Concern as 80% of social workers have yet to renew registration

Almost 80% of social workers in England have yet to renew their registration with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC), the regulator has revealed.

The HCPC said it was “concerned” that 68,000 social workers have still not renewed their registration, although they have another month in which to do so.

“We encourage all our registrants to renew before the deadline to prevent the lengthy re-admittance process which follows lapsing off the register,” said Marc Seale, chief executive of the HCPC.

“The consequences of social workers lapsing off the register are detrimental and considerable to the registrant, employer and service user and ultimately result in a risk to public safety.”

The closing date for renewals is 6pm on 30 November.

Video: Find out about the renewals process