The Labour Social Work group is a campaigning membership organisation. We seek to contribute to improved wellbeing and life chances of some of the most vulnerable members of society, by strengthening the place of socialist principles within social work policy and practice and within the broader social care services.

We work towards achieving these aims through collective action in local groups and through participation in national policy debates both within and outside the Labour Party.

We stand for:

• Social work as a regulated public service profession, whose members work to meet the needs of adults and children living through stressful circumstances and in need of a range of social care services
• Social workers employed by democratically accountable public and third sector agencies, funded from taxation (complemented when appropriate by charitable donations) and observing the principles of freedom of information, and local decision making
• Social workers and social work policy makers and managers who engage the adults and children who need social work services in the decisions to be made, both about the nature of the services provided in their communities, and about the services provided to them as individuals and families
• A social work profession that works collaboratively with other professions, both to achieve a more just society and in day to day practice with communities, families and individuals
• Publicly funded qualifying and post-qualifying education and training for social workers, informed by high quality ethical research.

Proposed activities

• Actively recruit group members from: social work, social work education, parliamentarians, local councillors, trades unions, trustees of voluntary organisations,
• Establish a website, Facebook and Twitter pages and Web-based newsletter
• Publish a steady stream of articles and blogs in Labour party, ‘left-leaning’ and trade union publications, newsletters, blog pages etc
• Seek meetings with, and provide background papers for, Labour front bench team (Health, Education, MoJ, DCLG, DWP, Cabinet Office depending on the issues of to be discussed), Labour members of select committees, and Labour local councillors, with the aim of having an input into the development of Labour policies on social work and social care at national and local level
• Provide information/ support to Labour MPs, local councillors, appointees to health service trusts and school governing bodies, when particular issues come up in their constituencies/ localities for which social work expertise could be helpful
• Establish links and collaborate with Labour affiliated and member-led groups with similar aims
• Establish policy groups on particular issues (egs at the moment, inter-professional services to combat child sexual exploitation; plans to outsource statutory social service functions, including child protection; planned changes to funding and content of social work education; the impact of the cuts in legal aid)
• Support the formation of local groups to seek to influence local social work/social care policies in their areas and contribute to national debates and policy papers

Founding Members of the Labour Social Work Group

• Prof. Richard Barker
• Emma Lewell-Buck MP
• Prof Ian Butler
• David Button, Norwich Labour Party
• Jenny Carter, Norwich Labour Party
• Edmund Coleshill, Norwich Labour Party. Sewell Ward Labour City Council Candidate 2015
• Alan Cubbage
• Owen Davies
• Prof Diane Debell, Norwich Labour Party
• Prof Jonathan Dickens
• Sam Earl, Norwich Labour Party
• Anna Gupta
• Helen Jackson, Norwich Labour Party
• Rt. Hon Alan Johnson MP
• Prof Peter Marsh
• Maran McKay
• Prof. Kate Morris
• Vanessa Morton, Norwich Labour Party
• Prof Lord Kamlesh Patel of Bradford OBE
• Jackie Mitchell,  Norwich Labour Party
• Prof Jonathan Scourfield
• Prof Mike Stein
• Dr Beverly Turner-Daly
• Sally Trench
• Prof Hilary Tompsett
• Prof  Jane Tunstill
• Kay Warbrick, Norwich Labour Party