The second interim report from the Social Work Task Force, and the Children and Families Select Committee’s report on its inquiry into Training of Children and Families Social Workers were both published at the end of July.
There are some important themes that are common to both reports - but while the Select Committee report makes recommendations, the Task Force at this stage flags up issues that it aims to cover in its final report in October.
Some common themes in the two reports are:
- the need to improve initial training – with stronger quality assurance of degree courses, a more focussed curriculum, better practice learning opportunities, and formal partnerships between HEIs and local employers.
- the need for a proper NQSW year for all new graduates – better training, guaranteed supervision, lower workloads, and protection from complex cases.
- the need to embed a culture of continuing professional development in social work - all social workers should expect to go on updating their skills throughout their working lives.
- the need to strengthen PRTL requirements - employers should be providing ongoing training as a matter of course and not "if funds permit". PQ courses should be available for all (and perhaps compulsory for some).
- the GSCC code of practice for employers should be mandatory so that all employers adopt best practice and provide support for social workers to develop their skills.
- there needs to be stronger national leadership - simplification of the complex national arrangements, and the establishment of a new national body, either a social work development agency or a national college of social work.
The GSCC has been invited to participate in a range of initiatives aimed at helping the Task Force to develop its final recommendations. We are optimistic that the final report in October will lead to the Government taking forward a programme of action to reform the social work profession. As the workforce regulator, the GSCC will have a key role to play in delivering that programme in order to ensure that people who use services get the quality of support that they need.
Farrah, I don't think pay will make much of a difference to raising standards. People generally are not motivated to do social work because of money. I actually think social workers are paid too much to begin with, I think a starting salary of £18k is adequate for their probationary year as they are in effect, still gaining the necessary skills to carry full workloads. Additionally, there are many, many other stressful jobs out there where people are sometimes putting their lives on the line in the name of their duty (police officers, fire personnel; the armed forces for example). Be thankful you have a meaningful job that offers genuine job satisfaction, diversity, the opportunity to work with a good degree of autonomy, personal and profession challenges and opportunities for development and (in many people's eyes who have little choice but to work in physically demanding jobs with little pay and little say) a more than adequate wage!
anna
10 Dec 2009
Dear Editor
I am very pleased that the GSCC is emailing a newsletter. It publicises the GSCC's important role and brings useful news. I am glad to see the balance tipping towards describing the good work social workers do, rather than simply talking about the small minority who do wrong. Please continue to build on the positives.
Esther Hack
11 Sep 2009
All point to the training of front line social workers and nothing stated about line management who refuse services which are advocated on behalf of vulnerable people. What about guidance on defensible decision making for social workers where line managers are unaccountable for the refusal of these services. Why so much emphasis on electronic and computer useage when older practitioners experienced in protection could pass on essential knowledge to students on recognition of signs of abuse.
Johan Buters
10 Sep 2009
All the above on going work will hopefully go some way to improving the social work profession. However one crucial issue has not been addressed at all. The issue of pay. There is a huge evidential base in various genres of academia and the business world that clearly shows that pay is a central feature in defining the quality of the individual a profession attracts. Social workers know this and comment on it frequently. Interestingly, despite the tomes emanating from central government in all things social work, nothing at all has been said about offering a decent wage for a highly stressful and unpopular job. Attention to this one single factor would go a long way towards addressing the dire state of recruitment and retention, and quality assurance of the profession.
farrah rahman
10 Sep 2009
