National Workload Action Group meeting summary - 18 March
The National Workload Action Group (NWAG) aims to identify recommendations for reducing social worker workload in the UK.
The National Workload Action Group (NWAG) is developing recommendations for reducing social worker workload.
NWAG meetings bring together local authority representatives and key stakeholders in the social work sector to develop resources and provide suggestions to the Department for Education (DfE) about addressing unnecessary workload drivers.
In the NWAG meeting on 18 March, members explored the following:
The NWAG initial findings report
Prior to the submission of the NWAG initial findings report to the DfE, outlining the work of NWAG members on identifying solutions to tackle unnecessary workload, members were provided with an update that included:
- A summary of the discussions and findings to date, framed in the context of current social work practice.
- A long list of 31 proposals to the DfE about the solutions to reducing social worker workload, drawn from the members’ inputs.
- A proposed focus of work for the group over the next 12 months.
The long list of proposals
Members took a closer look at the long list of proposals to DfE. In smaller groups, they were encouraged to prioritise three to five key areas, provide feedback and consider if there were any gaps.
Feedback from the activity highlighted:
- The complexity of the task and the need to balance ideas that will make a difference to social workers today with ideas which may take longer to implement.
- The importance of ensuring ideas apply to both children and adult social work, reflecting a universal profession.
Feedback on the list itself fell into three categories:
- Ways to better support supervision.
- Ways to better support administrative tasks.
- Ways to look at reasonable workloads.
- Understanding the impacts of data.
- Support for leadership roles.
- Clearer reference to and targeting of a range of stakeholders (e.g. the courts).
- The area of ‘wellbeing and wellness’ needs to be more clearly articulated and linked to organisational cultures.
- More emphasis is needed on the impact of society on wellbeing and social work practice.
- Where possible, recommendations from NWAG should be clearly aligned with existing standards and frameworks (e.g. the Employer Standards).
- It was felt important to acknowledge the reality of funding and the challenges this creates for local authorities.
- There was less support for revisiting the idea of a professional body given the time, cost and complexity of doing so.
What next?
After the meeting, the members were asked to complete a survey to identify their ten priority areas from the list. This data, as well as the feedback from the meeting, was incorporated into the initial findings report. The DfE will use this information to explore changes and develop resources, which will be tested through a dedicated Review, Testing and Implementation Network (RTIN) of 22 local authorities.
The interim findings report was submitted to the DfE on 31 March. The department will consider suggestions and feedback from NWAG in May about priorities for the group to take forward with the aim to tackle social workers’ unnecessary workload.
NWAG meetings are scheduled to be held every two months until March 2025.
