England to have social work review

England is to have an inquiry into the role of social workers, modelled on similar reviews in Scotland and Wales.

The General Social Care Council-led inquiry was announced last month at the National Children and Adult Services Conference.

GSCC chief executive Lynne Berry said the inquiry would be England’s equivalent of the 21st Century Social Work Review and last year’s Welsh social work review.

She said it would define the core role of social work in a context of increasing user empowerment and multi-disciplinary working.

Nushra Mapstone, professional officer for England at the British Association of Social Workers, said the organisation welcomed the review because it could help reaffirm social work’s values.

She said: “People are feeling very insecure about their jobs at the moment because the policy changes are coming thick and fast. The timing is frenetic for people on the ground.

“A lot of social workers really want social work to be back in the community.

She added that there were concerns that the social workers could become technocrats if they were given a greater role as commissioners, which could result in their relationships with service users becoming more remote.