News

General Social Care Council letters giving unregistered social workers a licence to work are no bar to prosecution under protection of title legislation.

The GSCC said it was up to the Crown Prosecution Service and the courts to decide the legal status of the letters, which have been sent to thousands of unregistered social workers who have demonstrated an intent to register.

A spokesperson said: "It's something they can show to an employer, potential employer or the police. We don't offer them a legal waiver. We wouldn't presume a court would suggest that the letter was acceptable."


Under the law, it is illegal to call yourself a social worker with intent to deceive, hence the importance of demonstrating intent by applying for registration.

Social workers who are practising but unregistered could be fined up to £5,000.

The GSCC said almost 59,000 social workers were on the register and was considering applications from more than 7,000 others, with almost 3,000 forms received since April and 200 coming in every week.

Some of the applications would be from final-year students applying for registration ahead of receiving their diplomas in social work, but many will be from front-line social workers who were told to apply by 1 December last year.


Ian Johnston, director of the British Association of Social Workers, said he sympathised with the GSCC.

He added: "Some [social workers] put their heads in the sand over such issues. The GSCC is walking a tightrope in trying to be reasonable and making sure they don't give people a licence to prevaricate."

However, speaking at a recruitment conference last month, GSCC regulation director Heather Wing admitted there were "lessons to be learned" from the way it had handled the registration process.