Care Council Annual Review

ANNUAL REVIEW

2014 -2015

Contact Details Care Council for Wales, South Gate House, Wood Street, Cardiff, CF10 1EW Tel: 0300 30 33 444 Fax: 029 2038 4764 Minicom: 029 2078 0680 E-mail: info@ccwales.org.uk www.ccwales.org.uk ISBN: 978-1-909867-83-3 (2015) Care Council for Wales All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the Care Council for Wales. Enquiries for reproduction outside the scope expressly permitted by law should be sent to the Chief Executive of the Care Council for Wales at the address given above.

Further copies and other formats

Further copies of this document are available in large print or other formats if required. /CareCareersWales

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@CareCouncil

CARE COUNCIL FOR WALES ANNUAL REVIEW 2014-2015

Contents Chair and Chief Executive Foreword Key Facts and Figures 2014/15 Professional Regulation of the Social Care Workforce

5

8

11

Standards, Qualifications and Learning

25

Standards and qualifications

25

Best practice guide

25

Funded qualifications

26

Qualifications framework

26

Commissioning

27

New awards

27

The Code of Practice for Social Care Workers

11

Practice guidance

12

Registration

13

Qualifying for social work

28

Online services for registrants

14

Promoting Welsh language in social work education

30

Profiles of the registered workforce

14

Referrals about workers in the care sector

15

Continuing Professional Education and Learning (CPEL) framework for social workers

30

Outcome of referrals

17

Supporting practice learning

31

Hearing outcomes

19

Practice guidance for social workers

31

Types of cases

20

Conferences for social workers

31

Post-conduct reviews

21

Conference for consultant social workers

31

Failures to uphold the Code

22

Improving workforce information

32

Committee members

22

Family justice

32

Developments in 2014/15

23

Proposed developments for 2015/16

24

Availability of research and professional knowledge

33

Social services practitioners

33

CARE COUNCIL FOR WALES ANNUAL REVIEW 2014-2015

Social Work Development

28

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Social Care Managers Development

34

Practice guidance for social care managers 34 Professional development framework Managers’ Forums

Children’s Social Care and Early Years and Childcare

35

36 36

Residential child care

37

39

A consistent approach to induction

39

Dementia

39

Shared Lives carers

40

Health care support workers

40

Demonstrating skills to carers

40

Direct payments

41

Assistive technology

41

Basic awareness in safeguarding training

41

Care ambassadors

41

Regional social care partnerships

42

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43

Supporting the effectiveness and well-being of our people

44

Managing our information securely and appropriately

44

Developing and implementing a communications plan

45

Sustainability

46

Welsh language

46

Equality and diversity

47

34

Early years and childcare

Community and Citizen Support

Organisational Development

Care Council For Wales Summary Financial Statements For The Year Ended 31 March 2015 48

CARE COUNCIL FOR WALES ANNUAL REVIEW 2014-2015

Chair and Chief Executive Foreword The vision for social services in Wales is clear: the focus is on the well-being of all citizens in Wales, including adults, children and carers. We will see a transformation of services. They will be personcentred and based on relationships of equality, which recognise the strengths and expertise of people who use them. This approach will be matched by a commitment to a workforce which is able to practice effectively and confidently, making well-informed judgements, based on up-to-date evidence. That is the essence of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014, which will guide the care sector’s work for the years ahead.

We are committed to playing a lead role in this change. Our ‘Getting in on the Act’ conferences in Llandudno, Swansea and Cardiff, which attracted 600 delegates, were an important catalyst in engaging social work practitioners in the transformation. Our engagement with the national collaborative leadership groups has focussed on tackling the implications of transforming services, strengthening integration and improving outcomes.

Our consistent long-term aim is to secure a workforce which works to the highest professional standards and has the skills and qualifications to support that. We have a dual role of regulating and developing the workforce. Together these support professional methods and judgements within a framework of public assurance and practice governance. This leads to a workforce which is valued and respected by people who use services, stakeholders and society at large.

We support social workers and social care workers through every part of their career. For many, registration with us is their first formal step as they enter the profession. From initial qualifications, to continuing learning and development, to an effective registration and regulatory system which underpins professionalism, we are there.

Setting and promoting high standards of practice is core to our purpose. Registration and ensuring the fitness to practise of key roles within the social care workforce form the cornerstone of our work.

Of the 11,544 registrants on the Register, 1.8 per cent was referred to us regarding concerns about their practice. Last year the number of referrals received regarding social workers was comparable with the previous year, but there was a 51 per cent increase in referrals regarding the residential child care workforce and a 26 per cent increase in referrals regarding adult care home managers from 2013/14. As part of this work, we developed resources to support the workforce, with the new Code of Professional Practice for Social Care arising from the review of the Code of Practice for Social Care Workers, the publication of the new Practice Guidance for Residential Child Care Workers, and updates made to the Practice Guidance for Social Workers and Social Care Managers.

We also published the first profile of domiciliary care managers during the year, providing the characteristics of this registered workforce for the first time, which will be used for workforce planning purposes.

CARE COUNCIL FOR WALES ANNUAL REVIEW 2014-2015

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A sustainable workforce is vital and attracting new workers to the sector is an important starting point. Last year, we worked with the regional Social Care in Partnership groups to recruit and maintain a list of active Care and Early Years Ambassadors. There are now almost 60 Ambassadors.

Through their passion and commitment, they raise the profile of the sector and offer prospective employees an insight into the world of care.

Once recruited, a high-quality, systematic and engaged induction is key. We work with the sector and the Welsh Government to maintain the induction framework. In March, we launched the Level 2 Award in Social Care Induction (Wales) to promote a consistent approach, so that new workers understand the values that underpin social care work.

Last year, we issued 5,582 apprenticeship certificates, helping to secure the next cohort of skilled social care, early years and childcare workers. In early years and childcare, we worked with partners to develop the 10-year workforce plan, which aims to attract high-quality entrants, provide a clear professional career route and develop strong leadership.

High-quality training and a culture of continuous learning is vital. We engage with our registrants to develop learning programmes and pathways. An important development was the first intake of social workers onto the Continuing Professional Education and Learning Experienced Practitioner and Senior Practitioner Programmes, with 100 places funded by the Care Council. Wales, of all the countries in the UK, is the only one to have a root-and-branch strategy for social work. An annual report on our social work strategy will be produced separately.

250 social care managers attended forums and workshops to develop their leadership skills, contribute to the development of resources and guidance and to network and learn from each other. As a result of feedback from managers, we developed a programme of learning for those aspiring managers who need the knowledge and understanding to become inspirational leaders of social care. The programme will be piloted in 2015/16.

The social care workforce is very varied in the range of roles and people it supports. Our range of work reflects this diversity. In 2015/16, we published a Best practice guide for learning and assessment to promote improvement in their learning experiences. Positive work was completed on tools and qualifications for personal assistants, Shared Lives carers and adult placement workers.

Work was undertaken with paid carers to help them understand and support unpaid carers.

We continued our leadership role in increasing the use of Welsh in social care. We produced materials to support employers to actively offer Welsh services and to develop their employees’ confidence and competence in using Welsh at work. A highlight in this regard was the production of a moving and powerful film called Home from Home, developed with Arts Council of Wales and Re-Live. The film is being developed for use as a learning resource in 2015/16. We also launched a Massive Open Online Course jointly with the Coleg Cymraeg, which focusses on language awareness and sensitivity for social work students.

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CARE COUNCIL FOR WALES ANNUAL REVIEW 2014-2015

As we look to the future, many challenges remain. There is a need for a very different kind of workforce strategy. It needs to demonstrate a clear line of sight between service improvement, recruitment, development, training, deployment and retention. Detailed horizon scanning and scenario planning is required. We need to support the well-being of current and future staff so that they can deliver high-quality care and support.

Our commitment to continuous improvement applies to the Care Council itself. Last year, we commissioned an organisational review to hear our partners’ perspective on what we do effectively and where we could improve. In their view, the Care Council is a collaborative, inclusive and valuebased organisation which is passionate about its aspirations for high-quality practitioners. In future, it was felt that we should become a stronger and more authoritative voice for the sector, a challenge which we are willing to accept.

“Regulation for success” is the Health and Social Services Minister’s vision underpinning the Regulation and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Bill, which is currently going through the Senedd.

It sets out the evolution of the Care Council into a new organisation, ‘Social Care Wales’, with an extended remit for service improvement and research. It will define the areas in which research and development are needed to inform the implementation of national improvement priorities. These will assist policy makers locally and nationally in developing best practice. Social Care Wales will play a critical role in embedding a culture of research within and across the social care workforce.

We welcome these changes. The Care Council has always sought to promote and improve social care. But, such an approach can only be achieved through genuine partnership working. Next year we will continue to build new relationships at regional level and across sector boundaries, with our focus firmly on our contribution to achieving the best outcomes for the people of Wales.

Arwel Ellis Owen Chair

CARE COUNCIL FOR WALES ANNUAL REVIEW 2014-2015

Rhian Huws Williams Chief Executive

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Key Facts and Figures 2014/15 Professional Regulation of the Social Care Workforce: Upholding standards and public trust in the quality of the social care workforce 11,544 practitioners and students are on the Register of Social Care Workers More than 90 per cent of registrants now using our online services 6,000 downloads of Code of Practice mobile application Allegations against 210 practitioners (1.8 per cent of registrants) – a 0.2 per cent increase since last year 55 per cent of conduct cases closed by officers after initial investigation 26 practitioners went before final conduct hearings, representing 0.24 per cent of all those on our Register 14 practitioners removed from the Register – a 25 per cent increase from last year.

Standards, Qualifications and Learning: Driving up quality and protecting individuals by ensuring an effective infrastructure of standards, qualifications and learning underpins high-quality, modern, professional practice Reviewed 2,227 qualifications that already exist on the funding list Recommended 102 social care qualifications for public funding. These include only 32 actual qualifications, offered by a range of awarding bodies in order to target public funding on effective qualifications.

