Memorandum submitted by Staffordshire
County Council
In providing evidence to the Committee we have used
the six headings originally provided.
— Staffordshire County Council feel that
broadly speaking the social work degree can be improved upon but
does not require radical intervention.
— Newly qualified social workers and those
in the early stages of professional development need additional
support along the lines of the CWDC programmes.
— QA of HEI provision needs to be sharpened
and more involved with employer partners.
— There needs to be a strong reinforcing
of employer/HEI partnerships.
— These are the views of members of the
Employee Development team whose role is to manage Practice education,
Newly Qualified Social Work programme and Post-qualifying programmes
in social work, in partnership with six Universities in the West
Midlands.
1. ENTRY ROUTES
TO THE
PROFESSION
Current entry routes allow for both undergraduate
and post-graduate entry and are sufficiently flexible to allow
for mature students and those making career changes who require
access to learn courses.
2. STRUCTURE
OF TRAINING
The existing three year Bachelor's/two years
Master's degrees have provided the right amount of training and
are pitched at the right level to have improved the quality of
beginning social work practitioners. The increase of Practice
learning by 100% to 200 days was instrumental in this. The development
of the Newly Qualified Social Worker programme by the Childrens
Workforce Development Council has also encouraged employers to
implement protected caseloads and additional training to provide
additional skills and to foster the gaining of experience in a
protected environment.
3. CONTENT OF
INITIAL TRAINING
The generic social work initial degree is felt
to be generally fit for purpose but there is undoubtedly a limit
to the amount of specialised training that can be given in an
initial degree. The NQSW project and the proposed Early Professional
Development project plus the existing Post-qualifying framework
do go some way to addressing the need for ongoing CPD. The content
of the existing training does not always reflect the tasks required
as this is a constantly changing arena. The NQSW year and EPD/PQ
can, however be modified to accommodate these requirements at
a local level.
4. QUALITY
Paper-based reviews are not the most effective
means of evaluating or quality assuring qualifications and Ofsted
style impromptu visitations would be much more likely to provide
an accurate snapshot of the performance of HEIs. A return to the
more traditional review system involving partners in the review
would give a greater involvement of employers in the design, development
and delivery of qualification programmes at all levels.
Practice placements can be and are quality assured
through the partnership arrangements between HEIs and employers
and this needs to be reinforced through regulation by GSCC.
The switch to degree level entry to the profession
has been a mixed blessing in that it has resulted in the recruitment
of some very able academic employees who have enhanced the profession
by their ability to use evidence-based research to underpin their
practice.
An alternative view suggests that recruits with
limited life and previous work experience means some newly qualified
staff are only partially equipped to deal with the complex challenges
of face-to face direct work with service users. For some there
is a gap in their professional confidence and credibility particularly
in the multi-professional arena where their lack of experience
can place them at some disadvantage.
5. SUPPLY OF
INITIAL TRAINING
From the employers perspective it would seem
that the drivers are to make the profession graduate only entry
and that initial training is fully funded.
6. POST-QUALIFYING
TRAINING AND
CAREER PATHS
The quality, suitability and take-up of PQ training
can be assured by the ring-fencing of training budgets for this
purpose. This will allow employers to feel able to regularly recruit
to PQ programmes knowing the budget is secure for this purpose.
Employers also need to be more strongly represented in participation
in Partnership forums with HEIs as was the case prior to the most
recent reform of the PQ framework.
NQSWs need to feel that they are protected from the
full force of a heavy and complex caseload and that in their first
years of employment they can continue to build up their experience
whilst being able to utilise the reflective skills and theories/research
learned in the HEIs and on placements.
From this employers perspective we fully support
our social work workforce by providing a mixed economy of education,
training and other learning opportunities from induction through
to Leadership and management.
As the second largest employer in the region
we provide on the job training for front line supervisors which
is enhanced by in-house and externally provided education and
training.
May 2009
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