1. ELEVEN THINGS THAT PEOPLE TOLD ME ABOUT MY REPORT (BEFORE THEY’D SEEN IT)
AND WHICH WEREN’T TRUE
1. That I’d recommend separate professions of children’s Social Work and Adult Social
Work. I don’t. I say, very firmly, that Social Work should remain a single profession but
that students should be able to specialise in academic work and in practice placements.
2. That I’d say (to paraphrase one academic who was concerned enough to write to me)
that“newly qualified Social Workers are all hopeless. I make very plain in my
introduction and in the body of the report that we currently produce many very fine
social workers.
3. That I’d provide the ammunition to prompt the closing down of good University
Social Work departments. I make plain there are many very good Social Work
departments.
4. That I’d give an unequivocal endorsement of Frontline. I conclude -and I believe - that
it’s a most worthwhile initiative. But I’m hardly glowing about it.
5. That I’d criticise The College of Social Work so significantly as to put its future in peril.
I’ve made recommendations that would put the College at the centre of the profession
in the same way, for example, that The Royal College of Paediatrics is at the centre of
Paediatrics and Child Health.
6. That I’d suggest there was too much theory in SW degree courses. This one continues
to be repeated. I say there needs to be more, not less theory, and indicate some of the
areas where deficits exist.
7. That I’d argue that Social Workers don’t need to be of graduate calibre and certainly
not of Masters calibre. I say no such thing and I welcome the growing proportion of
Social Workers graduating through the Masters route and suggest such courses be
protected from cuts in bursary support.
8. That I’d defend the rushed transfer of GSCC responsibilities to HCPC.In fact, I suggest
that HCPC, which regulates 19 professions all united by their lack of similarity to Social
Work, should neither approve University Courses nor regulate the Social Work
profession
9. That I’d ignore the crisis in practice placement quality. I am very clear that good
quality and relevant practice placements are vital and urge that their quality be audited
as part of TCSW endorsement process.
10. That I’d minimise or dismiss the impact of poverty and disadvantage. In fact, I say:
“Many families in which parenting is inadequate struggle with disadvantage, poverty
and social isolation. Those at the bottom of an unequal society face day to day
challenges, including coping with cramped living conditions, limited income and often
grinding debt, which can significantly undermine their ability to cope and to provide
children with the safety and security on which they thrive.”

2. 11. That the report would be entirely anecdotal. This is still being said. According to the
Oxford English Dictionary an anecdote is “a short amusing or interesting story about a
real incident or person.” I don’t think there are too many of those, although it’s true that
the report is comprised, in part, by my reporting things said to me privately and where
the source has been protected. But, the report also draws on research, conclusions of
earlier studies and publicly expressed views from a wide range of sources including the
GMC, The Education Select Committee, The College of Social Work, The QAA, The HCPC,
The GSCC, Eileen Munro, Lord Laming, Hackney Child, BASW, The Social Work Task Force
and The Reform Board, The APSW, The NSPCC, The National Student Survey, The
Destination of Leavers from Higher Education Survey, Policy Exchange, De Montfort
University, Kings College, The ADCS, The Joint University Councils’ Social Work
Committee and University UK. But yes, apart from that, it’s anecdotal…