The College of Social Work launched yesterday...apparently. Seems to a very quiet launch. Maybe BASW mouse Lion roaring led to this quiet launch. Found this interesting:
The College is not a trade union or an association that provides representation and advice to members; that is a different role and we encourage our members to join a trade union or professional association of your choice to obtain this advice and representation. By not providing this service, we have kept our membership subscriptions low while providing members with high quality, practical and accessible membership services. http://www.collegeofsocialwork.org/membership/
let alone the low cost membership being set at just £60 or £90, rather than BASW's £420 for self employed (independent) Social Workers. Assuming such a comparison is legitimate?
Leaving aside that the optional public liability insurance premium is what takes BASW membership for independents up from £240 a year;
I have already pointed out that £60 a year even with 30,000 members is only £1.8 m and will probably not cover the wage bill for a staff and board the size that is proposed.
Then you have to start paying for staff and board travel all over the country, events, booking fees for venues, buildings rates, rents, maintenance phones heating internet services website servers, printed publicity materials, recruitment campaigns, student subsidies, accountants etc etc.
How (if!) they sustain that level of fee will only be told by time and the publication of annual accounts.
And that is the advantage they have over BASW....BASW has had to exist and operate for more than 40 years so they know what the bottom line of surviving economically is.
The College is still " virtual",and it won't have a single paying member until at least May 2012 when the first DD payments actually come out of bank accounts.
Up until then its all "free" ( Well no..taxpayers are paying or arguably the students who won't get their bursary or college placement in order to find the govt TCSW subsidy) and "members" can resign or lapse with no hassle once it comes to putting money where mouths are.
I wonder where the fees will be set in two years time?
After all, you only have to look at registration and regulatory agencies to see how diligent government agencies/charities are in keeping fees down once they have the monopoly!
( Thats assuming that everyone swallows the bait and switches from BASW to TCSW.....taking JoSophines advice and "following the ££££"... Social Workers astuteness reputation will certainly be well confirmed or challenged!)
TCSW is currently housed in 2-4 Cockspur Street London SW1 .This is part of Pall Mall and one of the most exclusive and expensive addresses in London. Of course it is also the home of an alleged charity; the SCIE
So, if you rent it, its going to cost you getting on for a million a year. If you own it, its got to have cost you many millions.
If someone is letting you work there forever for free..do you owe them? What is it worth not to upset them?
How can TCSW operate (independently) on a £60 membership, when the office alone would cost them about 20,000 members?
Money talks, follow it, as (the love of) money is the root of all evil.
JoSoPhine: Money talks, follow it, as (the love of) money is the root of all evil.
Yours may talk; mine just goes without saying goodbye!
I would also urge people to check out an interesting article on TCSW which appeared on p.32 of Private Eye over Christmas http://www.private-eye.co.uk/sections.php?section_link=in_the_back&
The much heralded launch of TCOSW seemed very tame - no e mail to me as a prospective member - found out via Com Care. The sums don't add up to me either and I do resent that public money has gone into this, when the organisations that I work for - carers and advocacy have had significant cuts to their spending. BASW is the model that we should be following for a College - it like the Royal Medical Colleges is financed solely by members and self funding iniatives. It strikes me that although tempting to join an organisation (TCOSW) that is subsidised it is unethical to do so as how can they claim to be independent? (I know they say that they are going to be financially independent when they finish spending the Government subsidy, but I guess that is where their hoped for deal with UNISON will try and be resurrected). BASW's offices are in a poor area of Birmingham (which incidently is much more accessible for most people in England than London - £240 return for the day from Manchester to London) and I am sure their rent is cheap.
PS Have you tried to read their on line magazine - extremely difficult!
An aside...not going totally off piste...which is verboten on the new look CC...re the item above which refers to a current Private Eye story...can I ask when CC is going to engage in some substantial investigative journalism.....your journalists must get some very hot infomation in the course of your day to day work...but it never seems to appear in an appropriate form in CC.
Perhaps CC doesn't regard this as part of their remit....but batting for Social Work in the 21st century isn't a spectator sport. All our services are under threat....and much of this is being managed by stealth by social work managers or overt manipulation by political influences. We have major scandals erupting in both adult and children's services......and no-one seems to be joining up the dots.
Perhaps I am being unduly pessimistic..and premature....but it seems to me that I have experienced the birth and death of social work in my lifetime.
As CC is the only independent mass circulation media in the uk to focus on social work in all its forms...I would expect them to be first on the block to follow up on stories like the one above...there are many more scandals bubbling under at the moment...and I am asking if the editorial policy of CC is willing to take on some of the major players...after all CC employees make their living piggybacking on the social work task...and god knows we need champions and inquisitors to put our perspective on these matters fairly in the public domain.
Hi Boxerdog
We are happy to engage in investigative journalism but must be able to substantiate anything we report. I'm not sure if there is any particular story you are referring to? The Private Eye story that is linked to above covers the same ground as our story of 22 December http://www.communitycare.co.uk/Articles/22/12/2011/117898/college-of-social-work-suspends-deal-with-unison.htm
Simeon
CareSpace support
simeon3: Hi Boxerdog We are happy to engage in investigative journalism but must be able to substantiate anything we report. I'm not sure if there is any particular story you are referring to? The Private Eye story that is linked to above covers the same ground as our story of 22 December http://www.communitycare.co.uk/Articles/22/12/2011/117898/college-of-social-work-suspends-deal-with-unison.htm Simeon
Yes but without the apologist approach and pro-TCSW contextualisation/spin