The Inspector

by Adam McCulloch

If you ever get bogged down with seemingly intractable problems in social work, and society in general, you could do worse than visit www.unltd.org.uk, the website of UnLtd, the foundation for social entrepreneurs. Here you’ll find reasons for optimism in the shape of dynamic ideas for improving quality of life for everybody in the UK.

by Red Keith

Two momentous events are celebrated today (7 November)
First up is National No Bullying Day. It turns out that social care is rife with bullies.

This year's pay deal for English, Welsh and Northern Irish council staff may have been agreed after a seven-month stand-off between employers and unions but the prospects for industrial conflict across the sector seem as great as ever.
Following four years in which the growth in council pay has not kept pace with inflation, let alone average wages across the economy, the government wants employers to ensure three more years of the same - with pay rises of just 2%.
In response, unions Unison, GMB and Unite have promised to join counterparts across the public sector in a unified action to counter ministers' ambitions.

Adults' social workers are coming under increasing pressure from managers to ration services, according to this latest piece of research from Community Care. Worth checking out.

As part of my new job as chief practice writer on the magazine I have recently been visiting a number of social services departments. On one such visit to an adult services team I witnessed an interesting debate. Speaking to me about their day to day role one manager said the immortal line "well of course we are all care managers now, not social workers," causing one of his colleague to instantly look pained and argue that this was not the case for everyone.

Birmingham council has raised concerns over large numbers of inexperienced social workers in its children's services who are at risk of burnout. But the problem is not just Birmingham's - it goes hand in hand with the territory.