Government orders ‘health check’ on employers’ support for social workers

Employers of social workers will be expected to conduct a “health check” of the support they offer employees, under a programme of reform for social work practice in England announced today.

The government announcement is part of proposals for a decade-long reform programme in response to the 15 recommendations set out by the Social Work Taskforce last December.

Helga Pile, Unison national officer for social workers, welcomed the move to make employers responsible for ensuring good levels of support for social workers. She said: “There are no easy solutions to restoring public confidence in social work, but this report brings us one step closer to helping the service get back on track.

“Health checks are vital to bridge the gap in understanding between managers and staff working on the frontline. Unless they can get together with staff and unions to examine the full extent of the problems they face, they have no hope of finding a solution.”

But she added that the government had missed an opportunity to tackle the heavy burden of paperwork and performance targets experienced by social workers.

Other proposals in the government’s plan include a new national indicator for vacancy and turnover rates for social workers in children’s services and a new regulatory framework for initial social work education.

Jane Haywood, chief executive at the Children’s Workforce Development Council (CWDC), said: “For the past two years CWDC has been working alongside employers to help them address recruitment and retention issues and support the reform of social work.

“As part of this new reform plan, we will continue to support employers as well as work with national partner organisations to develop the new initiatives.”

Chair of the General Social Care Council Rosie Varley, said the council is already working towards some of the goals set out in the implementation plan. She said: “We would not expect any other profession to fulfil this role without a proper system of training and career-long support, and it is absolutely crucial that the reform board and its partners keep the momentum up to deliver these reforms as quickly and effectively as possible.”

Key measures set out in the reform programme:

    * Strengthened entry requirements for university entrance to the social work degree will be in place from September 2012. The length and expectations of practice placements on courses will also be reviewed

    * Later this year the General Social Care Council will be expected to make its inspection reports and judgements of higher education institutions available online to improve transparency

    * In 2010/11 all employers of social workers will be expected to conduct a local health check of support they have in place for their employees and to take action where necessary

    * By April 2011 a national Standard for Employers will be rolled out, which will include national standards for supervision

    * A consultation on a new framework for Continuing Professional Development in social work will begin this summer, which will include a new masters degree in social work practice to be piloted from September 2011

    * From September 2016 after graduating social workers will be expected to complete an assessed year in employment to obtain a licence to practice

    * A new national indicator will be introduced for vacancy and turnover rates for social workers in children’s services.