Health and Social Care Bill

I will write with all the details so that noble Lords can see that there is no falling back in terms of the standards that people need to reach. We would hope that this separation out will drive standards up further. I will write to the noble Lord so that he can see that for himself. On whether there should be a specific mention of social workers in the HPC and on the other points raised by the noble Lord, Lord Hunt, currently none of the professions regulated by the Health Professions Council has their own committee, director, or representation on the council. Neither is any profession mentioned in the council’s title. Ultimately, it should be for the Health Professions Council to decide how best to regulate social workers and it has already established committees and appointed staff. It is very actively involved with the organisations involved in the transfer to see how best they need to gear things so that they are dealing with social workers appropriately. The Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence has made it clear that in its view it is important that council members are focused on the governance of the organisation rather than on representing particular professional interests. We agree with this. The proposed new name of the council was decided upon with reference to the views of the Social Work Regulation Oversight Group, which includes in its membership Moira Gibb, chair of the Social Work Reform Board. None of the professions that the Health Professions Council currently regulates are specifically mentioned in the name and it would not be right to single out one profession now. The Health Professions Council does, of course, recognise how vital the expertise and knowledge of social workers will be if it is to regulate them well. Its draft standards of proficiency for social workers have been developed by a professional liaison group which included representatives of social workers, their employers and educators. In addition, it uses members of a profession as partners to support its work. These partners have a role in approving training courses, hearing fitness to practise cases and assessing continuing professional development. They will ensure that decisions made about social workers are informed by an understanding of the complexities and challenges facing the profession. The noble Lord, Lord Hunt, and particularly the noble Baroness, Lady Meacher, flagged up the issue of students. We are mindful that there should be no gap in the assurance of the standards of social work students and intend to provide for the transfer of the voluntary register of social work students to the Health and Care Professions Council pending a full consideration of the best approach to assuring the safety and standards of student social workers. We are acutely aware of that concern. The council has committed to undertaking a review of the risk in relation to students and if, indeed, as the noble Baroness, Lady Meacher, indicates, there is a significant risk, that is something that the Health Professions Council will take on board. It is looking at the risk to students of all professions that it regulates, including those of social work students. The outcome of this process will set out the risks and issues relating to social work students. The Health Professions Council has assured us that it will seek to ensure that the outcome of its review is informed by social work expertise and evidence. If the noble Baroness wishes to send in information, I am sure that the HPC will be pleased to receive it. The Health Professions Council is currently consulting on this issue and we expect it to report on the results of this by spring 2012. The noble Baroness, Lady Meacher, asked about the situation in relation to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. She is absolutely right: the regulation of social workers is devolved, so each country can develop a system that best fits its delivery of social care. Therefore, there may well be divergences in the systems adopted. However, she is absolutely right that it is important that that divergence should not prevent, for example, the free movement of social workers or the necessary sharing of information between regulatory bodies. The Health Professions Council is working with the care councils of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to establish a memorandum of understanding. That memorandum is expected to address such issues as cross-border fitness to practise, the recognition of programmes of education and training, information sharing and consistency on standards and their development. To support the Health Professions Council to develop those systems, the Bill imposes a duty on the council to co-operate with the care councils. I hope the noble Baroness will find that reassuring. Following up on one or two other points on students, the General Social Care Council of course enforces its register of student social workers through the criteria of eligibility for an education support grant, which funds the practice placements of student social workers. The Health and Care Professions Council will not have that particular lever, but it will have other means, such as the council’s approval of pre-registration courses, through which the Health and Care Professions Council will be able to encourage student registration if, following consideration, voluntary registration is considered the most appropriate way.