions that are happening in Scotland.  We don’t directly hold the levers owned by national and local government but we consistently and robustly advocate for you, our members, but also more widely for the wellbeing and future of the social work profession because we believe social work is necessary to the development of a more equal and caring society. 

You can help us reach more people so your voices continue to grow stronger: 

  • Put a SASW poster up on a wall if you have an office.
  • If our weekly bulletin has something interesting for your colleagues, forward it to them.  More details on UK wide membership benefits here and SASW offers you Scottish conferences, learning events and public affairs work in addition. 
  • Come along to SASW and BASW UK learning and policy events to tell us what we should focus on.   
  • Invite a SASW team member to a team meeting at your workplace to give an update on a particular part of our work such as our anti-racism action plan or what’s happening around the National Care Service.  
  • Email us with your ideas: scotland@basw.co.uk 

But primarily by continuing to support us every month through your subscription, you are supporting social work and social workers throughout Scotland.  If we work collectively, bringing what we can to the table,  we will achieve so much. And if, after you work and family responsibilities and so on,  you don’t have the time or energy to be the activist you would like to be, SASW will do that for you.   

A blog by Alison Bavidge - National Director, SASW