The British Association of Social Workers' dream of a UK-wide college of social work looks to be in tatters today, after the Welsh assembly ruled out the idea in its framework for sustainable social services.
The assembly said it wanted to boost the esteem in which social work is held in the public eye, but did not believe that this required a commitment to the creation of any new institution.
"Therefore we are not, as a government, minded at this point to develop a national college of social work in Wales," it stated.
In an interview with Community Care this week, Lily Kerr, the recently-appointed chair of the Northern Ireland Social Care Council, said a college of social work was not currently on the cards there either (the full interview will be published in the magazine and online next week).
And sources in Scotland have told me there is not much appetite for a college, at least among sector leaders. Which begs the question - not for the first time - is social work simply too devolved, too political, to have a UK-wide college?
Photo of the Welsh assembly building by James Brittain/View Pictures/Rex Features
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