Initial findings explore 38% increase in referrals to Social Work England

Social Work England has carried out analysis of 500 pre-triage cases from 1 April 2024 to March 2026 to help understand why it is experiencing a persistent increase in referrals since December 2024.

The regulator conducted this research as they wanted to better understand why people are raising concerns, given 96% of referrals from members of the public are closed as no regulatory action is needed.

The research considers who is raising concerns and why, which geographical regions these referrals are from, and what referrers expect from a professional regulator. It also explores system wide trends and how media and public access to AI augmented search engines could be influencing referral rates.

Key findings from the research show:

• most referrals within the sample analysed were received about social workers employed by a local authority and who work with children and families

• members of the public make up 61% of all referrals within the sample, and of those, mothers are the largest proportion of referrers, followed by fathers and wider family members

• 75% of members of the public who raised a concern felt they had done so elsewhere first

• 34.5% of members of the public provided evidence of a statutory complaint to the social worker’s employer

• referral rates from members of the public and employers continue to remain stable while referral rates from self-referrals appear to be increasing

•  most referrals came from the areas with the largest number of social workers including the Midlands, London and North West

•  the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman were also seeing increased numbers of complaints, and we expect complaints may also have increased at a local level within local authorities

The research acknowledges that the rise in referrals is likely driven by multiple factors.

Philip Hallam, executive director for regulation at Social Work England commented

“We will consider the findings of this research alongside the work we have been doing to understand why certain groups of social workers are overrepresented in our fitness to practise process. It will also help us consider what data we capture to ensure we can effectively understand our referrals better in the future.

“Increasing our understanding about why people raise concerns with us, and what concerns they are raising, will assist us in ensuring that our regulatory processes are effectively and efficiently protecting the public. We are committed to working with the public, employers, social workers, and those with lived experience to get that right.”

Further details of the research can be found in our 17 July 2026 board papers in the news section of our website.