Tasks to be reserved for social workers in legal shake-up

Key social services tasks will be reserved for social workers under plans to overhaul the law in Wales, announced today.

Ministers want powers to reserve tasks such as child or adult protection investigations to staff with certain specified qualifications, linked to the Care Council for Wales register, said the Welsh government’s consultation on its Social Services (Wales) Bill.

It said this power would be applied to social workers – though could be extended to other groups – and would be designed to ensure that “services are delivered by staff with the right skills and qualifications for the tasks that they perform”.

Other proposals include:-

• Putting adult safeguarding on a statutory footing.
  
• Setting a national eligibility threshold for adult social care with service users retaining eligibility when they moved between areas.
  
• Creating a national adoption service, merging together the existing 22 local authority services.
  
• Placing a duty on councils and statutory partners to maintain and enhance the well-being of people in need in their areas.

The plans build on last year’s 10-year plan for social services and the Law Commission’s proposals to simplify the law on adult social care in England and Wales. 

The consultation runs until 1 June.

Image: Rex Features

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