Commentary on Sections The Health and Care Professions Council Section 216 – Appeals in cases involving social workers in England
1291.This section amends articles 37 and 38 of the 2001 Order which relate to appeals against decisions of the Council (and its committees).
1292.Subsection (2) amends the definition of lay member in article 37 to exclude persons who are, or have been, registered as social workers with the General Social Care Council or one of the Care Councils of Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland from the definition of lay member. This means that such a person may not be a lay member on a panel of the Council which is considering an appeal from a decision of the Council’s Education and Training Committee. Subsections (3) and (4) provide that an appeal against a decision of the Education and Training Committee of the Council relating to a social worker in England must be heard in England.
1293.Subsections (5) to (7) amend article 38 to provide that all appeals from a decision of the Council to a court relating to a social worker in England are to be heard by either a county court or the High Court of Justice in England and Wales.