5,582 apprenticeship certificates were issued during the year and there were 7,533 apprentices registered on the system A group of 33 attendees, including Shared Lives workers and assessors, attended the adult placement / Shared Lives workshop and focus groups for the use of the Social Care Induction Framework A group of 38, including Shared Lives workers, carers and assessors, attended the adult placement / Shared Lives workshop and focus groups for the pilot of the Diploma.

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CARE COUNCIL FOR WALES ANNUAL REVIEW 2014-2015

Social Work Development: Helping social workers stay in front-line practice, providing them with high-quality practice learning and development throughout their career 309 students started a social work degree in the year 248 students gained the professional qualification of a social work degree 1,880 social workers have now qualified since 2004 by gaining a degree 564 bursaries worth ÂŁ2,575,000 awarded to social work students in the year ÂŁ1.27m of funding awarded to local authorities to provide practice learning opportunities for social work students Social worker vacancies now at five per cent of all full-time equivalent posts in local authorities 68 attended the practice teachers conference 18 employer representatives attended a workshop to consider the findings of the sixth annual survey of social worker workforce planning 136 responses to the public consultation on introducing specific registration requirements for social workers who have been out of practice and not registered.

Social Care Managers Development: Supporting the professionalisation of managers through research, workforce planning, professional development, training, guidance and creation of a community of practice 85 adult care home managers attended focus groups across Wales to explore the nature and extent to which social care workers in care home settings are undertaking healthcare support tasks, as delegated by healthcare professionals 250 social care managers attended forums and workshops to develop leadership and other skills.

Children’s Social Care and Early Years and Childcare: Working with Welsh Government to support development and implementation of a 10-year workforce plan for early years and childcare 102 residential child care practitioners attended seminars held in Cardiff and St Asaph 945 apprentices certified for childcare learning and development apprenticeships 10 Apprenticeship Champions recruited for early years and childcare.

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Community and Citizen Support: Shaping the workforce for the future, supporting the vision for services that are citizen-led; preventative; and ‘enabling’ for people in need and their carers 37 attendees attended the Train the Trainer Safeguarding Basic Awareness Training A total of 74 participants contributed to the dementia focus groups 57 people are now active Care Ambassadors.

Organisational Development: Developing a modern regulatory body that continues to learn, delivers results and values diversity and participation Clean audit certificate awarded Maintained our ISO27001 accreditation Level 2 Green Dragon accreditation maintained Recycled 904kg of old IT equipment, 215kg of cardboard, over 3,000kg of paper and 55kg of used printer cartridges.

Record number of entries for the 10th anniversary Accolades 804,000 visits to Care Council website Social media impact grew to 1,800 followers on Twitter and messages reaching a total of 200,000 accounts Eight mobile applications downloaded 13,500 times.

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CARE COUNCIL FOR WALES ANNUAL REVIEW 2014-2015

Professional Regulation of the Social Care Workforce Our Objective: To support a workforce regulatory framework that provides public assurance, drives up standards and enhances the status of those employed in social care.

The Welsh Government’s Sustainable Social Services for Wales: A Framework for Action, sets out its vision for social work and social care in Wales. This vision is reflected in the Social Services and Wellbeing (Wales) Act 2014 and in the Regulation and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Bill. Part of this vision is the recognition of “the quality of professionals and their professionalism as central to responsive and sustainable social services.”

Through its regulatory and development work, we are able to contribute towards achieving this vision. Registering practitioners who are in key roles and ensuring their fitness to practise are cornerstones of this work.

Requiring registrants to be qualified and to sign-up to and adhere to standards of conduct and practice, and bringing them to account if they do not, are essential to ensuring the professionalism of the workforce. Evidence and trends then gleaned from this work are used by our developmental arm to review, enhance and develop standards, qualifications and guidance to further support the workforce to achieve the professionalism envisioned by the Government.

Setting, upholding and improving standards of the registered social care workforce are the main features of our professional regulatory role.

Registration is currently compulsory in Wales for social work students (from 2004), social workers (from 2005), residential child care managers and workers (from 2007 and 2008), adult care home managers (from 2011) and domiciliary care managers (from 2013).

The Code of Practice for Social Care Workers The Code of Practice for Social Care Workers (the Code) sets out the standards the registered workforce should work to. All applicants have to agree to abide by it when they register and may go before fitness to practise hearings if there are allegations over whether they have upheld its standards.

During the year, the Code was reviewed to reflect the significant changes in social care since it was published in 2002, and to ensure it would support the workforce to deliver the expectations of Sustainable Social Services and the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014. The key changes to the Code were: An amendment of the title to Code of Professional Practice for Social Care to reflect the Welsh Government’s aim to professionalise the whole workforce.

CARE COUNCIL FOR WALES ANNUAL REVIEW 2014-2015

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Clearer, up-to-date language in line with the Welsh Government’s ethos for social care set out in Sustainable Social Services and the Social Services and Well-Being (Wales) Act 2014. It supports workers to deliver in practice the expectations set out in these two documents, which include working in partnership with individuals who use services and carers, promoting their voice and control, well-being, collaboration and co-production. It also reflects, for example, National Occupational Standards language.

A new section of the Code for professionals leading and managing staff, with the aim to provide clarity for those with staff management responsibilities. It is aimed at managers who are responsible for ensuring that the Code is embedded into the practice of social care workers, and that they, whether registered or unregistered, are given the right level of support through appropriate learning and development opportunities, supervision, appraisal and constructive feedback.

Changes to terminology e.g. ‘individuals’ rather than ‘service users’.

Amendments, where appropriate, to reflect changes in practice and to better reflect current practice.

Introduction updated to include references to practice guidance and the importance of the Code to non-registrants.

Glossary included.

A public consultation was held between June and October 2014 on the revised Code and, following some additional amendments, it was approved by the Council in January 2015. It was launched by the Minister for Health and Social Services on 29 April, with implementation from 1 July 2015. Promotion of the new Code will take place in 2015/16, including campaigns targeted at raising awareness among the workforce and the general public.

Practice guidance While the Code is the main document setting out standards for practitioners, it is also the basis of practice guidance produced by the Care Council for its registered workers. The guidance is designed to be a practical tool, aiding social care workers in their practice and contributing to good outcomes for individuals. It may also be used to illustrate a potential failure to uphold the standards in the Code.

During the year, guidance documents for social workers, The Social Worker (published in 2014), and for social care managers, The Social Care Manager (published in 2013), were revised to reflect the new Code and to include additional sections on the Welsh language, conduct and social media.

Both were due to be published in April 2015.

In addition, practice guidance was produced in March for residential child care workers, The Residential Child Care Worker, following consultation with the sector. This was due to be launched in the summer of 2015.

All registrants receive a copy of the guidance relevant to their role upon registration.

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CARE COUNCIL FOR WALES ANNUAL REVIEW 2014-2015

Registration The total number of registered workers dropped by 2.7 per cent to 11,544, mainly because of a decrease in the number of workers registering voluntarily.

Who’s on the register of social care workers?

Qualified social workers

5,967

Social work student

733

Residential child care managers

174

Residential child care workers

2,142

Adult care home managers

1,243

Adult care workers

235*

Domiciliary care managers

610

Domiciliary care workers

440*

TOTAL

11,544

*Registration not mandatory Number of practitioners on the register 2007/08-2012/13 07/08

6,750

08/09

8,660

09/10

9,580

10/11

10,541

11/12

11,234

12/13

11,649

13/14

11,864

14/15

11,544

The number of registered domiciliary care managers grew by 14 per cent during the year, as a result of some registering late and new services obtaining registration from the Care and Social Services Inspectorate Wales (CSSIW). As in 2013/14, there were more managers registered than the number of registered services (431 domiciliary services registered in 2014/15 with 415 services in 2013/2014).

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The number of adult care home managers fell by 1.7 per cent during the year despite not all services having a manager registered. This has been discussed with CSSIW and seems to raise recruitment and retention issues for this workforce. It has focused attention on the need to increase the number of registrants qualified for this role.

The numbers registered on a voluntary basis fell every month in the last year resulting in a 27 per cent decrease overall from last year. It is thought that is primarily due to the expectation, and then the confirmation in the publication of the Regulation and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Bill, of the Welsh Government’s policy intention to close the voluntary register, with registrants thus choosing to voluntarily leave the register at renewal. This annual decline would indeed appear to mirror this intention, which was first stated in Sustainable Social Services (2011), and was re-iterated in the consultation on the (then entitled) Social Services (Wales) Bill (2012), and again in the consultation of the Regulation and Inspection of Care and Support in Wales White Paper (2013).

However, those who remain registered reflect the commitment of social care workers and their employers to the principle of registration, ongoing professional training and learning and achieving the qualifications required for their role.

Online services for registrants We have continuously reviewed and improved the accessibility of the MyCareCouncil online service, leading to a more efficient registration process for applicants and registrants. This has been demonstrated by a 19 per cent increase in the percentage of applications submitted online in 2014/15, with an average of 93 per cent of registered users using MyCareCouncil for their applications submitted to us.

Profiles of the registered workforce We have been producing profile reports annually for each group registered with us. These are published together and available on our website.

The profiles provide rich data for employers, commissioners, service-planners, the CSSIW and the Welsh Government. We use the data to inform our long-term development programmes for the sustainability and professionalism of the sector.

What the 2014/15 workforce profiles tell us: Registered social workers in Wales - number of practitioners stable - 6.5 per cent turnover since last profile - 37 per cent in current job for five years or more - registration well-established for this group.

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CARE COUNCIL FOR WALES ANNUAL REVIEW 2014-2015

Adult care home managers - Numbers fell when they should still be rising to ensure all settings have a registered manager - relatively stable workforce - 10 per cent turnover since last profile - 52 per cent in current job for five years or more.

Residential child care workforce - Similar findings to previous years - High turnover, which isn’t the result of retirement - 16 per cent of managers and 20 per cent of workers had left since last profile - Low number (10 per cent) of fluent Welsh speakers - High ratio of male workers.

Domiciliary care managers - Number still growing as Register becomes more established for this group - Low turnover - 54 per cent had been in current job for five years or more - Low number (nine per cent) of fluent Welsh speakers.

