Social work is a profession frequently subjected to change.
Policy decisions, socio-economic pressures, funding constraints, rising demand and the evolving needs of vulnerable communities all combine to create an ever-shifting landscape for the sector.
This year alone has seen registration fee hikes, reforms to disability benefits (subsequently reversed), new agency working rules, restrictions on international recruitment, a new mental health bill, the defunding of Think Ahead and the Department for Education’s Families First Partnership programme – to name just a few developments.
Against this backdrop, our weekly Readers’ Take series has provided a platform for practitioners to share their views on the news influencing their work. Drawing on poll results and readers’ comments, the series captures how social workers are responding to change in real time.
As 2025 draws to a close, we wanted to look back at the top 10 Readers’ Take articles of the year, highlighting the issues that prompted the strongest reactions and resonated most with practitioners.
10: Poverty often overlooked in social work assessments
Despite poverty being linked to increased demand for children's social care, most practitioners reported it wasn't being considered during assessments.
9: Disability benefit reforms
Hundreds of thousands of disabled people faced a loss of income due to the government's welfare plans, proposed in April 2025. A government impact assessment of the cuts predicted that over three million families would lose an average of £1,720 per year in real terms by 2029-30. We asked social workers what they thought the consequences would be.
Most of the proposed changes were subsequently dropped following pressure from Labour backbenchers.
8: Parents recording meetings with social workers
Following a rise in the use of covert recordings of social workers in child protection cases, families and practitioners weighed in on whether parents should be able to record meetings.
7: Families facing 'intrusive' child protection enquiries due to risk-averse culture, say social workers
In November, two in five practitioners in a Community Care poll warned families were being drawn into “intrusive" child protection enquiries due to a risk-averse culture. This was on the back of Department for Education data showing the number of child protection investigations had hit a record high in 2024-25, but significant harm was found in just a third of cases
6: Cafcass guardians’ views vs council social workers’
Following the publication, in October, of guidance on managing disagreements between local authority social workers and guardians during care proceedings, practitioners reported feeling that Cafcass staff's views held more sway in court.
5: Non-social work staff taking on child in need assessments
Changes to the Working Together to Safeguard Children guidance in 2023 enabled alternatively qualified staff to take on child in need cases. This is now being put into practice across England through the rollout of family help teams.
However, a Community Care poll found readers were divided on whether this was the right direction for the profession.
4: Social workers reject regulator's planned fee hike
In March, in light of Social Work England's then proposed fee hike, most practitioners reported the regulator should concentrate on improving value for money instead of increasing registration charges.
However, despite this poll result and overwhelming opposition to the changes in response to the consultation, the regulator implemented them later in the year.
3: The unions’ 2025-26 pay claim
In February, most social workers reported that unions' claim for a £3,000 pay rise for council staff was "the least they deserved", to make up for years of real-terms salary cuts.
2: Social workers illegitimately doing multiple jobs
The second most popular issue this year involved the case of Beatrice Eduah, an agency social worker found to have fraudulently worked for three local authorities simultaneously. After her story hit the headlines, four in ten practitioners in a Community Care poll admitted they had come across others illegitimately carrying out multiple roles at once
1: The 2025-26 local government pay offer
The issue that elicited the strongest reactions from readers this year was the 2025-26 local government offer for council staff in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Following a 3.2% pay offer by employers, social workers reported a divide on whether to accept the deal or strike for a better one. However, the deal was later accepted in July, after two of the three unions gave their backing.
