BASW’s concern over conduct case workers unable to re-register

Concerns have emerged over how care councils handle the re-registration of social workers subject to conduct investigations.

BASW’s Advice & Representation Service said its concerns centre on two groups and are currently confined to decisions made by the General Social Care Council (GSCC) in respect of registrants whose three year registration is up for renewal.

Firstly, a number of social workers who have received Interim Suspension Orders (ISOs) – and are therefore deemed able to continue to practise – have found themselves unable to re-register while their case is pending. BASW says its main worry about this group is the appropriateness of the ISOs that have been imposed as its A&R team has secured reversals of xx ISOs on appeal.

The second group are those who have not received ISOs – and therefore deemed able to continue to practise – but who have been unable to re-register because their conduct is being investigated. Despite not even having an ISO imposed, these social workers are unable to return to their work until final conduct hearings. The head of BASW’s A&R Service Marcia Lawrence-Russell said that preventing many social workers from practising was often “against natural justice” because a number of social workers have been unable to continue to work, and have lost earnings as a result, even though they may be cleared at the end of the process. She said the problem was particularly damaging as investigations into misconduct allegations take, on average, 12 months to complete.

The issue was evident in April when the two social workers at the centre of the Baby Peter case had interim suspension orders against them revoked because of the time they had already spent unable to practise. The pair, Maria Ward and her line manager Gillie Christou, also learned, however, that more than 17 months after investigations were launched they will each now face full conduct hearings. The regulator revealed back in November 2008 that it would be conducting enquiries into the actions of the social workers involved with the case.

The GSCC responded to BASW’s concerns by making it clear that social workers subject to ISOs are not automatically barred from re-registering but that it review each case to decide whether to oppose registration. A spokesperson also emphasised that it would aim to restore registration quickly after someone is cleared of any wrongdoing. As for registrants without ISOs but subject to investigation, the GSCC stated: “Where a social worker is under investigation but there is no ISO in place and their registration is up for renewal, we generally allow them to renew. However, this depends on the nature of the case and we assess each one individually.”

The situation appears to vary across the UK. A Care Council for Wales spokesperson said that while someone subject to an ISO would not be allowed to re-register unless the suspension was revoked, someone who is being investigated for misconduct but not subject to an ISO would be allowed to re-register. In Scotland, however, whether a social worker is subject to an ISO or an investigation, their registration continues “until the expiry or revocation of the interim suspension order” or the completion of the conduct process.

The situation is similar in Northern Ireland, where a spokesperson for the Northern Ireland Social Care Council (NISCC) said: “NISCC does not remove registrants from the register, or allow them to come off the register while they are the subject of a conduct investigation.”