Building a safe and confident future: One year on

HE Forum 21st February

EmployersADASSADCSCAFCASSChildren EnglandLGALGIDLGEMindNHS ConfederationSOLACE

Service usersA National VoicePrincess Royal Trust for CarersShaping Our Lives

Professional RegulatorsGSCCHPC

ProfessionAspectBASWCollege of Social WorkUnison

EducatorsAssociation of SW ProfessorsSWAPJUC-SWECUniversities UK

GovernmentBISDfEDH

Delivery orgsCQCCWDCHEFCEOfstedQAASCIESkills for Care

Social Workers’ Reference Group Service users and carers

Employers’ Reference Group

Professional standards

CPD

Assessed & Supported Year in Employment

Licence to practise

Career structure Frontline

Managers

Calibre of entrants

Curriculum Education

regulation Practice learning

Employers’ standards

Supervision Supply &

demand Workloads Partnerships

Career development working group

Education working group

Employers’ standard Working group

The National Reform Programme recommended by the Social Work Task Force

One year on from the SWTF report

A different environment for reform

• Government, policy and priorities – Deregulation and localisation– Munro review of children’s services– DH vision; personalisation

• Spending cuts and HE funding

• A new regulator – Health Professions Council

• Developing role for a new College of Social Work

Proposals for five key areas of reform

• Anniversary report + – Overarching Professional Capabilities Framework– Standards for employers & supervision framework– Principles for Continuing Professional Development– Requirements for social work education– Effective partnership working

Proposals to be published later this year:• Assessed and supported year in employment • Supply and demand model

Professional capabilities framework• Currently no single comprehensive set of expectations of social workers at each stage of their career

• Framework proposes nine capabilities that are relevant regardless of level of experience

• Links to:•Entry requirements, levels of placement, qualification•AYSE and CPD•Performance appraisal/pay and grading structures

• Forms the main stages of national social work career structure

• Capabilities agreed, elements under development

PCF – what next?

• Seeking your views on the strengths of the framework and the challenges of developing and using it

• Particularly interested in:• Use of the term ‘capabilities’• Whether we have identified the right capabilities• Whether we have included the right job roles

• SWRB consider early transfer to the College of Social Work important

8 Standards for employers

• Effective workforce planning• Transparent systems for workload management• Tools and resources for effective practice, minimising risk• Regular and appropriate supervision• Opportunities for CPD• Support professional registration• Effective partnerships for social work education• Social work accountability framework

New coherent and effective CPD framework

• Simple, accessible, portable

• Based on PCF to provide consistent/standardised learning objectives

• A hybrid approach with an academic core and non academic learning from range of activities (accredited and non-accredited)

• National recording system through performance appraisal

• Opens up new thinking about responsibility and entitlement

• Four principles unpin the proposals – for further discussion

What are the four principles?

CPD should:

• Support social workers to maintain and develop minimum standards for re-registration

• Encourage and motive social workers to improve practice through a wide range of learning opportunities, based on analysis of individual needs, ambition, career stage and learning style

• Be underpinned by annual appraisal cycle and recording

• Be simple to access, value for money and with opportunities for qualification and accreditation

CPD – what next?• Seeking test sites to give feedback by the end of March

• Seeking your views on whether the proposals will improve the effectiveness and development of social workers at all stages of their career – (incl. impact of setting and finances)

• Particularly interested in testing out the principles against:• existing initiatives and in different settings• interrelationship between CPD achieved through academic qualification and that achieved through a wide range of learning opportunities in practice and outside the academic framework• inter-relationship between local arrangements and the need for a national framework.

• SWRB consider early transfer to the College of Social Work important

Improving the quality and consistency of the social work degree

• Suite of proposals to improve the learning experiences of students and result in graduates better prepared to meet the demands and complexity of social work

• Proposals include:– Improving calibre of entrants - guidance spring/summer 2011

– New arrangements for practice learning – guidance spring/summer 2011

– Continuing work on content and delivery of the curriculum

– New Curriculum framework and guidance ready for consultation by Sept 2011, published April 2012 /adopted Sept 2013

What are the proposals for calibre of entrants?

• Written test for all• Individual interview• Group exercises• Agreed UCAS/A’ level points • English language assessment • Basic skills; English, Maths and IT• Continuing involvement of employers and people who

use services

What are the proposals for new practice learning arrangements?

• 2 placements: 1st 70 days and 2nd 100 days – across the country

• 30 days to be used flexibly for skills development • Practice learning curriculum including statutory

interventions for final placement • All students to be assessed by qualified and

experienced social workers with Practice Educator standards

Qualifying Curriculum

Specification of outcomes using the PCFGuidance on topics including:

– research– assessment– 'specialism's– 'process'– CPD for educators– Masters vs BA/BSc

– different routes– practice learning – exit routes– SU&C involvement– IPE– the student 'contract'

Initial social work education – what next?

• Seeking test sites to try out some of these proposals (placement days, skills development, assessment) but not time limited

• Seeking views on whether the proposals will improve the learning experience of students and result in better trained social workers – (incl. impact of funding constraints)

• Particularly interested in:• How we can ensure these changes are adopted

• SWRB consider eventual owners of initial training will be the Health Professions Council (regulator) and College of Social Work (standards)

Effective partnership working

• A partnership framework between employers and educators across whole spectrum of education and professional development

• Practice placements• ASYE• CPD• Supply & demand

• Aim is to build on existing partnerships - local, flexible and diverse

• Able to respond to future change

• Introduction of formal written agreements

What is the proposed partnership framework?

Partnership should be:

• Driven by a shared understanding of the mutual benefits of partnership • Based on a formal written agreement, supported by the regulatory framework, sector standards and good practice• Based around local, flexible and diverse partnerships, building on existing arrangements, where possible.• Structured to operate at strategic and operational levels, and informed by workforce planning, supply and demand• Structured to operate across the whole spectrum of education and professional development and able to respond flexibly to new initiatives and policy developments

Effective partnership – what next?• Seeking test sites to give feedback by the end of March

• Seeking your views on whether the framework will create effective partnerships between employers and HEIs

• Particularly interested in:• What goals can be addressed by effective partnerships • How written agreements will help and what they are likely to contain• How existing arrangements need to evolve to meet these new expectations

• SWRB consider eventual owners of partnership framework are likely to be College of Social Work with endorsement from other key organisations

Next steps

• Discussion today

• Debate in other forums

• Test sites

• Collated JUC-SWEC/APSW/SWAP response to SWRB

• Further development of the PCF at qualifying level and ASYE