UNISON social work round-up

MUTUAL BENEFIT?

Governments, local councils and NHS trusts seem keener than ever to convince staff in social care to ‘go it alone.’ They want you to set up your own ‘mutual’ or ‘social enterprise’  to sell your services back to their council or PCT. UNISON’s major new report 'Mutual Benefit? is an important and timely contribution to the debate and well worth reading for any staff who find their employer is going down this road. It explores a variety of concerns about mutualising public services, including the transfer of public assets, employment security and terms and conditions, and the realities of the competitive markets in which mutuals would have to compete. It also discusses how the claimed benefits of mutualism could in fact be  realised without the need for outsourcing or privatisation. To read more see the latest article on the UNISON workplace zone on Community Care. To download the report click here.

GOVERMENT PLANS TO REMOVE POSSIBILITY FOR MIGRANT WORKERS TO SETTLE IN THE UK

Many staff working in social work and social care have come here from overseas and are employed on work permits. The Government now wants to remove from most people the possibility of applying for ‘indefinite leave to remain’ and settle in the UK. Work permits would instead only be issued for three years, with a maximum extension to five years before workers and their family must leave the UK. We believe the proposals will have serious consequences for UNISON members, and for social care services. Many employers rely on recruiting social workers and care workers from overseas to fill shortages. We believe that if they have no prospect of settling in the UK or bringing their families to settle, many of these workers will stop coming to work in services where they are desperately needed. Furthermore we believe it is grossly unfair that workers who came here under one set of rules, which said they had a reasonable expectation of being able to settle after 5 years, should suddenly find the goalposts moved.

UNISON wants to gather examples and case studies to demonstrate this and seek to persuade the Government to rethink its plans. If you are a worker employed on a work permit please click here to take part in our short survey. If you know any colleagues this applies to please forward them a link to the survey.

All the information provided will only be used anonymously  to help UNISON respond to a Government consultation on work permits and settlement in the UK.

REGULATOR-TO-BE FOR SOCIAL WORK IN ENGLAND – CONSULTS ON NEW STANDARDS

Regular readers of social work round up will know that the Government plans to abolish the GSCC and transfer the registration of social workers in England to the Health Professions Council (HPC). The earliest it is likely to happen is July 2012. There is no decision yet on fees and UNISON continues to lobby that a hike to £74 a year to bring social workers in line with other professions is unfair and disproportionate – especially in a pay freeze. The GSCC has a useful set of FAQs which tell you more about the transfer of its responsibilities to HPC

In the meanwhile the HPC is consulting on draft standards – which it calls proficiency standards – and which  it will use as the entry requirements for social workers to be registered. These, along with a separate set of standards of conduct, will replace the current code of practice. The professional registration bodies in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland all use the same code of practice –so for the first time different regimes will apply within the UK.

UNISON had a representative on the group that drew up the draft standards and we will be preparing a response to the consultation which runs till November. Click here to go to the consultation documents. We would like to hear from as many members as possible about what you think. Please email any thoughts to socialwork@unison.co.uk. You may also want to send in your own response to the consultation.

MUNRO REPORT ON REDUCING BUREAUCRACY IN CHILD PROTECTION – GOVERNMENT RESPONDS

Professor Eileen Munro has delivered her final report on reducing bureaucracy in child protection. Her 15 recommendations include: slimming down the statutory guidance; scrapping some of the national performance targets and allowing local ones; statutory duty on councils and partners to provide early help services for children and families; quality practice placements only in designated approved practice settings; a designated ‘Principal Child and Family Social Worker’  in each council; a Government ‘Chief Social Worker’; systems methodology to be used in Serious Case Reviews moving away from search for human error to identifying how to remove underlying causes.

UNISON has welcomed much of the report, and it is worth a read as it captures well the problems of bureaucracy and managerialism which have dogged social work for so long. Governments in Scotland, Wales and N Ireland are likely to be looking at what they can learn from it, and we have been told that the Department of Health in England are actively looking at what can be applied to adults social work.

The Government has published its response and set up an implementation group. Interestingly the Government has accepted most of the recommendations – although some, such as the duty to provide early help and the Chief Social Worker, only ‘in principle.’ The change to Serious Case Review methodology is the only one which they have said requires ‘further consideration. Further updates when we have them...