The Big Conversation 2025 revisited the themes first explored in the Big Listen 2023, providing an updated picture of the experiences, pressures and priorities of child and family social workers and managers working across London and the South East.
The Big Conversation 2025 revisited the themes first explored in the Big Listen 2023, providing an updated picture of the experiences, pressures and priorities of child and family social workers and managers working across London and the South East.
We received an even stronger response in 2025, with 1220 replies (880 London and 340 from the South East). Every Local Authority and Trust had social workers respond, with many having tens of staff contribute. Notably, representation from Black and Global Majority respondents increased in the 2025 response overall (particularly in London), which is important given the differential experience highlighted in the Big Listen 2023.
- The findings point to modest but meaningful improvement. The incremental progress highlights that the continuous efforts made by employers has led to overall improvement that is sustainable. Local authorities and leaders have made changes that the children’s social care workforce are benefiting from.
- Whilst encouraging, against a backdrop of rising permanent social workers, reduced agency reliance and lower turnover rates and greater diversity of leadership highlighted in the 2025 social worker workforce census, the research also acknowledges that that these ‘green shoots’ are fragile and need to continue to be nurtured.
- The research also suggests that the workforce in both regions is positively disposed to the potential benefits of change as a result of the social care reforms and technological developments. The takeaway message was that the success of the reforms will depend more on implementation fidelity and resourcing than policy headlines.
–> Read the full Report here or by viewing below.