Oral Answers to Questions

Alex Burghart Excerpts

Monday 17th December 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mr Robert Goodwill (Scarborough and Whitby) (Con)]

11. What progress his Department has made on strengthening the social work profession.

[Alex Burghart (Brentwood and Ongar) (Con)]

12. What progress his Department has made on strengthening the social work profession.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (Nadhim Zahawi)]

Social workers do an invaluable job in protecting the most vulnerable children and families in our society. We are improving initial education standards, and providing professional development at key stages throughout a social worker’s career. A new independent regulator, Social Work England, will have a strong focus on better standards, while the national assessment and accreditation system will provide additional confidence in the quality of practice.

--- Later in debate ---

[Nadhim Zahawi]

My right hon. Friend is right to point out that the national assessment and accreditation system is a critical means of embedding high standards in the social work profession. We are currently in phase 1, and more than 100 social workers have been accredited so far. We will be considering questions like my right hon. Friend’s during the national roll-out.

[Alex Burghart]

Initiatives such as Step Up to Social Work and Frontline have done a very good job in bringing high-qualities graduates into the profession, but what is the Department doing to encourage better continuing professional development for those who are already in the workforce?

[Nadhim Zahawi]

Continuing professional development is crucial to high-quality social work. The Department funds it through the assessed and supported year in employment for new social workers, and an aspiring practice leaders programme. This autumn we launched a programme for more than 1,000 people moving into supervisory roles.