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PROPOSED POST REGISTRATION TRAINING AND LEARNING
REQUIREMENTS FOR NEWLY QUALIFIED SOCIAL WORKERS

UNISON Scotland's response to the Scottish Social Services Council Consultation on Proposed Post Registration Training and Learning Requirements for Newly Qualified Social Workers

June 2005.

Executive Summary

  • UNISON Scotland welcomes the opportunity to comment on the above Consultation by the Scottish Social Services Council.

  • UNISON Scotland supports the proposed Post Registration Training and Learning (PRTL) requirements for newly qualified social workers and particularly welcomes the increase in the number of training days from 15 (90 hours) to 24 (144 hours).

  • However, to allow social workers to undertake this activity, time needs to be built into their work programme and they need to be facilitated to carry it out.

  • Continuous monitoring of workloads must be undertaken by managers to ensure that proper arrangements are put in place with backfill available to cover for the time away.

  • The lead SSSC countersignatory for the organisation employing the social worker should be a registered social worker.

Introduction

UNISON is Scotland's largest trade union representing 150,000 members delivering public services in Local Government, Health, and the voluntary and community sector. We are the major trade union for social work staff in all of the above sectors.

This paper constitutes UNISON Scotland's response to the consultation document issued by the Scottish Social Services Council on Post Registration Training and Learning (PRTL) Requirements for Newly Qualified Social Workers

Response

UNISON Scotland welcomes the opportunity to comment on the above Consultation by the Scottish Social Services Council.

UNISON Scotland supports the proposed Post Registration Training and Learning (PRTL) requirements for newly qualified social workers and particularly welcomes the increase in days from 15 (90 hours) to 24 (144 hours).

We wish to make the following comments on the proposals:

The Post Registration Training and Learning (PRTL) given to a newly qualified social worker should not be seen as part of the normal induction process, but be about real academic education (3.1). However, to allow the social worker to undertake this activity, time needs to be built into their work programme and they need to be facilitated to carry it out. Due to the pressures on staffing levels, it would be understandable for managers to omit certain aspects, so they could continue to use the member of staff on operational duties. Continuous monitoring of workloads must be undertaken by managers to ensure that proper arrangements are put in place with backfill available to cover for the time. The training should be part of the normal working week and seen as part of their Continuous Professional Development.

We believe the training should be more specifically related to projects about child and adult protection and we welcome the proposals that at least five days (30 hours) should focus on working in this area. (3.2)

With regard to the lead SSSC countersignatory for the organisation employing the social worker, (3.6) we must emphasise that the person countersigning should be a registered social worker. This is particularly relevant when a social worker is not employed in a local authority Social Work Department, but could be working in the NHS, in a Joint Future undertaking or the Community and Voluntary Sector.

We are pleased to note that the proposed renewal of the registration process will not incur any additional fees.

We support the safeguards built into the consultation for the social worker to be able to make comment on any adverse reports and at the proposal to refer any refused registrations to a Registration Sub-Committee for determination.

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For Further Information Please Contact:

Matt Smith, Scottish Secretary
UNISONScotland
UNISON House
14, West Campbell Street,
Glasgow G2 6RX

Tel 0845 355 0845 Fax 0141 342 2835

e-mail matt.smith@unison.co.uk

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