“More information for social workers” is clear message to Scottish Government at policy panel meeting

The Social Work Policy Panel reconvened after its summer break on Tuesday with a discussion on the National Care Service (NCS) Bill proposals.

The panel is open to all frontline social workers and students in Scotland to attend. It is organised by Scottish Government officials and will contribute towards the co-design of the proposed national care service.

This session featured a Q&A with Ingrid Roberts, who leads the Bill team with oversight of the NCS, and Emma Shepherd, who is Unit Head of the co-design process.

Ingrid and Emma provided an overview of the legislation, the parliamentary process and how Ministers intend the co-design process to work. The Scottish Government has published a document explaining their co-design plans.

While much of the detail in the Bill is still unknown, Ingrid explained that she would feedback views from the panel to her team who are helping Ministers to steer this legislation.

The overriding theme from discussions was that not enough information on the implications of this Bill was being relayed to social workers. Many felt the legislation was progressing too quickly before meaningful engagement with the profession had taken place.

Another issue raised was that social workers don’t have capacity to effectively take part in co-design due to increasing demands on their time.

There were also concerns that the proposed new structure will create too much disruption during an already vulnerable time for social work.

Furthermore, it is worrying that the role of social work has been omitted from the Bill. The NCS offers a chance to reform the future of social work, but if not done properly we risk simply moving it into a new structure.

Officials thanked everyone for their contributions and agreed to provide an update at the next meeting in early October. They also highlighted that the first NCS forum will take place on Thursday 3 October. Please sign up here.

If you would like to join the policy panel, please contact jonny.adamson@basw.co.uk

You can also contact Ingrid Roberts directly with any feedback on the NCS Bill or co-design process on Ingrid.Roberts@gov.scot.