Referrals about workers in the care sector Referrals about the practice of registered workers can be received from a variety of sources, including past and present employers, the police, members of the public (including individuals who use services and carers), higher education institutions and through personal declarations by registrants. The vast majority of referrals tend to be from employers.

We received 210 referrals in 2014/15, representing 1.9 per cent of the registered workforce. While there has been a 12.3 per cent increase in referrals over the previous year, the figure is still significantly lower than that recorded in 2012/13, when there were 282 referrals. The increase in 2014/15 is mainly accounted for by rises in numbers referred by current employers, other regulators and as a result of personal declarations.

The high number of referrals received from current employers indicates their continued acknowledgement of registration and its role in upholding standards across the registered workforce.

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Number of conduct referrals 08/09

145

09/10

156

10/11

178

11/12

194

12/13

282

13/14

187

14/15

210

Conduct referrals by job Qualified social workers

50

Adult care home managers

30

Residential child care managers

5

Residential child care workers

93

Domiciliary care managers

6

Domiciliary care workers

3

Social work students

9

As in previous years, referrals relating to registrants who were either the subject of an employer disciplinary procedure or who had received an outcome of a disciplinary hearing accounted for the majority of referrals received (65 per cent).

The nature of referrals is wide-ranging and includes medication errors, issues with professional boundaries, inappropriate use of social media, safeguarding matters for adults and children and failure to follow procedures. There has been a fall in the number of referrals involving social media, which may be as a result of more employers introducing policy and guidance on how they should be used.

This year saw the number of social workers referred (64) remain similar to 2013/14 (66). Over the last two years, there has been a drop in social worker referrals when compared with referral rates for previous years. There is no obvious explanation for the drop although it is significant when compared with referral rates for previous years. The highest area of referrals is within children’s services, where there appear to be issues with competency. Where these matters are a factor, there may also be inadequate support and supervision from line managers, contributing to poor performance. In addition, personal circumstances, such as ill health, including work related stress, have also been seen to impact on competency.

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CARE COUNCIL FOR WALES ANNUAL REVIEW 2014-2015

The largest percentage of all referrals involves the residential child care workforce. These have increased by 51 per cent from the previous year, even though there is no apparent reason for the rise. These make up 47 per cent of all referrals made to us in 2014/15. They involve failures to safeguard, medication errors, sleeping on duty, inappropriate restraint and professional boundaries matters. However, the vast majority of such referrals are closed by officers due to further investigation showing no case to answer or appropriate remedial action being taken by employers.

The low level of referrals for adult care home workers and domiciliary care workers reflect the intention to close the voluntary registers for these two groups, for whom there was a 27 per cent decrease in registration from 2013/14. Registrants in these groups do not appear to be renewing their registration when it becomes due.

Referrals for residential child care managers and domiciliary care managers have remained low, while those for adult care home managers are 63 per cent higher than the combined total of the other two groups and have increased by 26 per cent since the previous year. This rise may be partly due to us receiving more referrals from the CSSIW from its inspection work and the Inspectorate advising employers to refer managers to us. Most of these referrals relate to management failures and poor leadership that have had an impact on the culture and efficiency of care homes. Some evidence suggests such failures have filtered down to staff, causing problems with attitude, neglect, a lack of dignity shown towards residents, as well as stealing from them.

Outcome of referrals Of the 210 referrals received during 2014/15, 121 (57.4 per cent) were closed by officers following investigation. In all these cases, risk assessments were carried out and it was agreed that the allegations did not call into question the suitability of the individual to remain on the Register.

Closed cases are reported to our Standards and Regulation Committee, with reasons provided for the closure to ensure thresholds are properly maintained.

With the inclusion of cases opened before 1 April 2014, a total of 166 cases were closed in-house without referral to an investigating committee during 2014/15. They included 57 residential child care workers for restraint and minor safeguarding matters; 63 social workers for matters, including issues of capability; six students for matters including driving offences and minor drugs-related issues; 19 adult care home managers for matters including failure to follow procedures and minor safeguarding issues; four residential child care managers for matters including capability; three adult care home workers for matters including driving offences and minor safeguarding issues; three domiciliary care workers for medication errors, a disciplinary and a breach of dignity at work policy; and two domiciliary care managers for management failures.

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Undertakings An undertaking is an agreement between the Care Council and the registrant in relation to work practices. It enables a registrant to continue working and is agreed between the registrant and Care Council officers without referral to a Committee.

The offer of an undertaking was accepted by two registrants during the year, both social workers, with one agreeing to undertake training in relation to data protection/client confidentiality and professional boundaries after having accessed/viewed confidential records relating to service users.

Removal by agreement The 2014 Fitness to Practise Rules introduced ‘removal by agreement’. This means registrants can apply to be removed from the Register without referral to a Committee if they admit the allegations, the facts and that their fitness to practise is impaired.

One application was received and accepted for removal by agreement during the year. The allegations related to threatening and abusive text messages sent by a residential child care worker to a young person in their care. In this particular case, the registrant was of retirement age and did not wish to return to work in social care.

Final conduct hearings This year, 26 cases were taken to a final hearing. This is a 31 per cent increase on the previous year, but in line with 2012/13 (25 cases) and 2011/12 (23 cases).

These represent 0.22 per cent of the Register, an increase from 0.15 per cent the previous year, but comparable with 0.2 per cent for 2011/12 and 2012/13. This shows it is a very small proportion of registrants who go to a final hearing, indicating that the vast majority of registered practitioners work to the standards and practice set out in the Code.

However, this figure is higher than those recorded in England and Northern Ireland and slightly lower than in Scotland (in 2013/14).

Regulator

No on Register

No of final hearings

Proportion of Register

England

322,021

267

0.08%

N Ireland

22,421

21

0.09%

Scotland

83,591

250

0.3%

Wales

11,544

26

0.22%

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CARE COUNCIL FOR WALES ANNUAL REVIEW 2014-2015

Number going before final hearing committees (Wales) 10/11

12

11/12

23

12/13

25

13/14

18

14/15

26

Practitioner groups going before final hearing committees Social workers

11

Adult care home managers

7

Residential child care workers

5

Domiciliary care managers

2

Domiciliary care workers

1

Of the 26 cases that went before a final hearing, 42 per cent (11) involved social workers, a small increase from last year (9) but less than the 17 cases in 2012/13. It is not known why there was an increase during that year.

Seven registrants, or 26 per cent of the total, were adult care home managers, a similar figure to last year, continuing the steady number of cases reaching a final hearing since compulsory registration was introduced in 2011/12.

This year saw the first domiciliary care managers appearing before a final hearing since mandatory registration was introduced in 2013/14.

As in the past two years, no residential child care managers went before a final hearing.

Among residential child care workers, there was a slight increase in the number who went before a final hearing, which halted the decrease from this workforce since 2011/12.

Hearing outcomes 14 cases, or 54 per cent, resulted in practitioners being removed from the Register, representing an increase from nine the previous year.

At the other end of the spectrum of sanctions, 26 per cent of those who appeared before a final hearing received an admonishment, enabling them to continue working while the reprimand was in place.

One case was closed with no further action after the Committee found misconduct not proven.

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Failure to comply with conditions imposed at a final hearing Two of the sanctions available to a final hearing are to impose either a Suspension Order with Conditions or a Conditions of Practice Order.

A Suspension Order with conditions suspends a registrant from the Register for a set period of time with conditions imposed which the registrant must comply with during the suspension period.

A Conditions of Practice Order allows a registrant to continue working but with conditions in place, which again the registrant must comply with while the Order is in place.

This year, for the first time since the introduction of the Orders in 2011, two registrants were referred to a final hearing after failing to comply with conditions imposed by a previous Conduct Committee. Both were removed from the Register.

Types of cases In previous years, a consistent number of cases reaching a final hearing involved convictions for violence, fraud and theft. They accounted for nearly half the total number of cases considered at a final hearing, whereas, this year, none of them related to convictions for theft or violence.

A number of cases related to convictions or inappropriate relationships, with one social worker appearing before a final hearing following a conviction under the Sexual Offences Act 2003, while another appeared following receipt of a police caution for initiating and maintaining a social media relationship with a 16-year-old individual.

This year, as last year, two registrants, a social worker and a residential child care worker, were removed from the Register having been accused of having inappropriate relationships with individuals using services. The social worker incited a young male to sexual activity and the residential child care worker had a sexual relationship with a male individual who used services.

Six social workers from children’s services appeared before a final hearing for failing to carry out statutory visits, undertake core assessments or risk assessments in the required timescales. In one case, the social worker was removed from the Register for failing to carry out and complete statutory visits and core assessments in relation to 14 children within required timescales, including failure to visit some children for six months.

A Health Committee sits in private and considers additional medical evidence to establish if the misconduct was contributed to by the registrant’s mental or physical ill-health at the time of the misconduct. A medical adviser sits with the Committee to provide advice on medical matters.

Four final hearings this year were Health Committee hearings, compared with one last year, six in 2012-13, and none in 2011-12.

Misconduct was found proved in all cases. In two cases, the Committee found that the misconduct was likely to have been contributed to by the ill health of two registrants, resulting in one being removed and no sanction imposed on the other. In two cases, health was not found to be a contributory factor to the misconduct, resulting in a removal and suspension from the Register.

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Sanctions imposed Removal from the Register

14

Admonishments

7

Conditions of Practice Orders

0

Suspension Orders

3

Case closed

2

Dual registration cases All adult care home managers are required to be registered with us. If they are practising as a nurse, they need to be registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC). In these cases, where it appears that the allegation primarily related to nursing practice, the NMC investigates; where it appears that the allegation relates to the managerial role of the individual, we investigate.

For the first time this year, two adult care home managers, also registered with the NMC, appeared before a final hearing. In both cases, the NMC hearing had taken place before our hearing and, as such, the charges were based on the findings of the NMC. This meant the NMC’s findings on fact were taken as prima facie evidence, enabling us to find the facts proved based on the NMC’s findings. One registrant received an admonishment and the other was removed from the Register.

