Registration policies

Criminal convictions

The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 allows some criminal offences to become spent after a fixed period. However, for occupations in social care, the law expects applicants to declare convictions even if they are spent. Applicants therefore have to tell us about all convictions, even if they are spent.

Deciding not to register someone is a serious decision, affecting the applicant's livelihood. Such decisions can only be taken following a rigorous process including a risk assessment and a further assessment. For a full copy of the risk assessment framework, please contact registration@gscc.org.uk or call 0845 070 0630.

In some cases a declared criminal offence will have no bearing on an individual's suitability to work in social care and the assessment of suitability will be straightforward. However, suitability is something that can only be determined after due consideration of:

• the relevance of the offence to social care work;
  
• the seriousness of the offence;
  
• the length of time since the offence;
  
• whether the applicant has a pattern of offending;
  
• whether the applicant's situation has changed since the offence was committed;
  
• the circumstances surrounding the offence;
  
• the applicant's explanation for the offence;
  
• evidence submitted by the applicant of their good character. 
   

For some offences, we will ask the applicant for more information, and the application will be submitted to the Registration Committee. The purpose of obtaining further information is:

1. to try and find out more about the circumstances surrounding the offence;
   
2. to give the applicant a chance to put forward any mitigating circumstances;
   
3. to give the applicant a chance to demonstrate rehabilitation since the offence, and to put forward any evidence of good character; and
   
4. to ensure that the Registration Committee has sufficient information to be able to properly consider the application, and to apply the risk assessment framework.
   

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Employment History

The Care Standards Act 2000 states that the Council should be satisfied that the applicant "is of good character." We establish good character in several ways: by asking for details of criminal offences and disciplinary records, and by considering the chronology of applicants' employment, study and sabbatical records.

When completing our forms, applicants are asked to provide current employment details, their employment history, any periods of study, and any time spent away from work or study.

The purpose of asking for this level of detail is so that we can: investigate any unexplained gaps; investigate whether an applicant may have committed a criminal offence whilst abroad; and identify registrants against whom a complaint is made about a former period of work.
 
Further clarification and investigation

If there are unexplained gaps of three months or more in an applicant's employment, study and sabbatical history, further clarification and information will be sought from the applicant. If the chronology contains inconsistencies, for example, dates do not match, clarification will be sought from the applicant.

Where there is an unexplained gap of up to five years between the year the applicant became 16 and the start of the employment history, it will be assumed that the applicant spent time in further and higher education, and no further clarification or information will be sought.

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Disciplinary records

The Care Standards Act 2000 states that the Council should be satisfied that the applicant "is of good character". Applicants are asked to tell us about any current disciplinary finding against them by an employer or current disciplinary investigations.

We do not ask applicants to declare disciplinary offences that have been removed from their file. Applicants are therefore entitled to withhold this information from us.

In many cases a declared disciplinary record will not affect an individual's suitability to work in social care and the assessment of suitability will be straightforward. However, suitability is something that can only be determined after due consideration of:

• the relevance of the disciplinary offence to social care work;
  
• the seriousness of the disciplinary offence;
  
• the circumstances surrounding the disciplinary offence;
  
• the applicant's explanation of the disciplinary offence; and
  
• evidence submitted by the applicant of his or her good character.

it is difficult to give guidelines on the type of disciplinary issue that will make an applicant unsuitable, as each case will be considered on its own merits, taking account of the circumstances outlined above. However, disciplinary offences that harm a social care user, or put a social care user at risk of harm, are one example of the type of issue that may render someone unsuitable to work in social care. For a full copy of our assessment framework, please contact registration@gscc.org.uk or call 0845 070 0630.

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Fees

Initial applications for registration, applications for renewal and applications for restoration cannot be processed until the fee has been paid.

In the case of applications for renewal, the registration will lapse until a valid application for renewal (which must include the renewal fee), has been made.

Fee levels will be reviewed regularly. The first review is due in April 2005, with implementation of any change in the fee levels to take place in April 2006. 

Fees are non-refundable. This means that if an application is refused or put on hold we will not refund the fee.

Applicants who are refused registration because they have a court or disciplinary hearing pending (see policies Disciplinary record and Criminal record) will not have to pay a further £30 application fee if they decide to re-apply once the outcome of their court or disciplinary hearing is known. 

