This chapter seeks to explore how social work academics in the four nations of the UK (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales) influence social policy. The chapter identifies the contested context in which United Kingdom (UK) social work academics work and then explores the results of a survey on their involvement in social policy. From this it is identified that while they view one of their key academic roles as influencing social policy this has proven more difficult in practice and that there are issues with their self-efficacy and university support for this type of activity. The chapter ends with the introduction of ‘impact’ into the UK Research Excellence Framework and is hopeful that this might help lead to a greater involvement of social work academics in promoting social policy and being supported by their universities.

The context

The Central Council for Education and Training in Social Work was set up in 1971 to oversee the first generic UK social work education qualification, the Certificate in Qualification in Social Work. This initiative followed the Seebohm Report (1968), which established single local authority social work departments bringing together mental health, adults and children's work. The certificate was developed and replaced by other social work qualifications until 2003 when a minimum qualification at bachelor's and master's degree level was established. This depended on whether or not a potential student had a first degree in a related discipline, for example sociology or psychology. By this time, a new regulator, the General Social Care Council, had replaced the Central Council. This move firmly located social work education in the university sector. Social work was also becoming less UK-based and more four-nation orientated following public votes in favour of devolution held in 1997 in Scotland and Wales, and a year later in Northern Ireland. These votes led to the creation of the Scottish Parliament, the National Assembly for Wales and the Northern Ireland Assembly. Devolution has been applied in different ways in each nation due to historical and administrative differences with the UK government retaining ‘reserved powers’ including economic policy, foreign affairs and defence.

In 2006 Peter Connolly, a 17 month old baby, died in the London Borough of Haringey, sparking a review of social practice and education even before the new arrangements had had time to settle in.