Post-conduct reviews Between January and March 2015, Fitness to Practise Officers completed post-conduct reviews of cases which had been to final hearings. Nine reviews were completed for this period, comprising of three social workers, three adult care home managers and three residential child care workers. The intention of these reviews is to analyse the circumstances of each case and ascertain whether there are practice issues which need to be considered, in addition to lessons learned, which can be reported back to the sector. Our Workforce Development team has input into these reviews to consider any training interventions which may be required.

One of the themes identified through this process relates to adult care home managers who have used inappropriate and derogatory language. This has impacted on the culture of the homes and subsequently on the staff working there. Our Workforce Development team is developing a programme called ‘Step into Management’. This is in its early stages but will address the matter of potential managers being role models for staff in care homes.

There are currently only three months of post-conduct reviews to analyse; therefore information is limited.

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Failures to uphold the Code Final hearing committees refer to the Code when considering whether or not the charges found proved amount to misconduct. Where misconduct or impaired fitness to practise is found proved, the Committee lists the part(s) of the Code that was not met.

In the 26 hearings held, the four main parts of the Code that registrants failed to uphold were: 5.8: “behave in a way, in work or outside work, which would call into question your suitability to work in social care services”. 16 registrants were deemed to have fallen short of this standard.

2.4: “being reliable and dependable”. 15 registrants were found not to have met this standard.

6.1: “meeting relevant standards of practice and working in a lawful, safe and effective way”. 15 registrants were found not to have upheld this standard.

5.7: “put yourself and others at unnecessary risk”. 14 registrants were found not to have met this standard.

The number of registrants who failed to meet all six parts of the Code rose from two last year to eight in 2014/15. Of these, seven were removed from the Register and one received an admonishment.

Committee members Committee members are a pool of independent people who we appointed to act on our behalf.

There are currently 18 lay members and nine social care members from across Wales. Lay members come from various backgrounds, including human resources, business, legal, research, and the magistrates system. Social care members include five social workers with backgrounds in mental health, adult services, children’s services, domiciliary care, safeguarding, practice teaching and nursing.

Members undertake annual self and peer review appraisals, and attend training and development sessions to help them carry out their duties and keep abreast of case law, Care Council and regulatory developments. This year, the members attended an update session which provided them with an overview of developments in our business, such as the Regulation and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Bill and the review of the Code of Practice for Social Care Workers.

This year, Committee members were given access to the MyCareCouncil online service. This function allows Committee members to update the Committee Management Team with their availability, with the aim of streamlining the process for scheduling hearings. The portal also allows members access to a library of documents which help them in their role.

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Developments in 2014/15 Responding to the consultation on the Regulation and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Bill We worked with Welsh Government officials in the run-up to the publication of the Bill, providing advice on the proposed content. We then responded to the Bill, as requested by the Assembly’s Health and Social Care Committee, by 9 April 2015. Our response included an analysis of the overall contents of the Bill, with a focus primarily on the parts relating to the workforce and the evolution of the Care Council into Social Care Wales. Overall, we welcomed the requirements in the Bill, but did raise our concern about the level of detail in it, particularly in relation to the fitness to practise elements, and the provision to introduce a negative register.

Collaboration with the Care and Social Services Inspectorate Wales (CSSIW) Joint-working and sharing information between the Care Council and CSSIW continued over the course of the year in line with the Welsh Government’s vision in Sustainable Social Services.

Collaborative work was undertaken around the sharing of information on trends regarding the workforce and services. Joint-work was undertaken to identify services where no manager has yet registered with the Care Council and where a different manager has registered with CSSIW and the Care Council. Information regarding individual cases of concern about the practice of registered workers was also shared where relevant.

Implementation of Fitness to Practise Rules 2014 The Rules were implemented from 1 April 2014.

Information sharing protocols Information sharing protocols have been developed to facilitate the sharing of information regarding concerns raised about the conduct of social care workers as part of the public protection agenda.

Revised protocols were agreed with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) and the Disclosure and Barring Service. Work continued on the review of the protocol with the CSSIW.

Residential child care turnover of staff A survey of residential child care managers and workers was commissioned from Vector Research to gain deeper understanding of the motivation to join the workforce and reasons for leaving. It will report in 2015/16.

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Proposed developments for 2015/16: Further contributions to the development of the Regulation and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Bill We will continue to contribute and respond to the development of the Bill with the Committee and Assembly officials, with the aim of securing an effective model for the future regulation of the social work and social care workforce in Wales.

Collaborative work with CSSIW Work will continue with CSSIW on sharing information and on the longer-term change programme across both organisations. This will include a significant emphasis on using joint information to identify good and poor practice and to identify means by which the work of both organisations can support improvement within services. Another key feature of the joint-work will be in relation to public access to information about the social care workforce and social care services. This will focus on the development of a website which will contain information on services and the workforce for the public. Joint thematic reviews on recruitment and safeguarding will also be undertaken.

Implementation of the Code of Professional Practice for Social Care Campaigns to embed the Code and to raise its awareness with the workforce and the public will be undertaken during the year.

Increasing registrant commitment to the benefits of registration A new welcome pack will be sent to registrants, as has already been produced for students. A revised version of Now you are registered is also proposed. The registration certificate is currently printed and all registrants receive the relevant version of the practice guidance. A key decision for the future will be whether registrants will receive documents digitally or whether any documents will continue to be provided or available by post.

Practice guidance The intention is to develop a programme of explanatory guidance to build on the practice guidance documents in place for social workers, social care managers and residential child care workers. This is likely to include explanatory guidance on ‘duty of candour’.

Review of workforce regulation processes A process review, requested by the Welsh Government to ensure maximum efficiency, will be undertaken during the year. The internal review of registration undertaken in 2014-15, and the identification of efficiency savings that could be made with changes to the Rules, should provide a sound basis for this review.

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Standards, Qualifications and Learning Our Objective: To ensure standards, qualifications and learning underpin high-quality, modern, professional practice in social care and early years and childcare.

This area of our work is focused on the essential building blocks for an effective workforce development strategy.

Standards and qualifications As a Welsh Government Sponsored Body (WGSB) and a Sector Skills Council, we are committed to building an infrastructure of learning and qualifications that supports a professional, knowledgeable and effective workforce in social care and early years and childcare.

The work is often very detailed and requires an in-depth knowledge of the structures of qualifications as well as good partnership working with Welsh Government officials, employers, learning providers and other regulators.

2014/15 was a period of reviews of policy and qualifications regulations across the UK, which will have big implications for our work in 2015/16. We have started to plan towards the changes so that we can build on the progress achieved so far.

We have worked closely to identify and raise issues with the Welsh Government about changes resulting from the Skills Implementation Plan. This contributed to the Government making additional monies available to support some apprenticeships for people over the age of 25 in Wales, an important concession given the demography of the social care workforce. We have certificated 5,582 apprenticeships during the year and there were 7,533 apprentices registered on the system.

The Plan emphasises the investment employers need to make in the learning and development of their staff. At the same time, the priority for Welsh Government, across the economy is that the skills level should be increased, with funding focussed on young people entering work.

An additional ÂŁ1 million was released to support the transition in the social care sector.

Best practice guide Publishing the Best practice guide for learning and assessment in social care and early years marks the beginning of our work to improve the quality of teaching and learning outcomes for learners in the sector.

The guide (and partner documents for employers and learners) sets out our clear expectations for the learning and assessment of the qualifications that convey occupational competence in the sector. This work was co-produced with a wide range of learning providers, awarding organisations and in collaboration with learners and service user representatives and other stakeholders.

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Funded qualifications We have worked with stakeholders to consider whether almost 200 qualifications should be recommended for public funding. We are also reviewing another 2,227 qualifications that already exist on the funding list.

Of these, we have only recommended 102 social care qualifications for public funding. These include only 32 actual qualifications, offered by a range of awarding bodies. This indicates a significant reduction in qualifications being offered and provides evidence that qualifications previously given public funding no longer meet the needs of the sector.

Of the new qualifications, we recommended to the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) that only 11 be publicly funded. We have also worked closely with DfES and the awarding organisations to remove a range of unsuitable Level 1 qualifications from the funding list; to ensure that only appropriate dementia care awards are included and to confine child care qualifications to those that ensure occupational competence. This work continues to have a real impact in reducing the numbers of inappropriate qualifications studied for in schools and colleges across Wales.

We have continued to support the use of apprenticeships by the sector’s employers during the past year. This has been achieved by keeping the frameworks under review to ensure they remain compliant and suitable.

Qualifications framework We undertook an annual update of the Qualifications Framework for the Social Care Workforce in Wales. As a result, it was revised to include: additional qualifications for registered nurses wishing to manage an adult care home; a section on qualifications endorsed for continuing professional development; a section on our resources to develop the Welsh language skills of the workforce; and recommended qualifications for adult placement / Shared Lives carers and workers.

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Commissioning Commissioning plays a pivotal role in planning, shaping and purchasing social care services. We have worked with our partners on a learning and development framework, which describes the knowledge and skills needed for commissioning, procurement and contracting tasks and functions.

We have learned from commissioners that they need to be able to recognise good-quality services, as described in the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014, and to be able to understand, plan and work in partnership to develop services within their communities. We are now exploring the potential to develop training or qualifications in this area with key learning providers.

New awards Awards for safeguarding awareness, understanding sensory loss and the social care induction in Wales were launched at the beginning of March. These aim to provide accredited learning for some important aspects of learning needed for social care workers, including those who are new to post.

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Social Work Development Our Objective: To ensure development and training provides public assurance that the social work profession in Wales can deliver high-quality services consistent with the policy needs of Wales.

In 2014/15, we undertook a range of initiatives to strengthen workforce planning, encourage takeup of training, improve professional practice and prepare for future changes.

The Social Services and Well-being Act (Wales) 2014 puts quality social work at the heart of developing a more sustainable approach to social services provision. Much of our focus has therefore been on the quality of qualifying and post-qualifying training.

