Social Workers (Education and Training) (Hansard, 4 May 1988)

§ Mr. Newton

I wrote yesterday to Professor Saul setting out the Government's position in response to the proposals of "Care for Tomorrow". The letter indicates that, while the Government do not feel able to commit resources to the extension of qualifying training for social workers to three years, as proposed by CCETSW, we wish to work closely with the council in developing a balanced package of improvement not only to improve qualifying training, but also to improve the skills of staff already working in the field.

The training support programme announced by the Government last November is an important step already 502W taken in relation to those working in the care of elderly people. The Health and Medicines Bill includes powers which would enable us to make similar provision in the field of child care. We are making up to £1 million available to CCETSW to improve planning and cooperation between the colleges and employers and review the standards of teaching of various aspects of social work. We are also providing support for a variety of other initiatives aimed at extending the availability of training for social services staff in a number of specialist areas such as mental health and mental handicap and child abuse.

In developing qualifying training, our view is that the most important immediate objectives are to improve the quality and availability of "practice placements" and to move to a uniform two-year training period for postgraduates. We attach high priority to both of these. We are seeking the help of the council to develop detailed proposals for phased development over a five-year period starting in 1989–90.

These further measures, building on improvements already taking place, should help to ensure a better prepared and therefore more competent staff for the personal social services. The full text of my letter is as follows:

"CARE FOR TOMORROW: THE CCETSW TRAINING REFORM PROPOSALS I am grateful to you, Tony Hall and Rachel Pierce for coming to see me on 20 April. We agreed that it would be helpful if I were to let you have a statement of the Government's position before your Council session on 4 May. I was able to assure you that the Government agrees that there is a need for improvement in training for the social services. The employers of social services staff have an important role to play in this, as does CCETSW. For social work staff this is necessary both at the qualifying and post-qualifying stages, and more training opportunities are vital for the other staff employed in the social services. We have already introduced a training support programme for staff working with elderly people with that in mind. We welcome the considerable effort the Council has already put into specifying what needs to be attained by student social workers at the point of qualification; improving planning and co-operation between the colleges and the employers and reviewing the standards of teaching of the various aspects of social work. These are all essential elements in getting the most from the existing public investment in the preparation of social workers. We very much want to encourage and support this work, and the developments that flow from it. We also welcome the contribution being made by CCETSW to the development of the National Vocational Qualification framework. I told you that the Government's financial allocation to CCETSW for this financial year is being increased by up to £1 million to enable the programme of improvements to increase in scale. I asked you to let officials have an action plan for this programme of improvements for their agreement. We had, in our earlier correspondence, asked CCETSW to provide a set of costed options to enable Ministers to form a view of their relative benefits. In the event the Council provided a single package of measures in its Care for Tomorrow proposals. We discussed those, and I made it clear that the Government did not feel able to make financial provision for the proposals it contains for the extension to three years of qualifying training for social workers. I explained that this conclusion was based principally on our assessment of the relative priority of this development for future generations of social workers among the many other competing calls on public resources in the short to medium term, both in the social services and in other fields, including not least those needed to improve the skills of existing social care staff in such fields as residential care of the elderly and child care. 503W You made it clear that three years training was essential in the view of the Council in order adequately to prepare social workers for the tasks they face, and that its achievement would remain your long-term goal. Against this background, I am concerned to respond to your request for a firm steer on where and how to concentrate planning effort in getting a practical programme of improvement in social work training under way. Our view, which I think you share, is that the two most important objectives in the short-term are to improve the quality and availability of "practice placements" and to move to a uniform two-year training period for postgraduates, both of which have the advantage of building on developments already taking place. I acknowledge that both require a measure of direct government encouragement or sponsorship, especially in advance of employment-led NVQ arrangements becoming a reality. You understand that I cannot commit myself to specific sums in advance of public expenditure discussions, which will not be completed until the autumn; but I can tell you that I attach very high priority indeed to finding the resources to make significant progress in these two respects, with a start being made from 1989–90. I hope therefore that the Council will bring forward proposals quickly for a phased programme to secure these improvements over a five-year period. I recognise that you and your Council would have wished us simply to accept the programme set out in "Care for Tomorrow". But I hope that you and they will recognise in turn that the important steps we are suggesting are consistent with the Council's long-term goal, and indeed can be seen as substantial progress towards it. I hope too that the arrangements that we have set in train for an annual programme and performance review will provide a good framework for us to work together in building further on this progress in due course.