Social workers on College of Social Work board named

Ten qualified social workers and a service user have been appointed to the interim board of the College of Social Work.

The board, which includes social workers with a range of experience from newly qualified to director level, will work with interim co-chairs Maurice Bates and Corinne May-Chahal to turn the college into a legal body by March 2011.

Eight of the board members are registered with the General Social Care Council and one with the Scottish Social Services Council. Another is a qualified social worker but not currently registered.

Their first task will be to oversee the final weeks of a consultation to agree the purpose and functions of the college, which launched at Community Care Live in May.

The board’s first meeting will be held on 20 October.

Interim board members:

Kate Arnett: service user and chair of the Social Work Action Group, an organisation which works to improve the education of social workers. Arnett was a founder member of West Mercia Police’s Disability Independent Advisory Group and currently delivers equalities and diversity training to students and organisations.

Graham Brittain: director of education and social care, the Royal National Institute of Blind People. Brittain has worked as a social worker and manager in the statutory, private and voluntary sectors. His specialist areas include child and adult protection, learning disabilities and sight loss, as well as strategic and business planning.

Jo Cleary: director of adults and community services, Lambeth Council. Cleary has been a director for eight years and has held various roles at the former Social Services Inspectorate. She is currently co-chair of the Association of Adult Social Services workforce development network and represents Adass on the Social Work Reform Board.

Suzy Croft: social work and bereavement team leader, St John’s Hospice, London. Croft is a member of the Association of Palliative Care Social Workers and has held three posts on the committee including user involvement officer. She is also a senior research fellow at Brunel University’s Centre for Citizen Participation.

Professor Patricia Higham: independent social work consultant, the Higher Education Academy Subject Centre for Social Work and Social Policy (Swap), emeritus professor at Nottingham Trent University and a consultant for Skills for Care East and West Midlands.

Dave Hill: director of children’s services, Croydon Council, soon to move to a similar role at Essex Council. Hill qualified as a social worker in 1983 and has worked in a range of London boroughs at all levels. He represents the Association of Directors of Children’s Services on the Social Work Reform Board.

Joe Mairura: director of Imara Development Programmes Ltd, a training and development consultancy, which works with individuals, groups, teams and organisations to help them provide better services. Mairura has more than 25 years of experience in the health and social care sectors.

Jamie Middleton: approved mental health professional who provides advice and guidance to doctors in general hospitals about the Mental Health Act, Mental Capacity Act and other mental health issues. He has worked in the social work and voluntary sector in a number of multi-disciplinary teams for over 10 years.

Angus Skinner: non-executive director of several charities. Skinner was chief social work inspector for Scotland for 15 years, during which time he provided advice directly to ministers on social work legislation, policy and practice. He has worked in child protection, justice, adult care and with older people.

Alison Tasker: newly qualified social worker and development officer, the Local Involvement Network, Bracknell Forest. Tasker graduated from Reading University in 2010. She will soon begin an MSc in evidence-based social intervention at Green Templeton College, Oxford.

The name of the final board member was unavailable at the time of going to print due to ongoing HR procedures.

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