Social workers face annual registration fee

The General Social Care Council has confirmed there will be an
annual fee linked to the registration of qualified social
workers from next year, writes Clare
Jerrom.

Deputy chief executive Mike Wardle said the council had
consulted on a fee structure, and were looking at different levels
of fee to reflect differing roles and responsibilities.

“We have also asked people what they would like to see to
provide added value to registration,” he told a conference in
London celebrating the GSCCs first year.

The level of the fee has not been confirmed. Nurses currently
pay £60 every three years for their registration, and doctors
pay £290 a year.

The responsibility of the payment would rest with the worker,
according to a GSCC spokesperson. However, organisations may look
at paying the registration on behalf of the workers as a
recruitment and retention initiative, she added.

The spokesperson acknowledged that whether registration would
deter those people wanting to work for a short period in the year,
such as three months, was an “interesting debate”.

Workers who remained in the sector but moved jobs would take
their registration with them, she added.

Wardle suggested re-registration may occur every three years,
and workers would have to prove continuing professional development
in order to be re-registered.

Whether re-registration will require social workers to face
another criminal records check has not yet been decided. “It is one
of the important decisions facing the council in relation to
re-registration,” the spokesperson said.

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