Are you ready for Social Work England?

Are you ready for Social Work England?

In 2016, the Department for Education announced it would set up a new regulatory body for social work in England. The new regulator, Social Work England, will officially take over from the Health and Care Professions Council as of the 02 December 2019. We know that this transition has been concerning members of our social work community, so we passed the questions you sent in onto Social Work England. Here are their responses.

"Will this affect registration?"

Social workers in England, who wish to continue to practice, should renew their registration with the current regulator, HCPC.

All social workers registered, including those with an address outside of the UK, will be transferred over to Social Work England automatically when we become the regulator on 02 December 2019. Individuals will not have to pay twice or apply twice.

"How do we ensure thorough checks on social workers from overseas to ensure that their qualifications are adequate, and they are compliant to work in the UK? How can we ensure that they are knowledgeable about our policies and procedures in the UK?"

Anyone who has trained to become a social worker outside of England must meet and evidence a number of requirements. Registration will only be granted if we are satisfied that your skills, knowledge, and experience meet our standards.

Our registration guidance is currently out for consultation and we welcome any feedback that you may wish to contribute. You can find our proposed guidance for international applicants on our website. Please note that these may be amended based on the feedback we gathered during our 10-week consultation period, which finished on 18 October.

"I will be registering to return to social work in February 2020. What does this mean for me?"

Our requirements for restoring your registration will be similar to HCPC’s. If you have been out of practice for two years or more, you will need to spend 30 days updating your skills and knowledge through formal study, private study, or supervised practice. If you have been out of practice for five years or more, this will increase to 60 days.

Anyone wishing to join the register can apply directly via our website after 02 December 2019. The first direct debit payment for fees will be required on 01 April 2020.

"I would like to know about the fees and if they will increase?"

Should Social Work England consider a change to fees, this will be part of a consultation process before any changes are made.

"Will we get a badge with the details of our registration as this was very useful when attending venues such as schools & other local authorities - the HCPC did not issue them this time on renewal. Has any consideration been given to this being photo ID?"

We are not planning to provide badges. Our online register will provide up-to-date, searchable information on registrants.

"Will there be more resources with the new registration body such as research, good working practice, focused articles on social work development, Ofsted recommendations and DFS research?"

As part of our work, we aim to gather data and intelligence to raise standards across the profession. Our regional engagement leads will be working with everyone with an interest in social work to ensure we develop a rich picture of the social work landscape.

We will also be carrying out research and producing reports relevant to social work in England.

"Have you any plans to ensure social work is more effective customer-driven, and less process-driven hidden behind a computer screen?"

We are committed to collaborating and working with everyone who has an interest in social work. We want to make sure that our all our processes and our work with key stakeholders enables social workers to do their jobs in the most effective way.

"What impact will it have on registered social workers?"

In terms of the transfer process, we are aiming for this to be as smooth as possible. The transfer, including your payment of fees by direct debit if appropriate, will be automatic for everyone on the register. We will get in touch with you the week commencing 02 December 2019 to reassure you that this has taken place.

"What will the expectation be in terms of renewing registration, and will it be every two years?"

Registration renewal with Social Work England will happen annually. We strongly believe that the annual renewal of registration has several benefits. It will ensure regular and ongoing engagement with registrants, will help to keep the public register and contact information about registrants up-to-date and will assure the public that CPD is being undertaken by all social workers regularly.

"For data to be transferred over with the new regulations would all the people who this applies to have to give written consent?"

All data held by HCPC will automatically be transferred to Social Work England to ensure that you maintain your registration. Registrants can be reassured that a robust legal process has been followed to secure data sharing agreements.

Find out more

If you have any further questions, Social Work England has published a full FAQ section on their website: socialworkengland.org.uk/transition-faqs.