DfE group calls for ‘urgent’ action on social worker caseloads and AI use

The Department for Education (DfE) says it will work with the sector on the recommendations of the National Workload Action Group (NWAG), whose final report this week said urgent action was needed to address unsafe workloads.

The group’s purpose was to identify the main causes of unnecessary workload and develop practical, evidence-based solutions. Crucially, the insights and experiences of frontline practitioners shaped the findings, with input from local authorities, employers and social workers across the country.

The report acknowledges that many workload pressures are driven by wider system issues – including child poverty, housing shortages and rising demand for mental health support – but stresses that there are also practical steps at both national and local levels that can ease burdens.

One of the strongest messages from the report is that too much of social workers’ time is still being taken up with administrative tasks that could be delegated or automated. NWAG recommends national guidance to clarify which activities must be carried out by social workers themselves, alongside evaluation of whether freeing up time genuinely translates into more direct work.

The group also highlights the growing role of artificial intelligence (AI) in case recording. While AI tools could ease administrative burden, NWAG warns that ethical safeguards are essential and calls for national guidance co-produced with regulators, unions and families.

“The role of AI in children's social care is already emerging, with existing and new AI tools showing promise in automating administrative tasks with the potential to reduce unnecessary administrative burden on social workers,” the report said.

“Evidence should be gathered from local authorities already experimenting with AI to understand best practices and potential impacts on social work efficiency and effectiveness and to explore the ethical complexities of using AI in children’s social care.”

“DfE should urgently produce national guidance on the use of AI in children’s social care, in partnership with Ofsted, Social Work England, BASW, Unison and the new AI Safety Institute, building on existing frameworks and standards to provide an ethical framework for decision-making to:
• underpin the increased use of automation technology for routine tasks
• guard against improper use of child and family data
• ensure that professional tasks which require social work action continue to be undertaken by social workers”

The report also urges government to work with the sector to set out safe workload limits for social workers, warning that high caseloads continue to drive stress, burnout and staff turnover. NWAG also calls for a national workforce strategy to support retention and career development across children’s and adults’ services, reflecting social work’s status as a unified profession.

NWAG recommends further research into the impact of hybrid working, hot-desking and flexible arrangements on social worker wellbeing, team identity and practice quality. It also calls for regulators to consider how digital practice should be taught, regulated and inspected.

Improving supervision is another key theme. While national standards for supervision alone are not seen as a solution, NWAG says they could help if accompanied by wider culture change. The group suggests testing tools such as the STAR model and safety climate measures to strengthen reflective supervision.

The National Workload Action Group (NWAG), established by the Department for Education in 2023 following the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care, brought together leaders from social work, academia, unions, regulators and professional bodies. Its final report sets out 19 recommendations aimed at freeing up social workers to spend more time with children and families.

The report situates workload issues within a wider context of rising child protection enquiries, increasing child poverty, and pressures on mental health and housing services, all of which add to demand for social work. It also emphasises the need to address racism and inequality within the profession to ensure fair career pathways and supportive workplaces.

While NWAG’s work was time-limited, the group argues its recommendations provide a roadmap for workforce reform. It concludes that reducing unnecessary workload cannot be separated from the wider system challenges shaping children’s services – but practical steps on admin, supervision, caseloads and digital practice are achievable and urgently needed.

The Department for Education says the report will help to influence its wider reforms in children’s social care, including changes being delivered through the Families First Partnership programme.

“As DfE’s programme of reforms in children’s social care embeds, we expect to see changes in social workers’ workloads and caseloads. This, combined with advice from NWAG, will inform future policy development and thinking on social work workload.

“As part of this work, we are assessing how the reforms are affecting staff workload, including participating staff’s perceptions of the impact of the reforms on their workload.

“DfE recognises the importance of providing data to inform work planning and help leaders anticipate workflows. To help identify workload issues, DfE is planning to collect employment data on local authority employed family help practitioners.

“Workload is an urgent challenge that needs ongoing attention. DfE will work with the sector, and relevant representative bodies, to explore how to better support social work leaders in managing caseloads effectively.”

Responding to the use of AI, the Department for Education says it “recognises the significant potential of artificial intelligence”, and that it will “help to facilitate and empower local authorities and the social work workforce to make the most of AI. DfE is committed to ensuring that the development and deployment of AI in this context is ethical, evidence-informed and aligned with the needs of the workforce and the children they serve.”