Social work leaders have told MSPs that the National Social Work Agency currently envisaged by government may lack the authority and autonomy it needs to effectively support the profession.

A national agency would, according to the Scottish government, work to support and invest in the social work profession, and oversee and support education, training and development, scaling up good practice, workforce planning and pay and conditions.

However, a think tank and two professional bodies representing social workers say current proposals for the agency included in the government’s proposed amendments to the National Care Service Bill are not what they were promised.

They say that local authorities will be left out of the agency, meaning the national structures and improvement the agency is intended to lead will be ineffective.

The organisations are also worried that there will not be enough separation between the agency and the Scottish government.

Common Weal says in a new policy paper that the Bill must make clear that the primary role of the agency will be to champion social work values and act as a professional leader.

It adds that the only way the agency will effectively tackle some of the most pressing issues facing social work – like underinvestment, excessive workloads and plummeting student levels – will be to make it independent of government.

This is echoed by both Social Work Scotland and the Scottish Association of Social Work.

Frank Reilly, who represented the latter at the parliament’s health and social care committee evidence session earlier this week, said the agency will be exclusively tasked with delivering government policy under the proposals, rather than having a voice to change it – undermining its whole purpose.

Mr Reilly told MSPs that social workers see the creation of a national agency as the profession’s “last best hope” – but they now doubt whether it will have the teeth to fight for change.

Mr Reilly continued: “Our members are hanging on by their fingernails to the National Social Work Agency as a mechanism to address the [challenges facing social work].

“One of our members’ biggest concerns [about the proposals] is about the external legitimacy of the proposed agency if it falls exclusively within the government and does not have any form of external governance.

“Once you are part of government, it is very difficult to disconnect yourself from the government’s intentions. The legislation needs to make it very clear that the agency would be for social work, not for government policy, which is what our members are asking for.”

 

How did we get here?

In its response to the committee’s recent consultation on the National Care Service Bill, the professional leadership body for social workers explained that it has been working with government since 2022 to develop a workable model for the National Social Worker Agency.

Social Work Scotland said all parties had agreed to a partnership arrangement, where local chief social work officers, national government and local government would work together to support the profession across Scotland.

However, it has now told MSPs that the agency proposed by government in its amended National Care Service Bill does not reflect this agreement.

Instead, the proposals say the National Social Work Agency will exist to support the government's Chief Social Work Adviser.

There is no mention of a partnership model nor the role of local government or social work organistions in the amendment.

Stephen Morgan, a representative of Social Work Scotland, told the health and care committee that the National Social Work Agency must be a “true partnership” rather than an agent of ministers.

He said: “We need proper partnership with COSLA, Social Work Scotland and other partners, so that we come to the table together to look at what is best for social workers and social work in Scotland.”

The health and care committee will continue to take expert oral evidence on government amendments to the National Care Service into the winter.

Read more: Social workers warn of harm from care power row; Council care failures echo Shakespearean tragedy; A timeline of the National Care Service

 

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