BASW gives London ‘super council’ the thumbs up

Frontline social work jobs will be saved if plans for a London “super council” go through, according to the British Association of Social Workers.

BASW chief executive Hilton Dawson said the consolidation of three London councils’ services would impact the very top tiers of employment only.

“This is giving the councils a huge opportunity to cut costs through greater efficiencies and by cutting chief executives and other senior managers by three,” he told Community Care. “They’re taking action to recognise the reality of the need to make expenditure savings while doing everything to protect the frontline.”

His comments are in stark contrast to local Unison representatives in the area who are worried the move will lead to social workers becoming remote from families and more services subject to privatisation.

Dawson said he did not think the move would impact supervision of social workers or make line managers any more remote.

“I’ve no reason to believe that this sort of move will have any detrimental impact on supervision because it’s going to affect the very senior roles only,” he said.

However, Dawson made the point that supervision for social workers remained a problem across the country and all councils needed to improve the structures around it.

The three Tory-led councils have said the move could save up to £100m.

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