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The British Association of Social Workers has been most effective when it has been seen to concentrate on professional issues rather than campaign on issues like poverty.

Malcolm Payne, professor of social work at Manchester Metropolitan University, told the Social Work History Network conference that surveys of social workers over the years show that BASW is viewed as "distant, elitist and remote".

While the organisation had had some successes - among them raising the profile of social work - it had failed to distinguish social work as a valued profession.


BASW's policy influence had also varied, he said. While it had had a major impact on the Children Act 1989, it had had little on the NHS and Community Care Act 1991 and its output of policy papers and press releases had fallen in the past 30 years.