Qualifying for social work We continue to regulate social work education at qualifying and post-qualifying levels. As well as ensuring programmes meet requirements for approval, we work with them to ensure continuous improvement through annual monitoring and dialogue.

Nine social work qualifying programmes are delivered through seven universities, including three at master’s level, representing 30 per cent of all places.

In 2014/15, 248 students passed their social work qualification in Wales and, of these, 225 registered to work in Wales. In addition, 24 registered to work in Wales who had qualified in England within the previous year.

Number of social work students graduating in Wales (first degree and masters) 2007/08 – 2014/15 07/08

120

08/09

223

09/10

207

10/11

262

11/12

288

12/13

255

13/14

247

14/15

248

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Qualifying training is financially supported through an incentive-to-train scheme and a fund supporting employers’ provision of practice learning opportunities. In 2014/15, 564 students undertaking undergraduate and master’s level social work degrees received bursaries and other support with a total value of £2,575,000; this is an increase of 16 students over the previous year.

In total, 225 bursaries were awarded to newly-enrolled students; however, as a result of the increased intake and limited availability of bursaries, there were 10 students who could not be awarded a bursary. Each student undertakes an assessed practice learning opportunity at each stage of their degree and, this year, the Care Council provided financial support for local authorities to organise 759 such placements.

Number of bursaries awarded 2005/06-2013/14 05/06

291

06/07

480

07/08

573

08/09

619

09/10

631

10/11

629

11/12

572

12/13

559

13/14

548

14/15

564

Value of bursaries awarded 2005/06-2012/13 (£m) 05/06

1.236

06/07

2.185

07/08

2.857

08/09

3.137

09/10

3.299

10/11

3.242

11/12

3.032

12/13

2.618

13/14

2.610

14/15

2.575

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Promoting the Welsh language in social work education We have worked with Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol to establish a subject panel for social work to increase the amount of social work education available through the medium of Welsh and the amount of work submitted for assessment through the medium of Welsh. All the universities teaching social work are involved and three Welsh-speaking staff have been appointed to promote learning opportunities to students in Wales.

Continuing Professional Education and Learning (CPEL) framework for social workers During 2014/15, two new national programmes became available: the Experienced Practitioner (EPP) and the Senior Practitioner Programmes (SPP). We commissioned these from Cardiff University, working in alliance with Bangor, Glyndwr and Swansea Universities. We fund up to 100 places on the programmes and employers can purchase additional places if they wish. This national approach has a number of benefits: economies of scale, consistency of content and delivery, equality of access, ensuring stakeholder involvement, more control over strategic direction and securing financial viability for programmes. ^

As of April 2015, the equivalent of 79 learners were undertaking 60 credit programmes. The actual number of social workers involved is greater than this as some are doing individual modules, not the whole award. There is a balance between those doing the Experienced Practitioner Award and those enrolled on the Senior Practitioner Award.

In addition, the Consolidation programmes continued to develop, with 107 social workers successfully completing them during the year.

Four of the five CPEL Programmes are therefore now operational and feedback from the sector on the EPP and SPP has confirmed that the programmes: are effective in responding to the demands of frontline social work practice; have achieved a “relentless focus on practice�, as emphasised by partners; are an example of a groundbreaking model of collaboration across higher education institutions in Wales; are an example of Care Council collaborative working across a range of stakeholder interests; are underpinned by independent evaluation focusing on outcomes; provide a good practice model for commissioning other major projects.

We have approved the Consultant Social Work Programme, which is scheduled to start in October 2015, and comments are now being invited on the approval processes.

The first independent annual evaluation report on the impact of all the programmes will be available in early summer 2015.

During 2014/15, we also consulted on proposals to make the CPEL Programmes mandatory over time. There was an excellent response to the consultation and we now intend to make the Consolidation Programme mandatory for newly-qualified social workers as a first step.

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Supporting practice learning Both qualifying training and CPEL require some demonstration of competence in practice, which needs to be assessed. Without enough appropriately-trained assessors, the system for training will not function. Supporting practice learning is therefore critically important. We commissioned a research project to identify the critical factors in an effective model. It was found that the components of the model were in place but it was fragile because there was too much reliance on the goodwill of practitioners. We have therefore developed a strategy to better support practice learning, and a task and finish group is in place to oversee the work.

Practice guidance for social workers During 2014/15, we carried out an annual review of The Social Worker: Practice Guidance for Social Workers registered with the Care Council. As the document was less than one year old, the review resulted only in minor changes: updating references to the new Code of Professional Practice for Social Care and adding the new international definition of social work. Also, additional wording was added on duty of candour to reflect this addition to the new Code. The revised version of practice guidance was published in April 2015.

Conferences for social workers More than 600 delegates attended three ‘Getting in on the Act’ conferences for social workers in Llandudno, Swansea and Cardiff. They were designed to provide social workers and other interested parties with further information about the new Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 and what it might mean for them in their practice.

More than half of the delegates provided feedback, which was generally very positive. When asked if the conferences had achieved their objective of successfully introducing the implications of the Act for social work practice, the average score was 3.98 out of 5.

All elements of co-production were of particular interest to delegates, who were also keen to have more detailed information about the Act. While all written comments were not analysed in detail, it was clear that many delegates would wish to see similar events being held in 18 months’ time, when the Act comes into force.

Conference for consultant social workers The second national conference for consultant social workers took place on 16 September 2014. It was arranged as a joint-event between the Care Council, Social Services Improvement Agency (SSIA) and Association of Directors of Social Services (ADSS) Cymru. Consultant social workers decided on their own programme and chaired and inputted into the day. Forty five delegates attended the event, with nine local authorities being represented.

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The programme included a substantive item on the CPEL programme for Consultant Social Workers which is scheduled to start next year. This item was facilitated by Cardiff University for the CPEL Alliance and feedback included: “Good discussion generated and I like the idea of a choice of route due to learning styles/local demands upon role and time.”

“Very refreshing to be involved in development of the programme.”

Improving workforce information We use workforce information as a basis for future planning. This work includes an annual social worker workforce planning survey which is managed in partnership with ADSS Cymru and the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA). This survey identifies the number of social workers who have left the sector and newly-qualified social workers appointed by local authorities.

This year’s survey indicated overall stability in the social work workforce, with employers continuing to say they have a good supply of newly-qualified social workers. Vacancy rates remain low with an overall slight reduction to five per cent of posts vacant at the point of the survey. Employers’ use of agency staff was also reported to have reduced in the year. Employers reported continued strength in their ability to appoint newly-qualified social workers but they still face some difficulties in attracting more experienced practitioners.

We also develop a profile of the social work workforce each year. This year, the information was extended to also draw on our regulation of social work education, and included information on social work students, social worker recruitment, social worker employment, turnover, demographic profile and diversity information.

A similar picture emerges of a broadly stable workforce, with low turnover. Over half the social workers had been in their current post at least three years and 11 per cent, over 10 years. More than 75 per cent had qualified at least five years ago and more than 50 per cent over 10 years ago.

As part of our approach to strengthening social work and improving recruitment of experienced practitioners, we consulted on developing a framework to help those social workers returning to practice to update their knowledge and understanding. We plan to introduce these requirements in the coming year.

Family justice We continue to play a pivotal role in the Family Justice Network. Our Director of Learning and Development represents us in the multi-agency forum and also chairs the workforce sub-group of the Network.

We have also built on the foundations of our partnership with Research in Practice during the last year. Previously, we focused on developing resources to support the work of social workers in the courts and a training course for practitioners in Wales, as well as Training the Trainer resources.

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During the past year, the focus has been on supporting ADSS Cymru to deliver the Training the Trainer course. This means all social workers needing training on family justice matters are able to access a course.

Availability of research and professional knowledge During the past year, we have worked closely with the Children’s Social Care Research Centre (CASCADE) to make research available to children and family practitioners. We sit on the Management Board of CASCADE with observer status and can offer advice on matters relating to its remit.

We are also facilitating the development of a group in North Wales, led by the two Universities that offer social work degree courses. Its main objective is to promote the development of research in social work and social care and to align it to practice considerations.

We have provided a platform to researchers at Swansea University to access the social work and social care professional communities and see this as a key role in promoting evidence-informed practice.

The launch of the children's social care law in Wales website by Cardiff Law School is a recent initiative that gives social workers and other practitioners a means to navigate the law, guidance and support resources that are so valuable in their work. We have supported this development by contributing to the work on the resource and making it available to our registrants.

Social services practitioners Our work around social services practitioners has been a challenge as it requires a change to the way social services departments recruit and train staff who are an integral part of delivery team, but are not social workers.

Research and consultations have shown the need to increase the level of learning and qualifications of this non-registered part of the workforce. The Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 will require careful evaluation of what constitutes competence in the key roles of assessment, care and support planning and meeting needs. We will continue to work with ADSS Cymru to facilitate the training and qualifications of this part of the workforce over the next year.

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Social Care Managers Development Our Objective: To support the professionalisation of social care managers through training, guidance and opportunities to take part in professional networks.

This area of work is based on the vision in the Welsh Government’s Sustainable Social Services, for the professionalisation of managers. It recognises the key role of social care managers in improving outcomes for people who rely in particular on residential or domiciliary care.

Practice guidance for social care managers During 2014/15, the Care Council undertook an annual review of The Social Care Manager: Practice Guidance for Social Care Managers registered with the Care Council. This document was the first practice guidance to be produced and was 18-months-old. As a result of the review, the main change was to reflect the new Code of Professional Practice. In addition, two new sections were added to ‘match’ the guidance for social workers and residential child care workers: a section on Welsh language-need and a section on conduct and social media. Additional wording was added about duty of candour to reflect this addition to the new Code.

Social care managers were consulted and supported the revisions. Responses included: “Responding to the Welsh language – important to include and useful links to where managers can access support to introduce the Welsh language”.

“I’m happy with the additions and feel these are appropriate”.

“As a registered manager I fully support your proposed additions. Conduct/social media is extremely important and I feel at times standards are compromised with use of these sites”.

The revised version of the practice guidance was published in April 2015.

