Burstow gives qualified backing to Social Work Contract

Care services minister Paul Burstow has given a qualified backing to Community Care and Unison’s campaign for fairer working conditions.

Although he did not want to formally sign up to the campaign, Burstow agreed that the social work system was over-bureaucratised, risking turning social workers into “paper-pushers”.

He also agreed there was a need for a clearer focus on social work’s “contribution to building resilient communities and resilient citizens.

“In that sense this is a very good campaign because it does highlight how social workers have become trapped in the bureaucracy and process rather than focussing on the vision, which I shall be saying more about in a few weeks’ time,” he said.

“It’s great you are doing it because I think it’s important that we give a different perspective to the work that social workers do because all too often it is cast in very negative terms.”

The social work contract would give social workers rights to a manageable caseload, compensation after working excessive hours and 10% of their working hours being given over to professional development.

To find out more about the social work contract and to sign our e-petition, click on this link.  

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