Cutting caseloads would save lives says UNISON

UNISON, the UK’s leading public trade union, today reiterated its call for strict controls on social work caseloads, after a new report* showed just one in five social workers thought they had enough time to work effectively with the children they are responsible for. Only 25% said their employer had an effective caseload management system.

The report also highlights a climate of fear with practitioners too scared to say they can’t cope with the volume of work for fear of being disciplined. It reveals a gulf in understanding between social workers and team leaders, and those in senior management who do not listen to what they have to say. The union is also calling for employers to have a duty to respond to social workers’ concerns.

Helga Pile, UNISON national officer for social workers, said:

“Social work departments are massively overstretched, and the pressure on staff is unsustainable. Excessive caseloads are a perennial problem, and this survey proves that leaving caseload management to chance is not working. What’s more it is dangerous, just as the tragic cases hitting the headlines prove.

“How can anyone say everything possible is being done to protect children, families and vulnerable adults if employers are allowed to go on loading more and more cases on to social workers? We must now move to enforceable national standards for caseloads, and better workload management systems.

“Only a third of social workers feel they can have a say in how their service is run. Yet these professionals are expected to cope with one of the toughest jobs going dealing with problems most people don’t even want to think about. Employers and the government have got to start taking social workers’ views seriously. We want clear duties on employers to make sure that not only are the issues heard, but they are acted on.

“The real barrier to boosting social work is underfunding. We cannot allow more lives to be swept away in the cuts that threaten to engulf local services.”



Information to editors:

*OFSTED National social work practitioner survey, July 2010.