Professional development framework We recognise the importance of having highly-skilled and competent social care managers and the vital role that these play in leading and managing services that support people to have a good quality of life. To drive wide-scale changes, we have committed to undertake a long-term programme of work for the development of social care managers. The first stage of this is to develop a programme that will support social care workers to develop the knowledge and understanding that they need to move into a management role.

A technical expert group, with representation from employers and managers, was drawn together to establish the content of a programme, ‘Step up to management’. The requirements for the delivery of the pilot ‘Step up to management’ programme, will start next year in south east Wales.

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Managers’ Forums Five workshops were organised throughout Wales in Cardiff, Carmarthen, Llandrindod Wells, Llandudno Junction and Glyndwr University, Wrexham. ^

Invitations were sent to all Care Council registered managers, including residential child care managers, domiciliary care managers and adult residential care managers. The invite was also sent to Social Care in Partnership co-ordinators who assisted in spreading the message.

The response to the invitation was very good, with a total of 225 requests for spaces for all five forums. Of those who expressed an interest; a total of 148 attended over the five Forums, with 119 being actual Care Council registered managers, while 29 were not registered managers i.e. deputies, seniors and those not required to register.

Participants had identified their learning aims before the workshops and some of the responses to the evaluations were: “The professional boundaries draft is excellent and we will be using it.”

“Reflection on practices, looking at methods for PRTL and what training/learning can be used for this. Thank you for a great afternoon.”

“All information gained today will be cascaded within the home to all staff in meetings and supervision meetings.”

"One of the best forums I have been to."

Participants identified they would like longer sessions in the forums and this is being planned for 2015/16. We are also conscious that we need to make sure we are reaching all registered managers and not just the same 15 per cent each year.

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Children’s Social Care and Early Years and Childcare Our Objective: To support Welsh Government policy in the expansion of Flying Start and the up-skilling of all early years practitioners. The programme also covers work with children’s social care with a particular focus on residential child care workers.

Early years and childcare The Welsh Government policy plan for the early years and childcare workforce, Building a Brighter Future, was published in 2013 with the ultimate goal of providing a higher level of education and childcare to secure better outcomes for children in Wales.

One of the actions in the far-reaching plan was to develop a 10-year workforce plan for the sector.

We were asked by the Welsh Government to bring together key partners to form an external reference group to develop the plan. There was good engagement from partners. The plan has three main aims: Leadership – to improve the skill and qualification levels of current leaders, and prepare highlyskilled leaders for the future.

Attracting high-quality entrants – ensuring that the childcare sector is seen as a career of choice, striking the correct balance between individuals’ level of knowledge, as demonstrated by academic qualifications, and their skills and behaviours which indicate they would be well-suited to working with young children.

Up-skilling the existing workforce - encouraging and supporting opportunities for practitioners to develop their skills through completing qualifications at higher levels, while recognising that some practitioners will want to broaden their skills at their current level or specialise in particular areas of practice.

As part of this work, we developed proposals for a climbing frame of qualifications, as well as learning to support academic learning and practical competence. The work has continued with the higher education institutions (HEIs) and further education (FE) colleges to enable this to happen with the hope that European Social Fund (ESF) funding, currently being sought, will enable the first learners to access the programmes in the academic year 2015/16.

The workforce survey, published in April 2014, provided much of the workforce data to support the draft plan, despite some shortcomings in the findings, and has provided useful data for other reports and projects.

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The development of guidance for managers on the use of the induction framework in early years and childcare has proved useful for managers, with several presentations on how it can be used with new starters being given to organisations and forums.

Developing links with the sector has been a strong feature of the year. This work included getting feedback from further education students on the 10-year plan proposals. There was overall support for the proposals and positive feedback on the professionalising and upskilling agenda. This feedback was passed on to the Welsh Government.

The Early Years and Childcare Workforce Development Network met three times during the year, and the revival of the Network has been welcomed by the sector.

The CWLWM partnership, led by Mudiad Meithrin, was established in October 2014. We already have strong links with all the bodies involved and the first project we will be working on together will be to review and promote the draft continuous professional development principles developed in partnership for the sector.

Residential child care Workforce strategy A group made up of partners in the residential child care sector, ADSS Cymru, CSSIW, Welsh Government and the HEI sector, has supported us on initial work to develop a workforce strategy.

To provide the foundations for a strategy, we focused on identifying gaps in required information and commissioned a significant piece of research to provide a fuller picture of the workforce.

Residential child care seminars We continued to engage with residential child care practitioners, who are a significant part of the registered workforce, and promote their professionalisation. Seminars were held in Cardiff and St Asaph, with a rich and challenging programme of presentations and interactive group work.

Participants were very satisfied with the programme and the opportunity to network. Comments included: “Very interesting and effective training, good selection of relevant, current topics. Cannot think of any ways it could be improved. An idea for the future could be to ask different residential staff from different settings to give a small presentation on how their services run e.g. what they offer, age range.”

“It was good to see the Care Council in person.”

“Really enjoyed the whole day, would have liked it more if it was over a longer period of time.

Fab day.”

“Carry on with the good work.”

“Found it very interesting; think there should be more training.”

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Practice guidance for residential child care workers During 2014/15, we developed The Residential Child Care Worker: Practice Guidance for Residential Child Care Workers registered with the Care Council. This builds on the Code of Professional Practice and is a practical tool to aid workers in their practice. It also has a regulatory function and can be used to illustrate a breach of the Code of Professional Practice. Failure to follow practice guidance can therefore put a worker’s registration at risk.

Practice guidance is tailored for a specific group of registrants, drawing on relevant National Occupational Standards (NOS). Residential child care workers were the only remaining group of current registrants that had not received practice guidance from us.

The guidance was developed in partnership with stakeholders, including residential child care workers and children and young people. As well as early engagement to develop a draft, a 12week consultation drew 56 separate responses, many of which were on behalf of organisations, groups or teams (so the number of individuals contributing was much higher). The consultation responses were used to produce the final version which was published in April 2015.

Ninety eight per cent of respondents to the consultation agreed that the guidance supports workers to provide a high-quality and child-centred service. Examples of comments from the consultation: “I think it is a valuable document and gives good guidance to staff.”

“The language and content used is concise and direct to the point, helping people find what they want as quickly as possible and making it clear to understand.”

“This is an excellent starting position, the key priorities are to ensure that all residential staff have the time, and opportunity to read The Residential Child Care Worker and take part in any future consultation exercise.”

“Should be given to all workers and referred to by employers.”

Quote from a young person: “I think that the staff treat us good as individuals…I think they are good at their job.”

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Community and Citizen Support Our Objective: To develop the workforce for the future, supporting the vision for services that are citizen-led; preventative; and ‘enabling’ for people-in-need and their carers.

A key theme of this programme of work is developing partnerships and integrated ways of working, involving practitioners and informal carers. This includes working through the regional social care partnerships and the UK sector skills partnership.

In 2014/15, we continued to work with representatives from right across the social care workforce.

The aim is to ensure there is a professional, knowledgeable and skilled workforce in social care which puts values at the heart of practice.

A consistent approach to induction Induction was a key area of work which culminated in March 2015 with the launch of an Award for Social Care Induction in Wales. The purpose of this qualification is to ensure there is a consistent approach to induction across Wales, with new workers understanding the values that underpin all work in social care. This qualification can be completed as part of the Social Care Induction Framework that sets out learning outcomes to be met by new joiners, or those undertaking a new social care role, in their first 12 weeks of employment.

A film, Home from Home, was developed to illustrate the importance of good induction and person-centred practice. It shows how language really matters, especially to people with dementia, as the person at the centre of the story is a woman whose first language is Welsh. The actors really got to the heart of the story and the film has already been shown across Wales in conferences, seminars and presentations. What managers said: “I am very much looking forward to the release of the film to enable us to use it as part of induction, and with all staff regardless of where they work in the organisation.”

“I found the DVD shown in the afternoon particularly poignant and emotional. I would very much like to show this DVD to my staff once it becomes available.”

One manager also said that, as a result of seeing the film, she would “encourage staff to use the Welsh language more and not feel embarrassed if they’re not fluent.”

Dementia We are very aware of the importance of making available suitable training on dementia for people working in social care. As we did not want to duplicate anything already being provided, we worked in 2014/15 to scope what training was available and what was still needed. People were very pleased to work together on this and some key actions were agreed for us to take forward, including focus groups and developing dementia champions. We are also working with the Older People’s Commissioner on the action plan from the care home review, A Place to Call Home.

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Shared Lives carers An evaluation was completed on the use of the Level 3 Diploma in Health and Social Care as a qualification for Shared Lives carers. The report was positive, with respondents reporting that undertaking units of the qualification had a positive impact on their level of knowledge and understanding, confidence and, consequently, their practice. Carers have noted that they feel better able to deal with difficult situations without having to seek support from scheme workers, who have also noted changes to practice.

Carers also said they felt proud of their achievements and that undertaking the qualification gave credibility and backbone to their role, while providing recognition of the value of the work done by carers in adult placements. Sample quotes from the evaluation: “The qualification has improved their skills as a host, which has a positive effect on the service user.”

“My carers’ confidence has grown and he feels more valued as a carer, to people outside of the scheme.”

Health care support workers During 2014/15, we continued to work with Workforce, Education and Development Services (WEDS) and NHS Wales, on the role and learning for health care support workers. At the same time, the issues of appropriate training for social care staff in adult care homes, working with people who are increasingly frail and who have some very complex health care needs, became a more pressing issue. We undertook a study of the delegation of health care tasks to social care staff in adult care homes. Some key messages have been shared with the Welsh Government on the variability of health support and how these delegated tasks are supervised. This work will link into the work of the steering group on care homes.

Demonstrating skills to carers It is important for us to carry out evaluations of the impact of learning materials and projects on the end customer. A small grant was made available for a further pilot of the Demonstrating Care Skills to Carers training resources, which was won through a successful bid by Wrexham County Borough Council and the Association of Voluntary Organisations in Wrexham (AVOW). The evaluation report was completed in April and showed the range of ways carers’ lives were improved as a result of paid carers demonstrating care techniques and designing care to meet very individual needs. This focus on ensuring carers get the support they need to continue caring is very much in tune with the aspirations in the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014.

