Woman convicted of impersonating a social worker

A woman from Hertfordshire has become the first person to be convicted of pretending to be a qualified social worker, six years after legislation protecting the professional title took effect.

Magistrates sitting at Harrow, north London, found that Tracey Smith had misrepresented herself as a social worker in Harrow and elsewhere between November 2009 and August 2010. She admitted the offence and was fined a total £230.

The conviction has been welcomed by the General Social Care Council (GSCC), the social work regulator, which took the case, as a warning to others who may be tempted to embellish their qualifications.

‘Social worker’ became a protected title under the Care Standards Act 2000, which made it a criminal offence to purport to be a member of the profession – with intent to deceive – when neither qualified nor registered as such.

The provision took practical effect in 2005, when the social work register became compulsory. Although the GSCC has taken other prosecutions, it has never previously been able to prove intent to deceive.

Smith, from Oxhey Village, near Watford, was said to have worked for a fostering agency as an unqualified assistant social worker, but to have given references for two former colleagues in which she stated that she was a senior supervising social worker and their line manager.

She was said also to have obtained a reference from a student social worker, employed by the agency, in which she was described as a supervising social worker. This was done to secure employment for herself and others.

Penny Thompson, the GSCC chief executive, said: “It is important that the public has faith that someone who uses the title ‘social worker’ is qualified, trained and adheres to high professional standards.

“This outcome demonstrates that there are consequences for anyone trying to abuse public trust by deliberately misleading others about their professional status.”