I have found little on the reactions of social workers to this change and how they think it will affect their professional career.
Do you think it's in the interest of social workers or that it's pointless?
Or do you think that it wont make much difference at all?
What are people's thoughts on a two year registration requirement with the HPC in contrast to the three year registration with the GSCC?
What are people's thoughts on the increased registration fee?
Any input would be greatly appreciated.
The change of regulator is being watched from other parts of the UK outside England. Two issues are interesting in highlighting some unintended consequences. The first is how the transfer of registration will work when practitioners choose to relocate to one of the three other countries. How will the standards be set in England- will they be set by respected leaders of our profession and how far will skills be transferable between different jurisdictions? Will the HPC support our colleagues in England in the same way that the other regulators in the UK work with us to promote and maintain high standards of practice? How will cross border transfer work? We already have evidence from NQSWs that PRTL accumulated in one country may not be recognised in another country where regulations, just post qualification, may be different. Will this type of variation become more prominent?
A further wedge between practitioners across the UK may come as an unintended consequence of the aspirations and development of the College of Social Work in England. Many of the aims of the College have been achieved in other parts of the UK, so practitioners looking at the Associate Membership offered to those of us who do not register with the GSCC lead to the question - why pay £30 per year for no vote in a membership college and no professional benefit? Is this the uniting of the profession across the UK or an England only club?
BASW since its inception has been inclsuive of the diversity of practice throughout the UK; sharing skills, knowledge and expertise through its journals(BJSW & Practice), its publishing (BASW/McMillan, BASW/Policy Press and Venture Press), study days ... and more. It has brought international knowledge into the UK through its membership and active participation of IFSW. It is independent and can speak for the reality of social work. It campaigns and lobbies governments and Parliaments and influences social policy. It has not always been easy given the diversity fo social work across the UK - but from tensions has come creativity. Above all it supports its members.
Where is the vision of the Task Force and the Reform Board? Is it just a re-formation of a series of quangos, moving registration from GSCC to HPC; moving standards in education from GSCC & Sector Skills Councils to the College. Will these administrative functions be theCollege drivers or can they make a seismic shift to embrace the reason many of us joined the profession - to help people make positive changes in their lives and work for social justice - only the member led organisation that meets that criteria can really represent the profession.
Object to paying full fee for year to both outfits, and really do not think that it will make any important difference to the day to day struggle for SW's, so pointless is a good word.
The current HPC newsletter says
We are seeking the views of stakeholders on settingthe registration cycle for social workers in Englandas part of our preparatory work before opening theRegister to the profession. This consultation will be ofparticular interest to social workers in England whowill be regulated by the HPC in the future.The Health and Social Care Bill, currently beforeParliament, provides for the transfer of the regulationof social workers in England from the General SocialCare Council (GSCC) to the Health ProfessionsCouncil. Subject to parliamentary approval of the Bill,the GSCC register of social workers in England isexpected to transfer to the HPC on 1 August 2012.We are consulting on this because the registrationcycles for each of the professions we regulate areset out in our statutory rules. In order to set theregistration cycle for social workers in England, therelevant date for the profession’s renewal cycle needsto be added to our rules.Unlike the GSCC where individuals renew in threeyearcycles on the anniversary of their registration,each profession registered with the HPC renews itsregistration in two-year cycles. This means that whena profession is due to renew its registration the HPCwrites to each individual in that profession and asksthem to renew their registration by the end date of theregistration period for their profession.
When the HPC Register for social workers in Englandopens, there will be a one-off transfer of the registerfor the profession from the GSCC. We will then writeto all those who have transferred to welcome them tothe HPC and to ask them to renew their registrationand pay the relevant registration fee.We are proposing that the registration cycle for socialworkers in England should end on 30 Novemberin even numbered years. Assuming that the GSCCregister for social workers in England is transferred asplanned on 1 August 2012, this would mean that socialworkers in England would be required to renew theirregistration for the first time by 30 November 2012.The end date for the renewal cycle for social workersin England would then continue to be 30 November ineven numbered years on an ongoing basis.How to respondYou can download copies of the consultation documentfrom our website or you can contact us by email orphone if you would like us to send you hard copies.Please contact us to request documents in analternative format.Website: www.hpc-uk.org/aboutus/consultationsEmail: consultation@hpc-uk.orgTelephone: +44 (0)20 7840 9815The deadline for responses to the consultation isWednesday 29 February 2012.
and
The Health and Social Care Bill 2011, currently beforeParliament, would allow the HPC to set up voluntaryregisters, which could include voluntary registersof students studying on programmes which lead toregistration. Opening a voluntary register would besubject to undertaking an assessment of the likelyimpact of setting up the register and holding a publicconsultation.In 2012, the General Social Care Council (GSCC)is due to be abolished and the regulation of socialworkers in England transferred to the HPC. TheGSCC currently registers social work students. TheHPC does not register students.In light of the above, we are seeking the views ofall of our stakeholders on the most effective wayof assuring the fitness to practise of students.This includes seeking views about the voluntaryregistration of social work students in England.In the consultation we do not make any specificproposals. For example, we are not proposing thatstudents should or should not be registered in any ofthe professions, including social work. However, theresponses to the consultation will inform ourdecisions about student fitness to practise andregistration, including whether:• the HPC’s current approach to student fitnessto practise should be maintained across theRegister; or• the HPC should maintain a voluntary register ofsocial work students in England; and / or• the HPC should establish any voluntaryregisters of students for some or all of theexisting HPC regulated professions.How to respondYou can download copies of the consultation documentfrom our website or you can contact us by email orphone if you would like us to send you hard copies.Please contact us to request documents in analternative format.Website: www.hpc-uk.org/aboutus/consultationsEmail: consultation@hpc-uk.orgTelephone: +44 (0)20 7840 9815The deadline for responses to the consultation isFriday 2 March 2012.
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So you have the opportunity to influence decisions - use it.
So why not keep the GSCC and just improve it?
You may well ask - seems that if you have to renew with the GSCC this year you will have to pay the full HPC fee as well - so you pay to register in one year twice - at more than you would do elswhere in the UK.....
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