Annual fee

Annual fees are due on the anniversary of the date of registration.

Renewal fee

Renewal fees are due on the third anniversary of the date of registration. Invitations to renew registration will be sent out 84 days (12 weeks) prior to the due date. Reminder letters will be sent out 28 days (four weeks) prior to the due date. Applications for renewal of registration will not be granted unless accompanied by the renewal fee

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Registration with an additional care council

Only one fee is due, regardless of the number of care councils with whom a person is registered.

The councils recognise that social workers, particularly those working in border areas, may carry out work in more than one country in the UK. Applicants wishing to register with more than one care council will have to make an initial application, and pay an application fee, to one council only. This should be the council of the country in which they carry out the majority of their work. All further renewal fees will then be payable to the one council only as well.

Transferring registration from one country to another

If a registrant wishes to transfer registration from one country to another, there will be no fee associated with the transfer.

The Council in the country to which registration has been transferred will collect annual fees and renewal fees following the transfer. Dates for the annual and renewal fees will remain unchanged.

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Health

The Care Standards Act 2000 states that the Council should be satisfied that the applicant "is physically and mentally fit to perform the whole or part of the work of persons registered in any part of the register to which his application relates."

Applicants are asked to tell us about any physical or mental health condition that affects their ability to carry out any role in social care safely. By "safely" we mean that applicants' physical or mental health conditions should not affect their judgement or performance in a way that poses a risk to others.

We do not expect applicants to make a judgement about how their health condition may affect them in the future. We are only interested in how the condition currently affects them. However, we would expect applicants to tell us if a previously undeclared health condition worsens and begins to affect their ability to work safely.
 
When considering whether a declared health condition is relevant, the whole range of jobs in social care should be considered. It is not enough to consider the applicant's current job.

The table below is a guide only and gives examples of broad types of conditions that are relevant and not relevant. A medical report or reports will be obtained for applicants who declare a relevant medical condition.

The role of the registration committee in relation to health declarations

All applications containing a relevant health declaration will be referred to the Registration Committee who will consider the application and decide whether the applicant should be:

1. Registered, or
2. Registered with a condition, or
3. Refused registration.

Along with the application, the committee will have medical report(s) obtained from the applicant's GP or other health professional. The committee will also ask the GSCC's medical adviser, a specialist occupational health physician, for advice at the committee meeting. The medical adviser will have seen the any reports in advance of the meeting.

Occasionally, the Registration Committee may feel unable to make a decision, and may adjourn so that further medical reports can be obtained (with the applicant's consent).

The GSCC will pay the cost of any further medical reports that are requested by the Registration Committee.

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Registration with other approved regulatory bodies

The GSCC recognises that social care workers may also be registered with other professional regulators. For example, qualified teachers who work as teachers in residential children's homes which are also schools may also be required to register with the General Teaching Council. Those same teachers may also be qualified social workers, or be categorised as social care workers, and be eligible to register with the GSCC.

The GSCC wishes to avoid unnecessary workforce registration, and has therefore designated a number of professional regulators as "approved regulatory bodies". If a social care worker is already registered with one of these approved bodies they will not be required to register on the Social Care Register. However, they can choose to register voluntarily. Arrangements have been put in place with approved regulators to ensure co-operation when investigating a complaint against someone working in social care.

With the protection of title for social workers, in April 2005, social workers who wish to use the title "social worker" will have to register with the GSCC or one of the other UK Councils, regardless of whether they are also registered with an approved regulatory body. Protection of title means that it will be an offence for people who are not registered to take or use the title "social worker", or imply they are registered as a social worker.

Approved regulatory bodies

The approved regulatory bodies are:

• British Psychological Council;
  
• General Medical Council;
  
• General Teaching Council;
  
• General Teaching Council for Northern Ireland;
  
• General Teaching Council Scotland;
  
• General Teaching Council for Wales;
  
• General Dental Council;
  
• Health Professions Council; and
  
• Nursing and Midwifery Council.

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Social work qualifications

All applicants who apply to be registered have to satisfy a number of requirements, one of which relates to the successful completion of a course approved by the GSCC. Applicants can only be registered as social workers if they have successfully completed an approved course.

