BASW attacks Social Work Reform Board over family justice review submission

The British Association of Social Workers has launched a powerful attack on the Social Work Reform Board for contributing to the Family Justice Review without apparently consulting all of the board’s representatives.

BASW chief executive Hilton Dawson said the board’s submission had caused dismay because of its reference to “duplicate assessments” in describing the role of children’s guardians and independent social workers when they provide expert testimony in family court proceedings.

In a letter to SWRB chair Moira Gibb, he insisted that he had had no opportunity to comment on the submission even though he was a member of the SWRB.

The BASW said the SWRB report undermined the legitimate independent roles of children’s guardians and independent social workers, which the association believes have “separate and useful functions”.

According to the BASW, the SWRB’s submission said: “When the experts appointed are independent social workers, the court has introduced into the process a third professional, alongside the children’s guardian, with an identical qualification – and into a setting in which the other two social workers both have a statutory duty to pursue the child’s best interests.

“It is our understanding that independent social workers often simply replicate the findings of the assessment already undertaken by the local authority social worker.”

The SWRB report also apparently questioned the role of Cafcass children’s guardians, saying that they were “superfluous in all but the most complex cases”.

BASW’s Dawson argued that this betrayed a lack of understanding of the distinction between a local authority social worker, the ISW and the children’s guardian.

He said the tripartite system ensured a child is independently represented and that the whole assessment system is properly scrutinised by an independent social worker.

Dawson claimed these measures were vital to ensure the best outcomes for children and families.