News

Legislation that will make it an offence to practice as a social worker if not registered with the General Social Care Council will be introduced by April 2005.

The Protection of Title legislation will cover social workers in England and Wales and consultation on its implementation will start next month and run until January 2004.

Chairperson of the General Social Care Council Rodney Brooke said: "Obviously it will not be possible to register all 60,000 social workers in one go, so we're urging everyone to apply as early as possible before the legal restriction comes in."