Commentary on Sections The Health and Care Professions Council Section 215 – Functions of the Council in relation to social work in England
1283.This section amends the 2001 Order to make provision for the Council to regulate social workers in England.
1284.Subsection (2) amends article 3(5)(b) of the 2001 Order to extend the Council’s duty to co-operate with certain specified bodies. The bodies to which the duty is extended are public bodies or other persons concerned with the regulation of social work in England and the provision, supervision or management of the services of persons engaged in social work in England. Subsection (3) specifies that this duty includes, in particular, the Care Councils of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
1285.Subsection (4) amends article 3 of the 2001 Order to extend the existing power of the Council to make recommendations to the Secretary of State about healthcare professions which it believes should be regulated to also cover social care workers in England. The Council may also give guidance (to those with an interest) on what criteria should be considered in deciding whether social care workers in England should be regulated.
1286.Subsections (5), (6), (10) and (13) extend to social workers the current provisions in the 2001 Order which relate to visiting health professionals from relevant European states.
1287.Subsections (7) and (8) amend article 12 of the 2001 Order to enable the Council to recognise training undertaken in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland as sufficient for admission to its register as a social worker. Related to this, the Council is also given the power to assess training or professional experience in social work gained outside England but within the UK, and to compare this with the standard of proficiency it requires for admission to its register as a social worker.
1288.Subsection (9) inserts a new article 13B into the 2001 Order which places a duty on persons to register with the Council as a social worker in order to practise as a social worker in England. The duty will not apply to persons who are registered as a social worker with one of the Care Councils of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland and who are practising in England on a temporary basis.
1289.Subsection (11) provides that powers of the National Assembly for Wales under article 20 of the Order do not extend to the regulation of social workers in England.
1290.Subsection (12) amends article 39 of the 2001 Order. As a result of the changes to social work regulation, the offences under article 39 will apply in relation to social workers in England in the same way as they apply in relation to the other professions regulated by the Council. However, given that the relevant part of the Council’s register will be titled “social worker” rather than “social worker in England” a further amendment is necessary to ensure that a person who uses the title “social worker” as a result of being registered as a social worker with one of the Care Councils of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland will not commit an offence under article 39(1)(b).