Welcome to the final issue of Social Work Connections

As you may be aware, the General Social Care Council (GSCC) is closing on 31 July 2012 and our regulatory functions are transferring to the Health Professions Council (HPC), to be renamed the Health and Care Professions Council from 1 August.

This will be our last issue of Social Work Connections and it contains information you need on what to do next in light of the transfer, whether you are a UK qualified social worker or a social work student.

We reveal the poll results from the March edition, which tells us which GSCC policy you think has had the biggest impact over the last 10 years, and we hear from our Head of Registration about the highs and lows of making social work a regulated profession.

Our Chief Executive Penny Thompson takes this opportunity to say goodbye and share her thoughts on the future of social work regulation.

The Social Work Connections microsite will continue to be available until the end of July. From August past editions will be available on The National Archives website, in case you need to access any old articles for historical information. If you want to continue to be updated with sector-related news and information, have a look at our directory page which has a list of useful organisations.

The HPC publishes a free e-newsletter called HPC In Focus every two months. Each edition includes registration renewal reminders and a range of news and information including details of consultations, forthcoming events, conferences and exhibitions either organised by the HPC or which they will be attending, key Council decisions, diary dates, partner appointments and more. It is not currently automatically sent to all registrants, you must opt-in to receive it and do not need to be registered with the HPC to subscribe. To sign-up now email [email protected] .

Finally, from all of us on the editorial team, we hope you enjoy our last issue and would like to thank you for your readership over the past four years. All your comments and poll responses have ensured we were kept well-informed on the opinions and thoughts of the social work profession.

Important transfer information for social workers and students

As long as you are on the register at the end of July then we will pass your details to the Health Professions Council (HPC) and they will write to you in August with details on what you need to do next. In the short term please make sure we have up-to-date contact details for you. Read more

Community Care Live 2012

On 16 and 17 May we exhibited jointly with the HPC at the annual Community Care Live conference in London. Over the two days our stand was flooded with delegates wanting to know about the forthcoming changes to social work regulation.
Read more

HPC transfer events

Ahead of the regulation of social workers in England transferring from the GSCC to the Health Professions Council (HPC) on 1 August 2012, the HPC is running a series of information events for social workers.
Read more

• Health Professions Council (HPC) consultation on the registration of social work students in England
• The College of Social Work

• Who to contact from 1 August 2012
• Conduct hearing outcomes