The State and Future of Social Work and Social Care Funding in Scotland: SASW's position

Recent surveys on the experiences of people who rely on social work and social care support, along with the experiences and perspectives of social workers in this field, paint a bleak picture of the implementation of care and support in Scotland. These surveys and the resulting analysis, developed collaboratively with us and commissioned by Social Work Scotland, highlight significant challenges across the system.

We agree with the overall assessment by Social Work Scotland of these reports and strongly echo the view that we need to take a whole system approach to change, if we are to better meet the needs of supported people and the workforce. 

Without repeating the well-made points in all three reports, we feel it is necessary to place emphasis on the connected nature of the problems they outline. Funding restraints are making our care system resource-focused, cold and unable to meet the needs of those it is intended to support. The system potentially breaches the rights of the very people it is set up to help, limits quality of life and reduces people to numbers. The workforce, who work within this system, including our members, are highly skilled and dedicated public servants. They describe the environment they work within to us as ‘soul-destroying.’ Witnessing the distress of those who need support and being unable to help has its own knock-on effect on social workers and their colleagues. Coupled with unsustainable workloads and a lack of professional support, these issues are born out through burnout, high turnover and unmanageable vacancy rates. This simply adds to the pressure and makes supporting people in the way they are trained even harder, if not impossible. 

Recognising that these issues do not exist in isolation is key. We know the issues our members and the people they support face. Those who need support are simply not able to access it in many cases, funding and workforce restrictions are driving a system which can only support people at the very highest level of need which is contributing to pressures and increasing demand as crises are created before support is available to help.

What is the solution?

SASW has already been discussing the key problems and how they can be addressed.

We published our manifesto, A Secure Future for Scottish Social Work, last year. In which we call for multi-year budgets for local authorities, to help create stability over funding in the system and provide certainty for social work services, their third sector partners and the people these services work with. 

We will continue to lobby for the implementation of our One Deal for Social Work Campaign to support workers and help to reduce burnout and high-vacancy rates. We cannot hope to have the care system we need if we do not support the workforce properly, both for social workers and social care workers. 

Scotland needs an honest conversation about what our national priorities are and how we will fund them through a fair and open taxation system. In our view, this involves a wholesale reform of both national and local taxation to create a system which is fair, simple and effective. 

Social workers understand the importance of early intervention, relationship-based practice and addressing the social determinants of health. They see how preventative support can avoid crisis, how community connections sustain wellbeing, and how inequality drives demand. However, it is increasingly clear that these voices are not being incorporated into strategic decision-making at the national level, and locally, integration in its current form is not delivering the outcomes it was intended to.

Significant political capital and eagerness of the sector to engage were expended, and largely depleted, in the National Care Service Bill (Care Reform Act) process. Yet the key issues that led to that Bill’s creation have not been addressed. Large-scale reform of care, integration and most importantly, a national reprioritisation and simplification of how and where the Scottish Government both raises and spends its financial resources is urgently needed. 

These challenges will be waiting for whoever forms the next Scottish Government in May. Addressing them will require a partnership approach and genuine engagement with the sector. For social work, this means the new National Social Work Agency must focus its efforts on ensuring the new Scottish Social Work Partnership is successful in bringing national and local Government together, alongside sector leaders, to tackle the big issues affecting our profession.

If we are to meet our moral obligations to those who rely on and work within our care and social services system, we will need brave leadership and a desire to get to the root of problems which have proven, so far, too big to tackle effectively.

Alongside the attached report, there are 2 other reports from Social Work Scotland (SWS) and SWS and the SDS National Collaboration. These other two reports add to the overall picture and are published together here: The State and Future of Social Work and Social Care Funding in Scotland - Social Work Scotland