Commentary on Sections The Health and Care Professions Council Section 217 - Approval of courses for approved mental health professionals
1294.This section concerns the transfer to the Council of the General Social Care Council’s power under section 114A of the 1983 Act to approve training courses for people who are, or who wish to become, approved mental health professionals in England.
1295.The section inserts a new section 114ZA into the 1983 Act giving the Council the power to approve courses for people who are, or wish to become, approved mental health professionals in England. The new section also requires the Council to publish details of current and past approved courses.
1296.In practice, courses would actually be approved by the Council’s Education and Training Committee, which is already responsible for approving training and education for the professions regulated by the Council. The Committee would also be able to arrange for other people to approve courses on the Council’s behalf. It can already do this in relation to the Council’s existing powers to approve education and training, although, in practice, it has not made any such arrangements.
1297.The rest of this section amends section 114A of the 1983 Act to remove the General Social Care Council’s power to approve approved mental health professional courses. None of these changes affect the power of the Care Council for Wales to approve courses for people who are, or wish to become, approved mental health professionals in Wales. That power remains in section 114A.