National Workload Action Group meeting summary - 15 January

The National Workload Action Group (NWAG) is aiming to identify 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 recent NWAG meeting (15 January) members explored the following: 

Causal loop analysis of social worker workload challenges 

Causal loop analysis is a technique used for systems thinking. It allows the different causes of a problem to be visualised. It is a tool for understanding complex issues and identifying areas for intervention. 

Paul Peros from Social Work England presented the findings from a recent series of roundtables that used causal loop analysis to look at workforce challenges in the social work sector. Three separate groups looked at: retention, recruitment, and international recruitment. The analysis from Social Work England pointed to some potential areas for solutions: 

• The importance of professional identity relating to retention and recruitment. 
• The quality and continuity of management and supervision. 
• The impacts of positive workplace cultures. 
• The quality of inductions for internationally recruited social workers. 
• The issues with using alternatively qualified staff to take on social work tasks. 

Ideas for resources and recommendations to address ‘unnecessary workload’ 

Many useful resources already exist for individual social workers to address workload challenges. However, NWAG members acknowledged that there are some gaps where resources could be helpful. The members were presented with a long list of potential development areas.  

The following areas were recommended as priority resource development areas: 

• blame culture 
• regulation, compliance and improvement 
• supervision 
• volume and allocation of children and families 
• working patterns. 

What next? 

The NWAG will refine a long list of options for resources and recommendations to address workload issues and develop criteria for selected priority areas. 

The next NWAG meeting was held on 18 March.