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Direct payments We worked with direct payment employers, support organisations and local authorities to develop an online toolkit for supporting the learning of personal assistants. The toolkit provides guidance, practice examples and practical tools to help employers support their personal assistants to gain the skills they need to be confident and competent in their roles. It has been welcomed as a valuable resource and we are working to promote the toolkit at events and meetings in the coming year. “We welcome the toolkit as it addresses the gap in provision to develop new skills and training for those individuals working as personal assistants or thinking about doing so.�

Assistive technology This year, we built on the learning strategy and knowledge and skills sets already developed to promote and embed the effective use of assistive technology in social care. Working closely with the Welsh Government and the Social Services Improvement Agency (SSIA) to support the Telecare Learning and Improvement Network (LIN), we agreed future priorities, including the value of a national resource or training programme to inform the workforce of the benefits of assistive technology. This would cover how it can be used; its function and potential; embedding assistive technology knowledge and skills in professional qualifications and further exploration of the need for advanced level learning and qualifications for practitioners who provide specialist support, and lead and develop services.

Basic awareness in safeguarding training Over the last year, we have worked in partnership with the Wales Council for Voluntary Action (WCVA) to deliver courses to support the third and independent sectors to train their trainers to deliver a course on safeguarding.

Interest in the training the trainer course has been significant, including from parts of the social care sector that have hitherto not engaged with us. The first tranche of courses was oversubscribed and more will be arranged for autumn 2015.

The Award in Safeguarding Awareness was launched to support the delivery of the course as accredited learning.

Care Ambassadors The Care Ambassador scheme had received a boost through an UK-funded project in 2012/13 but, now that has come to an end, we have taken over the maintenance of the database in Wales. Every person was contacted to check they still worked in care, if they wanted to continue as an ambassador and if they had the support of their employer. As a result, 57 people are now active Care Ambassadors and are kept up-to-date with learning and news from the sector.

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Regional social care partnerships The regional social care partnerships have continued to play a central role in the recruitment, retention, development and recording of the social care and early years and childcare workforce.

2014/15 was the first year of operating under the newly-reconfigured regional areas: North Wales, which remained the same six authority areas.

Mid and South West, which covers Powys, Ceredigion, Carmarthen and Pembrokeshire.

Western Bay, which includes Neath Port Talbot, Swansea and Bridgend.

South East Wales, representing the remaining authorities.

Across Wales, the partnerships represent around 3,000 members, including employers from statutory, independent and third sector organisations, educational institutions, health boards, local authorities, housing associations and regulatory organisations, as well as the Welsh and UK Governments.

Data from work we have undertaken with Social Care Workforce Development Plan partnerships and the Local Government Data Unit has allowed the partnerships to provide information tailored to each region, which has been used for planning by employers and educators.

Part of the partnerships’ role is to promote our work, and, in 2014/15, their reach to share information through e-bulletins, newsletters and events was maintained or extended.

All the partnerships also held events to raise awareness of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 and what it would mean for those working in social care.

The partnerships’ contribution to the evaluation of workforce development products, programmes and initiatives to aid future planning have included the ‘Carer Aware’ project in Mid and West Wales, improving workers’ understanding of carers’ issues; a strong voice in the planning of the regional learning partnership in Western Bay and Mid Wales; and strong links to employers and information gathered about their recruitment and retention issues in the North.

The role of the partnerships has grown and matured and they are seen as an excellent conduit for advice, information and effective activity by their members and by the wider sector. Each area now needs to improve links with early years organisations to achieve similar success in that sector.

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Organisational Development Our Objective: To ensure we are a modern regulatory body that is a learning, supportive and inclusive organisation, with robust governance, and a focus on continuous improvement.

We are committed to being a high-performing organisation, achieving our goals to a high standard.

It is vital we are open, outward-facing, and delivering our business efficiently and effectively. The cuts to all public services budgets are challenging. Doing the same things in the same way is not an option. We will, therefore, be completely focused on delivery and making a difference.

Governance – transparent and accountable During the year we developed our Strategic Plan for 2015-18, which is aimed at realising our vision for the social care and early years workforce. It was informed by two pieces of work commissioned during 2014/15: Organisational review: it was an opportunity for us to hear from all our partners about how we could be most effective, useful and add value as we develop and implement our next three-year strategy. We wanted to learn from our partners, including practitioners and citizens, about what works well, listening to their experiences and being open to doing things differently. The review told us that we are building from a position of strength. Our stakeholders told us that the Care Council: has a strong, positive brand, associated with promoting high standards of practice and training. is collaborative, inclusive, value-based and passionate about its aspirations for high-quality practitioners. has strong lay-led governance. is competent, well-run and reliable. places a high emphasis on quality and continuous improvement with a depth of technical knowledge and experience. is a beacon of excellence in its bilingual ethos, leadership and commitment.

On the subject of change, our stakeholders told us to: “be a strong and authoritative leadership voice, using evidence and information systematically and consistently to influence change and improvement. “ “move from being technocratic and expert to creative and strategic, with more impact.” “shift the focus from operational delivery to stronger external strategic engagement.” “develop a shared narrative for the future of the sector, underpinned by a workforce strategy.” “widen our engagement and reach to our practitioners, individuals who use services and new and different partners throughout all our work.”

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This feedback has influenced our strategy, but it also includes key messages that will shape and inform the development as we evolve into, Social Care Wales, ensuring we are poised for the future.

Review of our Service User and Carer Participation Strategy: Participation Cymru carried out a review of our user and carer participation strategy to see how effective it had been and offer recommendations for a new strategy that would enable more people to take part in our work.

Recommendations from the review will be taken forward in 2015/16.

During the year, our Business Plan 2014/15 was reviewed and scrutinised quarterly by our Council Members. Our Business Plan sets out our programmes of work, objectives, performance measures and budget for the year. It is the tool used by our Council Board and the Welsh Government to monitor our performance. In 2014/15, 91 per cent of our Business Plan targets were met.

To modernise our governance, we have streamlined the number of Council committees from four to three. We revised the terms of reference for audit and scrutiny and workforce development. We also appointed an independent member to the Audit and Scrutiny Committee. During the year, we received assurances from our internal auditors that the governance arrangements for the Council Board and Committees are in-line with our citizen-led governance framework.

Supporting the effectiveness and well-being of our people In 2014/15, we focused on bringing people, processes and technology together to find the best and most effective way for us to be working. We created an environment for our staff which: helps us deliver efficiencies now and in the future. improves cross-departmental working. increases job satisfaction. uses our environment. improves our technology to benefit the way we work.

Managing our information securely and appropriately We maintained our ISO27001 accreditation and, in 2015/16, we will be working towards the 2013:ISO27001 standard. We continue to manage our information in-line with relevant legislation and received no enforcement notices from the Information Commissioner during the year.

We also carried out an internal audit review on the information we hold and use. Its recommendations will help shape our information knowledge management strategy. It will also strengthen and improve the availability, accuracy and timeliness of our information, while reducing the impact on resources, including staff time and system strain.

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As part of our agile working approach, we streamlined our IT infrastructure, which meant we launched a new intranet for staff. This not only includes previous intranet functionality, such as noticeboards and news items, but also the 114,000 documents from our electronic document records management system. The system is completely integrated with the telephony and Microsoft Outlook, enabling staff to communicate and share directly from one platform.

Developing and implementing a communications plan The continued implementation of our communication strategy focused strongly on digital developments and resources to increase the effectiveness of our communication and engagement activity.

To reinforce and build on this approach, a digital communication and engagement strategy was agreed during the year. This aims to achieve the vision of ensuring the Care Council has a digital strategy for communication and engagement that is embraced by the whole organisation and continually evolves to reach increasingly larger numbers of stakeholders in an effective and efficient way.

The continuing focus on developing digital communication channels saw increases in traffic to our website and in social media activity.

The new Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 brought with it additional communication and engagement responsibilities, with the organisation of conferences to explain the implications of the legislation for social workers and the development of an online hub to provide up-to-date information and resources about the Act for all social care practitioners in Wales.

Outcomes of our communication and engagement work included: 804,000 visits to our website, a 14 per cent increase on the previous year.

Improvements to our website following user feedback, making it more legible, accessible and easy to navigate.

1,800 followers on Twitter, with an average of 200,000 accounts reached every month.

A doubling of the number of downloads of Care Council mobile apps to 13,500.

75 entries received for the 10th-anniversary 2015 Accolades, a new record. Additionally, 11 entries were received for a special 10th anniversary award.

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Sustainability Sustainability underpins everything we do. At the heart of our work is ensuring a better quality of life for everyone, now and for generations to come. We are, therefore, committed to promoting sustainable development to achieve economic, social and environmental well-being.

Below are our key achievements in 2014/15: Sustainable use of resources – recycling safely and using technology: An increase in registrations and renewals through our online portal. 92 per cent of applications and 83 per cent of renewals were received online.

We recycled 904kg of old IT equipment through Keep Wales Tidy.

We recycled 215kg of cardboard, over 3,000kg of paper and 55kg of used printer cartridges.

We introduced greener ways of working in our office, by reducing the number of printers, encouraging more recycling, investigating more eco-friendly ways of heating and cooling and reducing storage space in-line with our paperless office ethos.

Sustainable way of working – a culture of a low footprint organisation: We continue to promote our cycle-to-work scheme along with other green travel initiatives, such as the travel to work loan scheme, and walk to work campaign.

A Green Travel Plan has been drafted and will be published in 2015/16.

Sustainable economy – to create a strong and resilient economy: We have capitalised on new technologies and developed sustainable e-learning initiatives, ensuring our learning and skills provision responds to the needs of the sector.

We have introduced a number of e-learning packages for our corporate learning and development.

Well-being – a fair society with a rich and diverse culture: Using the Corporate Health Standard as a framework, we are implementing several initiatives which have contributed to reducing sickness and promoting health and well-being; including monthly health initiatives and a quarterly internal health and well-being newsletter - Iechyd Da.

