Social Work England launch confirmed
By James Rook
It has now been revealed that Social Work England, the new regulator for social workers in England will officially take over from the Health and Care Professions Council on Monday 02 December 2019.
The switchover date was confirmed by Children’s Minister Nadhim Zahawi at the Association of Directors of Children’s Services conference last week. Following the takeover, Social Work England will be the official professional regulator, taking responsibility for professional standards, registration and fitness to practice. The change in regulator has been long-coming. Plans were previously announced by former Education Secretary Nicky Morgan back in 2016 as part of reforms to the social work profession. The new regulator was confirmed as part of the Children and Families Act 2017.
Colum Conway, Chief Executive of Social Work England, says:
“We are delighted to be able to announce that we will soon become the new specialist regulator for social workers. As a social worker, I understand the positive impact that professionals have on millions of people. I also understand the complexity of the work and the competing priorities in the role. That is why we are putting collaborative working at the heart of all we do and our recent consultation on rules and standards was just one example of this.
“Over the course of the year, we will continue to work with the HCPC to ensure an efficient and smooth transition. We are also committed to exploring new approaches that offer responsive and proportionate regulation – empowering professionals to be the very best they can be.”
As the date draws nearer, we’ll be working closely with our social work community to communicate any changes in order to help make the transition as seamless as possible.
We know that you’ll have plenty of questions regarding the transfer and your registration requirements, so please stay tuned to our blog pages and make sure you’re subscribed to Social Work News magazine.
