Voices from the front line: State social workers and new labour

The article explores the condition of state social work in England today. I t is based on interviews with experienced social workers employed by local authority social services departments across the north of England. These fr ont line state social workers provide a penetrating insight into the divers e ways in which their work has been transformed and degraded and the manner in which the needs of clients have been largely ignored. From their perspe ctive, the election of a Labour government in 1997 proved to be a massive d isappointment and many social workers reported that it has further undermin ed state social work practice, workers and clients. The paper seeks to offe r an explanation by noting the neo-liberalism of Labour's social policy and the dire consequences which flow from New Labour's fixation with waged wor k as the principal solution to social exclusion and poverty. Above all, it seeks to provide an opportunity for the views of front-line state social wo rkers to be heard.