Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of closing the College of Social Work on the ability of social workers to achieve the best outcome for people with dementia and for their carers.

We recognise the significant amount of work that the College of Social Work undertook and its achievements in helping raising professional standards for social work. Practice guidance for social work with people with dementia and their carers was developed by the College and published in 2015, helping raise the quality of social work practice in this crucial area. The Chief Social Workers and officials supported the College to ensure that this and other resources continue to be available through the sector and play a role in the future development and growth of social work.

On 14 January, the Secretary of State for Education announced the creation of a new regulatory body for social work, responsible for driving up practice standards and raising the status of the social work profession. This body will support the development of further specialisms in social work practice, including dementia, helping deliver our ambition to continue to raise the quality and status of a profession which plays such a vital role in improving the lives of our most vulnerable people.