Later this year Social Work England (SWE) takes over from the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) as the regulator for social workers in England.
SWE is consulting on how it will operate: what its professional standards for social workers should be; its rules on registration and fitness to practice; its standards and rules for social worker education and training. The main areas SWE are consulting on are:
- Registration rules, including criteria for eligibility (including English language requirements), renewal and restoration, registration procedures and registration fees.
- Professional standards covering standards of proficiency (the skills and expertise that social workers are required to have), standards of performance and conduct and ethics (the way that social workers are expected to work) and standards for continuing professional training and development.
- Fitness to practice rules, including standard of acceptance, caseworker allegations drafting guidance, case examiner decision making guidance, pre-hearing case management procedure and indicative sanctions guidance for hearing panels.
- Education and training rules, including criteria for the approval of courses and the role of inspectors of courses. Standards of education and training covering standards to be met by social work educational courses and training.
UNISON is seeking feedback from members on the proposals to shape UNISON’s response to SWE. Please take part in UNISON’s survey by clicking on the link below and responding by the closing date of 12th April. The survey is anonymous and should take no longer than 15 minutes to complete.