A disappointingly low number of social workers, employers, service users and students have responded to the online consultation on the College of Social Work.
Around 500 people have filled in the questionnaire since it went live in May. When you consider that there are over 80,000 registered social workers and 17,000 students in England alone, it doesn't seem like much.
At a College consultation event in Maidstone last Tuesday, one social work student said she had stopped filling out the questionnaire halfway through because she felt it applied to those already in practice. This was duly taken on board by the event organisers, who were keen to encourage students, as the "future of the workforce", to get involved.
The main problem seemed to be that, by all accounts, employers and lecturers are not promoting the consultation. As a result, many people simply don't know it's happening. Yet early findings from the consultation are already shaping the direction of the College. For example, the responses are feeding directly into an ongoing debate about whether the College should merge with BASW and/or offer a partnership with trade unions.
Social workers must tell the College what they want and need, otherwise it could fall flat on its face and the opportunity to make a real change to the profession will be lost. The online questionnaire can be filled in here.
Click here to read an exclusive interview with the newly-appointed joint interim chairs of the College, in which they talk about the challenge of engaging social workers.
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