Spending review: BASW’s warning on end to ringfencing

BASW chief executive Hilton Dawson responded to the Comprehensive Spending Review, revealed as PSW went to press, by warning that a failure to ringfence social work funding would pose a serious threat to services.

He welcomed an extra £2bn for social care funding, pledged to be in place by 2014-15, but said 7.1% year on year cuts to local authorities budgets over the next four years would inevitably impact on social work without specific ringfencing. Chancellor George Osborne revealed in the CSR on 20 October that all ringfencing of local authority revenue grants would end.

“Without this protection, 7.1% year-on-year cuts over four years in local authority budgets will mean massive implications for social work services,” said Mr Dawson. “Any cut in funding for social work would be intolerable, dangerous and riddled with long term consequences,” he warned.

Mr Dawson also expressed concern at the chancellor’s revelation that 490,000 public sector jobs would go over the next four years through a mix of redundancies and what he described as “natural turnover”, with vacant posts left unfilled. Suggesting social work posts would be vulnerable, he said: “We know how many vacancies there are in social work teams are carrying at the moment and so the temptation may be there to declare this as a saving.”

BASW used the CSR publication to reveal details of a survey undertaken of local authorities across England. Just 20% of all 152 local authorities responded to a letter from Mr Dawson in September with solid commitments to protecting frontline social work services for children and vulnerable adults in the face of cuts.

Mr Dawson said: “We know there is a longstanding failure of local government to deliver effective support, resources and management for social workers who are in turn unable to provide a high quality service – under even more devastating pressure, how can authorities be trusted to do the right thing? Government needs to listen directly to what social workers are saying if they really want to achieve their goals.”

Wolverhampton City Council was among those to offer a positive response, telling BASW: ‘The value of social work posts has been recognised and protected in the workforce planning process over the last few years and this is expected to continue. Wolverhampton has recruited additional social workers in child protection services and are committed to safeguarding our most vulnerable adults, children and young people.’

However, BASW has been increasingly concerned by the growing numbers of social workers who are reporting that their working conditions are being targeted by employers desperate to make savings. Some local authorities are scrapping social workers’ essential car user allowances or reducing holiday entitlements in a bid to save money.