Welsh language Through our remit, we influence and promote the importance of language need and sensitivity for social care workers when providing services for individuals.

As an employer, we are truly bilingual, providing an environment which nurtures, develops and encourages staff to learn and improve their skills in Welsh and own the bilingual ethos of the organisation.

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During the year, we responded to the Welsh Language Commissioner’s consultation on the Welsh Language Standards which we will be expected to comply with from 1 April 2017. We established an internal bilingualism working group, focusing on the recommendations from an audit on Welsh language and actions required in preparation for these standards. We were also involved in discussions at a UK health and social care regulator level to look at opportunities to share best practice in providing bilingual services to our customers.

We continue to offer a range of Welsh language courses to our staff which, from beginner level to gloywi iaith. We have a Welsh language tutor who attends the office each week to run two levels of language classes, and we also run annual gloywi iaith sessions for staff to update their skills. In addition, a number of staff attend external Welsh language courses, as well as attending week-long residential courses at Nant Gwrtheyrn.

The diagram below shows the current Welsh language ability of our staff, as identified by the Welsh Joint Education Committee’s online language assessment tool.

Proficient and advanced

Reading

Writing

Speaking

Listening

58%

53%

54%

64%

Equality and diversity We recognise and embrace diversity as a core value that underpins all our employment practices and programmes of work, over and above our public duty, as set out in the Equalities Act. We will also fully embed the rights agenda in all our work.

We have been working with the Welsh Government on increasing female leadership on public service boards and, at the end of March 2015, 44 per cent of our Council members were women.

Seventy five per cent of the senior management team are women and, overall, 68 per cent of our workforce are female.

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Care Council For Wales Summary Financial Statements For The Year Ended 31 March 2015 The following financial statements are a summary of the Accounts for the Care Council for Wales (Care Council) for the year ended 31 March 2015. The statements are an overview and do not contain sufficient information to allow for a full understanding of the financial position and performance of the Care Council for Wales. For further information the full Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2015 should be consulted. A copy of the full set of audited accounts for the year ended 31 March 2015 which contain the detailed information required by law and under Best Practice Guidelines can be obtained, free of charge, by writing to the Care Council at its registered office: Southgate House, Wood Street, Cardiff, CF10 1EW.

Statutory background The Care Council was established by the Care Standards Act 2000 and came into existence on 1 October 2001.Under this legislation the Care Council may exercise a range of activities and initiatives to fulfil its purposes. The Act imposes the following duties on the Council: - to promote high standards of conduct and practice among social care workers; - to promote high standards in their training.

Review of activities and future developments The Total Comprehensive Expenditure for the Care Council for the year was £10,518,000 (£8,986,000 in 2013-14). After taking into account Grant In Aid from the Welsh Government of £9,854,000 (£9,824,000 in 2013-14), the transfer from the Pension Fund of £520,000 (transfer to the Pension Fund of £850,000 in 2013-14) the balance on the General fund was £856,000(£1,000,000 in 2013-14).

The essence of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 is on the well-being of all citizens in Wales including adults, children and carers. Our lead role in this change is ensuring that this commitment is matched by a workforce which is able to practice effectively and confidently, making well-informed judgements, based on up to date evidence. Our commitment to this change was demonstrated in our ‘Getting in on the Act’ conferences in Llandudno, Swansea and Cardiff which attracted 600 delegates. This was an important catalyst in engaging social work practitioners in the transformation.

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Our consistent long-term aim is to secure a workforce which works to the highest professional standards and has the skills and qualifications to support that and in the year we have aimed to achieve this through regulating and developing the workforce and ensuring fitness to practice during 2014-15.

In 2014-15 we developed numerous resources to support the workforce which include the new Code of Professional Practice for Social Care and the publication of the new Practice Guidance for Residential Child Care Workers.

A sustainable workforce is vital, and attracting new workers to the sector is an important starting point. In 2014-15 we worked with the regional social care partnerships (SCiPs) to recruit and maintain a list of active Care and Early Years Ambassadors, 60 are now recruited. Through their passion and commitment, they raise the profile of the sector and offer prospective employees an insight into the world of care.

A further important development was the first intake of social workers onto the Continuing Professional Education and Learning Experienced Practitioner and Senior Practitioner Programmes, with 100 places funded by the Care Council. Wales, of all the countries in the UK, is the only one to have a root to branch strategy for social work, from workforce planning through to a continued professional practice framework, which has been developed and delivered in partnership with the sector.

As we look to the future, many challenges remain. There is a clear need for a very different kind of workforce strategy. It needs to demonstrate a clear line of sight between service improvement, recruitment, development, training, deployment and retention. There is a need for detailed horizon scanning and scenario planning. We need to support the well-being of current and future staff so that they can deliver high-quality care and support.

Regulation for success in the Health and Social Services Minister’s vision underpinning the Regulation and Inspection Bill which is currently going through the Senedd. It sets out the evolution for the Care Council into the new organisation ‘Social Care Wales’ with an extended remit for service improvement and research. In 2015-16 we look forward in moving further along this journey, alongside our many partners.

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Care Council Members The following persons served as Care Council members during the year: Member Arwel Ellis Owen Kelly Andrews Philip Champness Gwen Carrington Damian Chick Shanaz Dorkenoo Stephen Elliott Roger Gant Simon Hancock Kate Hawkins Kenneth Jones Pauline Jones Rhian Watcyn Jones Dorian Lewis Martin Lewis Martyn Pengilley Dr. Alyson Rees Barbara Roberts Brian West Ellis Williams

Interest Chair Trade Union General Public Statutory Sector Employers (appointed September 2014) Service Users (appointed May 2014) Service Users (appointed May 2014) Professional Associations Voluntary Sector Employers Local Government (appointed July 2014) Education and Training Carers Carers Service Users Service Users (membership ended October 2014) Carers General Public Education and Training General Public Private Sector Employers Public Employers (membership ended May 2014)

In addition Andrew Bellamy was appointed during the year as an independent member on to the Audit and Scrutiny Committee.

Members’ interests A register of all declared interests of the members is available for public inspection from the Care Council’s registered office: South Gate House, Wood Street, Cardiff CF10 1EW.

Remuneration Report Details of the remuneration and pension interests of the Chair of the Care Council and senior officials have been disclosed in the Care Council’s full financial statements and Annual Report.

Rhian Huws Williams Chief Executive and Accounting Officer 27 July 2015

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Summary Statement Of Comprehensive Net Expenditure For The Year Ended 31 March 2015 2014-15 £'000

2013-14 £'000

10,250

10,523

(402)

(527)

670

(1,010)

10,518

8,986

As at 31 March 15

As at 31 March 14

£'000

£'000

Non-Current Assets

676

661

Current Assets

433

637

(253)

(298)

856

1,000

(1,560)

(1,040)

Assets less Liabilities

(704)

(40)

Reserves

(704)

(40)

Expenditure Income Other Comprehensive Expenditure- Actuarial remeasurement Total Comprehensive Expenditure

Summary Statement Of Financial Position As At 31 March 2015

Trades and other payables Non-Current Assets less net current assets/liabilities Pension Liability

CARE COUNCIL FOR WALES ANNUAL REVIEW 2014-2015

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Summary Statement Of Cash Flows For The Year Ended 31 March 2015 2014-15 £'000

2013-14 £'000

(9,545)

(9,587)

Cash flows from investing activities

(296)

(249)

Financing-Welsh Government(including Capital)

9,854

9,824

13

(12)

Net Cash outflow from operating activities

Net increase/(decrease) in cash and cash equivalents in the period

Summary Statement Of Changes In Taxpayers Equity For The Year Ended 31 March 2015

Balance as at 1 April 2013

Pension Reserve £'000

General Reserve £'000

Total £'000

(1,890)

1,012

(878)

-

9,824

9,824

850

(850)

-

-

(8,986)

(8,986)

(1,040)

1,000

(40)

-

9,854

9,854

(520)

520

-

-

(10,518)

(10,518)

(1,560)

856

(704)

Changes in Taxpayers Equity 2013-14 Welsh Government Funding Transfer between reserves-Capital Comprehensive Expenditure for the year Balance at 31 March 2014 Changes in Taxpayers Equity 2014-15 Welsh Government Funding Transfer between reserves-Capital Comprehensive Expenditure for the year Balance at 31 March 2015

Rhian Huws Williams Chief Executive and Accounting Officer 27 July 2015

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Notes 1. Basis of Preparation This summary financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Companies Act 2006 having regard to the Companies (Summary Financial Statement) Regulations 2008 (SI 2008/374) as far as is relevant.

AUDITORS The Auditor's opinion on the full financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2015 was unqualified. In addition the Auditor had no observations to make on the financial statements.

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Care Council for Wales Report of The Auditor General For Wales to The National Assembly For Wales on The Summary Financial Statements I have examined the summary financial statements contained in the Annual Report of the Care Council for Wales statutory financial statements set out on pages 51 to 53.

Respective responsibilities of the Chief Executive and Auditor The Chief Executive, as Accounting Officer, is responsible for preparing the Annual Report. My responsibility is to report my opinion on the consistency of the summary financial statements with the statutory financial statements, the Chief Executive’s Report, Strategic Report and the remuneration report. I also read the other information contained in the Annual Report and consider the implications for my report if I become aware of any misstatements or material inconsistencies with the summary financial statements.

Basis of opinion I conducted my work in accordance with Bulletin 2008/3 - ‘The auditor's statement on the summary financial statements’ issued by the Auditing Practices Board for use in the United Kingdom.

Opinion In my opinion the summary financial statements are consistent with the statutory financial statements, the Chief Executive’s report, Strategic Report and the remuneration report of the Care Council for Wales for the year ended 31 March 2015 on which I have issued an unqualified opinion.

Huw Vaughan Thomas Auditor General for Wales 6 August 2015

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Wales Audit Office 24 Cathedral Road Cardiff CF11 9LJ

CARE COUNCIL FOR WALES ANNUAL REVIEW 2014-2015