By Bill McKitterick, Director of Social Services, Bristol City
Council
The
BBC first started talking to me and my team five years ago about
the possibility of producing a fly on the wall documentary on
the work and challenges of child care social work. These discussions
petered out as I worried about potential legal challenges, safeguards
for children and vulnerable parents and preventing misrepresentation
of the efforts and skills of social workers. In retrospect I was
low on trust and in confidence of the good story we have to tell.
A
while later we started discussions again. I had seen and was very
impressed with the series that the BBC team had done on adoption,
a topic that is at least as contentious and beset with the same
issues of confidentiality and legal challenge as child protection.
I was very keen to show and explain the highly complex, challenging
and successful work which social workers across the country undertake
in protecting children, supporting by working alongside parents
and using their authority within the statutory child protection
agency.
A
well-known politician became famous for the mantra “Never
apologise, never explain.” I do not think that the social
work profession subscribes to this haughty and cynical belief.
Nevertheless we have not been good at opening our doors to what
we do. Were my original reservations based on lack of confidence
in exposing our competence to scrutiny in the media rather than
maintaining our tradition of keeping a veil over what we do by
our claim that we are protecting the vulnerable?
After
more discussion and approaches by the BBC to a number of other
Local Authority Social Services Departments, Bristol was selected.
There followed extensive discussions with social work teams and
local managers to ensure the staff who would be filmed were happy
to participate and to assure all of us that the rights and interests
of children and parents would be safeguarded.
The
production team was filming in the Department for 15 months. For
us in Bristol, this showed the investment that the BBC were committed
to make: to tell the whole story, to fully understand what we
do and enable social workers to carry out their work on camera
and equally importantly talk on camera about the analysis and
planning which is an integral part of good social work.
When
I saw the first draft of the first two programmes I wept at the
emotional intensity of the work we do, extraordinary pride in
the skills of social workers in Bristol and lastly felt joy that
we can show everyone the value of what we do.
In
the run up to the transmission, scores of people, including senior
people in the Civil Service and inspectorates said to me in pure
Yes Minister fashion, “You are very brave.”
For most, judged in retrospect, their interest ended there. Is
it significant that neither Government Department responsible
for social services and social work nor the Commission for Social
Care Inspection have given us any feedback?
What
is striking and immensely rewarding is the hundreds of people
within the profession, in other organisations, people we serve
and the general public who have praised the personal commitment
of the staff shown, their skills and thoughtfulness, the complexity
and personal challenge they face and above all that the series
has shown what we do.
Equally
encouraging is the large number of people who phoned through to
the information line for information on a career in social work.
The
BBC is now seeking volunteers for a programme on social work with
adults. Trust them, much discussion and planning is needed…
We have a responsibility to explain.
For
the review of the series in last month’s Webmag, click here.
