Since 2000, the Government has intended to bring the entire social care workforce into registration over time. On 1 April 2005, it became compulsory for all social workers in England to be registered with the GSCC. Student social workers are now also registered. The purpose is to raise professional standards and to increase public protection.
On 7 February 2006, the Government announced its decision that the GSCC should begin to register the rest of the social care workforce, and that the GSCC should start by developing plans to register domiciliary and residential social care workers across both adult and children’s services.
The GSCC held a public consultation which ended in May 2006. The outcome of the consultation was presented to the Council at their July meeting. The Council approved the report and a set of recommendations (PDF 49 KB) which have now been sent to Government ministers. Subject to their decision, the GSCC hopes to open the register to the next groups of workers during 2008.
The public consultation was far reaching and it led to a significant response from a wide range of stakeholders including employers, workers and service users.
Areas covered by the consultation and recommendations to Government include:
• Who should register;
• Registration entry requirements;
• The length of the registration period;
• Post-registration training and learning requirements;
• Compulsion to register;
• Registration fees; and
• Registration process design.
Once the Government has made decisions on the recommendations, the GSCC will step up activities towards opening the Social Care Register to the next groups of social care workers. We will aim to ensure that any further announcements are well publicised but please keep checking the website for further information.