Degree should be longer former president says

The new social work degree to be introduced next September
should be more than three years in length according to former
directors president Mike Leadbetter, writes Clare
Jerrom.

Speaking at a recruitment and retention conference in London, he
said the three-year degree should be extended to four years so it
can be more specialised.

Leadbetter, who is a former president of the Association of
Directors of Social Services, said the three-year degree was
welcome, but vets, accountants and lawyers all have a very lengthy
training period. Social workers should also train for longer, he
said.

In order to retain good staff it was inevitable that the basic
pay rate for a social worker should increase to be between
£28,000 and £30,000, Leadbetter added.

“If we do not move towards that,” he said, “we will lose more
social workers and we will not be valuing our social workers,” he
said.