Paul Couchman, Branch Secretary of Surrey County UNISON said:
“Social Work Teams do an incredible job despite lack of resources”
“The situation revealed by this programme comes as no surprise to UNISON. We have been arguing and campaigning on behalf of our members in social work teams for many months now (see articles below). The system is at breaking point, with our members telling us that although caseloads went down when 500 cases were closed, this hid the real level of need and that many children in Surrey are no safer now than they were eighteen months ago. Dozens of our best social workers and family support workers have left Surrey, unable to cope with the unacceptable pressure and high caseloads”.
“Those workers secretly filmed in the programme feel abused and violated by this intrusion into their working lives and UNISON believes there is a very fine line between the ethics of this type of undercover filming and public interest”.
“Just last week, we held a meeting of Family Support Workers, many of whom told us they are still doing the work of qualified social workers”.
“The need to reach government targets and key performance indicators has taken over from the need to work with children and young people”.
“Surrey UNISON are currently carrying out an online survey into bullying at work in children’s services and the returns so far indicate that our members believe there is a bullying culture within Surrey and that this has got worse over the past eighteen months. Our members are too scared to talk publicly about these issues or to raise them with senior managers for fear of disciplinary action”.
“The planned cuts in Surrey’s services (up to 30% in Children Schools and Families) can only make the situation worse. There has to be a major national campaign for extra funding and resources to be invested in children’s services across the country if children and young people are to be safeguarded effectively.”
“Comments from workers in the programme only mirror what the council leadership has been saying over the past year and the real situation within Surrey. They must not be used to witch hunt this team or to victimise any worker. UNISON in Surrey will defend any member who is scapegoated for the very real failings in the system”.
Article continues after the cut.
Previous related articles:
27th February 2009 – Surrey Advertiser front page: Disgruntled social workers issue strike threat:
“UNISON claims of dire working conditions and bullying from management”, “unacceptable workloads and threats of disciplinary proceedings if they did not meet targets” “mass meeting of social workers considers strike action”.
11th March 2009 – Surrey Herald – Children in Danger Warning
“Social workers in UNISON have warned that there could be a Baby P scandal in Surrey”, “Social workers spending 66% of their time on paperwork”, “two social workers suspended and 50 under review for not reaching performance targets”, “Social workers in Surrey are doing a very difficult job in very difficult circumstances but there will always be a danger if we can’t concentrate on the direct work with the children. It’s becoming an untenable position and its dangerous”.
4th May 2009 – Panorama TV documentary – Baby P: The Whole Truth
Ian MacDonald (Surrey UNISON officer and Social Worker representative, now deceased) speaks out on the danger of a Baby P case in Surrey, due to high vacancy rates, high caseloads and overworked social work teams.
28th May 2009 – Community Care two page article on whistle blowing – A Blow for Social Care
Ian MacDonald: “The only people who really know what’s going on are the people who are doing the job, so we have to listen to them. But at the moment there is too much pressure and bullying from management. People are scared to speak out because they think they will lose their job and they might be right”, “I’ve sat in meeting after meeting where staff have stood up and said vociferously that these plans won’t work, and they’ve been ignored”.
4th September 2009 – Surrey Advertiser – Social Workers Strike Threat
“Social workers in Surrey have again threatened to walk out in a row over their workloads and a lack of support from the county council”
9th September 2009 – Surrey Herald – Social Workers Want Industrial Action – 95% vote for ‘last resort’ amid major staff shortage
10th September 2009 – Elmbridge Guardian – Surrey County Council closes one in ten [over 500] social services cases to protect most vulnerable
18th September 2009 – Surrey Advertiser – One in Ten Child Care Cases Dropped
UNISON said: “There is still a long way to go in terms of getting caseloads under control”, “we are hearing stories about experiences staff leaving or finding jobs with other authorities”, Our members are 100% committed to the safety and protection of the vulnerable young children that they are responsible for that they have under their care”.
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Attached below is a press release from UNISON Headquarters on the issue, including comment from Helga Pile, UNISON National Officer for Social Care.
C4 Dispatches report into children’s social services – UNISON reaction
Excessive workloads and massive recruitment problems have dogged Surrey County Council’s social services department for years, said public sector union, UNISON today (8 June), in the wake of the Channel 4 Dispatches programme – the Undercover Social Worker.
It got so bad, says the union that, at the beginning of last year, mounting caseloads and lack of management support, brought staff to the brink of industrial action.
However Surrey council is not unique says Helga Pile, UNISON’s National Officer for Social Care Workers. She warned that cuts to public spending will only make the situation worse, exposing more children and vulnerable adults to danger. She said:
“The Dispatches programme treads a very thin line between the ethics of secretly filming people at work, which UNISON would never condone, and public interest. It uncovers some very real concerns over the way that social services departments, and child protection in particular, are massively under-resourced.
“Many of the problems that dog Surrey Council highlighted in the programme are by no means unique to them. There is a real shortage of qualified social workers and that means that newly qualified staff and support workers are often put on the front-line, without the necessary experience or support, needed to deal with complex child protection cases.
“UNISON has called for new social workers to have two years on the job before being given sole responsibility for child protection work. We also need a clear role and qualification structure for family support workers.
“Again, Surrey is not alone when it comes to social workers struggling against the odds. Many work long hours, under a great deal of stress, to cover the cases that they are expected to deal with, often at the expense of their own health and well-being.
“Our social work members have been complaining for years about the overwhelming volume of paperwork and the frustration this causes was very evident in the filming. It is clear that managers need to listen to the very real concerns being voiced by social workers and act quickly to rectify them.
“The programme also shows how young people are being failed because social workers simply do not have the resources to help them. Sadly this problem may become even more severe with children and vulnerable adults put at risk because of the cuts in funding to public services.”
A recent UNISON survey of social workers revealed their top reform demands:
· National standards for support at work, safer working conditions, and manageable caseloads.
· Set standards for supervision and support for social workers at all levels.
· More training and support for frontline managers.
· Better work placements for social work students.
· Good support for first year social workers – similar to the support given to newly qualified teachers.
· Workload health checks.
· Better pay and progression – to give social workers a career structure without moving into management – taking valuable experience away from the front line.
· Improving the IT system.
· Remodelling social work teams.
· Having a ‘chief social work officer’ in every council.
Social workers saw lack of funding as the biggest barrier to success (91%), with 90% of staff questioned saying cuts to services stood in the way. Social work stress and burn out followed a close third at 87%, and bureaucracy and stress was cited by 81% of social workers.
