§ 53 Clause 51, page 24, line 6, leave out ("or care home") and insert (", care home or residential family centre")
§ Lord Hunt of Kings HeathMy Lords, I beg to move that the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendment No. 53. This amendment comprises one of a group of 35 amendments that make minor changes to the provisions in Part IV, concerning the regulation of social care workers.
Amendments Nos. 53 to 61 all relate to the definitions set out in Clause 51. Amendments Nos. 53 and 54 ensure that workers in residential family centres 958 and relevant agency workers come within the definition of "social care worker". The remaining amendments, Amendments Nos. 55 to 61, all concern the groups of workers who may be brought within the definition of "social care worker" at a later date by regulations.
Amendment No. 55 reflects my earlier comments about the registration of managers of establishments and agencies. Amendments Nos. 56 and 57 make general provision for extending the definition of "social care worker" which reflects the commitment I made following points raised by the noble Lord, Lord Laming, during our earlier discussions in the House. Amendment No. 58 provides that the inspectors employed by the commission or Assembly may also be brought within the definition. Amendment No. 59 makes similar provision for social work students.
Amendments Nos. 60 and 61 amend the definition of "day centre". I should like to reassure noble Lords that this is a purely technical matter. It came to our attention that the existing definition used the word "establishment". As this is already defined in Part I of the Bill, it had the effect of rendering the current definition of "day centre" deficient. This new definition simply uses the word "place" instead. I can assure noble Lords that it is intended to cover exactly the same range of organisations.
Amendments Nos. 62 and 63 enable a person to be registered on two or more parts of the register. That is important because the field of social care is extremely wide. I know that we all wish to ensure that workers in any particular sector have all the right skills and competencies for that specialised area of work. This may mean that registration on two separate parts of the register may be necessary.
Amendments Nos. 64 to 67 and 73 to 79 all relate to "post-qualifying" training for professional social workers. The councils already have powers to regulate the basic training of social workers through Clause 59. These amendments make additional provision in that clause so that the councils can also regulate training for social workers at the post-qualifying level.
Amendments Nos. 68 to 72, 86 and 87 make minor changes to the fee-charging and rule-making provisions of this part. They consolidate the existing express fee-charging powers and bring them together in a more general provision. Amendment No. 68 makes a similar general provision about the rules, which will all be subject to approval by the appropriate Minister. Amendment No. 71 is a straightforward correction, altering a reference to the Secretary of State to "appropriate Minister".
The last batch of amendments within this group amend Clause 63. Amendment No. 76 gives the appropriate Minister a number of functions relating to the training of the social care workforce which underpin the work of the councils. These functions underpin the duty of the councils to promote high standards in training. I should point out that in England it is intended that these functions should be delegated to an agency called TOPSS-England, the England arm of the UK national training organisation for personal social services.
959 Amendments Nos. 80 to 85 simply make provision for the Assembly to delegate functions under this clause in a similar manner to the existing provisions for the Secretary of State for England.
Moved, That the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendment No. 53.—(Lord Hunt of Kings Heath.)
On Question, Motion agreed to.