The new professional role of social workers set out in the Government’s consultation paper on adult social care launched today has been welcomed by the General Social Care Council.

Launched just a week before the social work title becomes protected in law, the paper has recognised the important role social workers play in preventing harm, ensuring well-being and helping older people and those with disabilities to live independent lives.

The GSCC’s today welcomed the Green Paper and announced that in order to encourage debate it is now going to commission work to help clarify the roles and tasks of social workers in the new world of both adult care and children’s services.

Chair Rodney Brooke said:

“It is really significant that social workers are being highlighted in their new roles as navigators and brokers at the same time as the title of social worker is becoming protected. This is a chance to rejuvenate social work and rebuild public confidence in its important contribution to people’s lives.”

“We have a great opportunity over this consultation period to look afresh at what people want from their social worker, to clarify roles and tasks they undertake and what this means in the new world of social care – both for adults and for children’s services. The GSCC will be commissioning work to take this forward. This is the start of a new and exciting era for social work.”

From next week, the title ‘social worker’ will be protected, making it clear that a social worker is someone who has specialist training and skills, is committed to high standards and accountable for them. The Government has published Every Child Matters: Change for Children and is expected to issue shortly its Children’s Workforce Strategy, which will also affect the changing role of social work.

The need for other social care workers to update the skills and training to take on new responsibilities is also emphasised in the paper. The GSCC will work with Government, Skills for Care and the broader social care sector to support training and development of the workforce, ahead of the opening of the Social Care Register to the next groups of social care workers.

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gscc 006.05 21 March 2005

Notes to editors

A full copy of the Green Paper can be found at www.dh.gov.uk
The GSCC welcomed the green paper at its Council meeting 21 March 2005, where it decided to take forward ideas set out in the paper and through protection of the social work title through commissioning research to clarify the roles and tasks of social workers in this new context.
The legal restriction called protection of title will come into force on 1 April 2005. This was detailed in the commencement order of section 61 of the Care Standards Act, laid in Parliament in March. For further details about the content of the order, please contact the GSCC on the number above.
All of the 60,000 social workers who have applied so far have been sent letters by the GSCC, confirming their intent to register. This will enable anyone who has applied in good faith to continue working unaffected once the new legal restriction comes in. It will take some time before all applicants are registered, including those where additional information is needed or declarations have been made.
The GSCC is the first national regulator for the social care workforce in England and part of a national drive to improve standards of social care. Through issuing the first code of practice for the social care workforce and registering social workers, and later all social care workers, for the first time it aims to drive up standards in social care and improve public protection. Over 1.5 million people use social care services, including the most vulnerable members of society such as older people in care.