Simply Social Work

In January 2022, Simply Social Work will be launched by Gary Crisp and Neil Courtney.  Gary and Neil are both Consultant Social Workers and their expertise spans children and adult social work.  Simply Social Work is a private Social Work company and will  amalgamate the services that Gary and Neil already provide to members of the public, local authorities and law firms in England and Wales.  The services you’ll find on this website will be the same services that Simply Social Work provide.

Individually, Neil and Gary have provided a range of Social Work services for children and adults including, Mental Capacity Assessments and Best Interests Reports, Special Educational Needs & Disability Tribunal Social Work Reports, Immigration Tribunal Social Work Reports, Care Needs Assessments for Adults and Children, Carer Assessments, Deprivation of Liberty Assessments, Parenting Assessments and Assessing care needs and managing the care of people who pay their own care fees.

Gary and Neil have a very successful history of providing social work services to solicitors, case management companies, local authorities, care providers and individual families.  As Simply Social Work, they will continue to provide the same quality service as before and it goes without saying, we will always remain professional and independent making us an excellent choice for social work and expert witness work.

Don’t Social Workers only work for local councils?

Often, Social Workers are employed by local councils.  Local councils are usually large, complex organisations and Social Workers tend to either work in children’s services (children living with disabilities, child protection, etc) or adult services (older people, mental health, sensory loss, learning disabilities, safeguarding, etc) and complete statutory assessments (the assessments that local authorities are required by law to undertake such as care assessments, safeguarding enquiries, mental capacity assessment, etc).

Social Workers gain an undergraduate or post-graduate qualification and are registered with Social Work England (or Social Care Wales, in Wales) and are qualified Social Workers whoever they work for. So, whilst it is true that Social Workers often work for local authorities, others are independent or work for a private company such as Simply Social Work Ltd.

Why is there a need for Simply Social Work if local authorities undertake assessments?

It is no secret that local authorities struggle with the budgets they are given by central government and have to prioritise services according to their particular circumstances.  Sometimes Social Work assessments are not undertaken as quickly as people might like (or the law dictates).  In such cases, if local authority resources are stretched, a local authority may contract with us and use our Social Work resources.  In these instances our Social Work services would be paid for by the local authority and there is no cost to the person or their family.

Other times, a person or their lawyer might ask a Social Worker who is independent of a local authority to write a report if they disagree with a report by the local authority. This is most common in cases where an appeal is being made to a tribunal or court (special educational needs, immigration, mental health).  Such processes are not about sides or winning and losing. We remain completely independent regardless of who pays our fee and maintain professional relationships with local councils and lawyers alike.

Can I ask Simply Social Work to complete an assessment if the local authority won’t?

Not necessarily. Often assessments are undertaken by local authorities because a person requires a service or support from the local authority.  We can be asked to complete assessments, but the local authority doesn’t have to accept our assessment of a person or our analysis of what they need in terms of support.  We cannot tell a local authority what they should spend their money on.

However, if you are challenging a decision (or no decision) by a local authority, we can be instructed to provide an independent social work report.

Neil and Gary are proud of our work and the lives we help to change. Please feel free to drop us a message, even if it is just to say “hello”.  We are @SimplyISW on Facebook, twitter and LinkedIn.