National Care Service - social work: contextual paper

5. The Chief Social Work Officer role

In 1996 local government was reorganised, culminating in the creation of 32 new local authorities. This change included a move away from authorities requiring to appoint Directors of Social Work in favour of the Chief Social Work Officer (CSWO) role.

The CSWO role was established to ensure the provision of appropriate professional advice in the discharge of a local authority's statutory functions. CSWOs undertake the role across the full range of a local authority's social work functions to provide a focus for professional leadership and governance in regard to these functions. As per the national CSWO guidance^[23], the CSWO assists local authorities and their partners in understanding the complexities and cross-cutting nature of social work service delivery. This includes issues such as corporate parenting, child protection, adult support and protection and the management of high risk offenders. Social work plays a key role in contributing to the achievement of a wide range of national and local outcomes. CSWOs provide both assurance and professional leadership and advice to elected council members and Integration Joint Board (IJB) members.

The CSWO supports overall performance improvement and the management of corporate risk. It is for local authorities to determine the reporting and management structures that best meet their needs. However, where the CSWO is not a full member of the senior management team or equivalent, elected members must satisfy themselves that the officer has appropriate access and influence at the most senior level and is supported to deliver the complex role.

The role of Chief Social Work Officer is typically held by a senior manager who has operational responsibilities in addition to those required of their CSWO remit. The integrated environment of the IJBs and the variety of schemes of delegation further complicate the role of the CSWO depending on:

• Their individual operational responsibilities.
• Whether those fall into the IJB portfolio.
• Their relationship with the other functional areas of social work that may or may not fall within the same organisational remit as theirs.

CSWOs play a pivotal role, however the breadth of their responsibility and span of their influence is not reflected in employing bodies’ management structures. Given the significance of the professional responsibility of the CSWO, there is a risk of dilution of the importance of social work within integrated landscapes if the CSWO is responsible for large areas of service management in addition to their CSWO role.