The Council has set out its approved courses in Schedule 1 of the Registration Rules 2005 (download from this page)

Applicants who have gained social work qualifications overseas will be referred to the GSCC's International Recognition Service (IRS) who will arrange for an assessment of the qualification against the UK’s Diploma in Social Work.
The Council has approved the following courses:

• Diploma in Social Work awarded by CCETSW or by the General Social Care Council, Care Council for Wales, the Northern Ireland Social Care Council or the Scottish Social Services Council
• Certificate of Qualification in Social Work awarded by CCETSW
  
• Certificate in Social Services awarded by CCETSW
  
• Satisfactory completion of a course recognised by the Association of Psychiatric Social Workers
  
• Probation Certificate or satisfactory completion of courses recognised by the Advisory Council for Probation and Aftercare
  
• Certificate or satisfactory completion of a course recognised by the Institute of Medical Social Workers (previously known as the Institute of Almoners)
  
• Certificate in Social Work awarded by the Council for Training in Social Work
  
• Certificate in Child Care or Home Office letter of recognition in child care issued by the Home Office Central Training Council
  
• Letter of Comparability to the Certificate of Qualification in Social Work
  
• A course leading to a degree or post graduate award in social work approved by one of the social care councils in the UK
  
• A course in relevant social work for a person who wants to become a social worker, which is approved by one of the social care regulatory councils, for the purposes of the Care Standards Act (2000), the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001 or the Health and Personal Social Services Act (Northern Ireland) 2001
  

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Post-registration training and learning

Post-registration training and learning is a key condition for continued registration. Our registration rules specify the post-registration training and learning requirements that all registered social workers must meet.

The rules state that:

• every social worker registered with the GSCC shall, within the period of registration, complete either 90 hours or 15 days of study, training, courses, seminars, reading, teaching or other activities which could reasonably be expected to advance the social worker's professional development, or contribute to the development of the profession as a whole;
  
• every social worker registered with the GSCC shall keep a record of post-registration training and learning undertaken; and
  
• failure to meet these conditions may be considered misconduct.

When does the applicant need to do the training or learning?

Applicants only have to ensure that they do training or learning within the three-year registration period. You could complete all 15 days of training and learning in one of the years of the registration period but it is equally acceptable for you to complete five days training and learning a year. When applicants apply to renew registration, we may ask for evidence of training and learning.

The role of employers in post-registration training and learning

The Code of Practice for Employers of Social Care Workers states that employers are expected to support registered workers to meet our requirements for continuing professional development.

Further information for applicants and employers on the nature of post registration training and learning is contained in the Training and learning section of this site.

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Verification, endorsement and countersigning

All applications to the Social Care Register must be endorsed and verified. In summary:

Verification is about checking an applicant's identity;
Endorsement is about a responsible person saying "this person is suitable to be registered".

Some applications will be signed and endorsed by the same person. Others will have different endorsers and verifiers. Social workers employed by social services departments may, for example, have their applications endorsed by their director of social services, and verified by their line manager. Independent social workers on the other hand may use the same endorser and verifier.

Some applicants will have more than one social care employer. In such cases, the applicant must ask their second employer to countersign their application.

Who can act as verifier and endorser? Line managers, can verify an application, but only senior people can also endorse an application. The table below shows who is able to endorse and verify an application form. 

It is acceptable for the endorser to delegate the role of verifier to another person, providing that the verification is not carried out by a peer of the applicant. The verifier must have some level of responsibility in relation to the applicant, and could be, for example, the applicant's line manager, or a member of staff from the HR department.

COUNTERSIGNING

Applicants who have more than one social care employer must get their application countersigned by their second social care employer.

The second social care employer is the employer for whom they work the most, after their main employer. Applicants who have more than two social care employers only need to get the form countersigned by the second employer; they do not need to get the form countersigned by all their social care employers.

The person who countersigns the application must be one of the people set out above.

Countersignatories are not expected to verify the applicant's identity, or to check sections of the form against their own records. In signing the form, countersignatories are asked to confirm that they are "not aware of any reason why the applicant should not be registered on the Social Care Register."

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