Story updated 7 December 2022
Just over 1,000 social workers have been removed from the register despite paying the £90 fee and meeting continuing professional development (CPD) requirements in this year’s renewal round.
Social Work England released the figure after several social workers reported being inadvertently barred from practice by what they described as flaws in the regulator’s online registration system that meant they did not complete the renewal application form.
However, the regulator said the majority of the 1,017 concerned were completing the process on 30 November, which may have led to them making errors in doing so. It said 741 started the renewal application form but did not complete it and 276 did not start the form.
These practitioners, roughly 1% of those who were expected to renew, are now unable to practise as social workers. As the regulator has deemed them not to have followed the process for renewal set out in its registration rules (rule 50), they do not have the right to appeal under regulation 19(2) of the Social Work Regulations 2018.
£135 fee to return to practice
To return to practice, they must apply for restoration to the register, which costs £135. As of 7 December 2022, 842 practitioners had asked to have their registration restored.
Affected social workers reported submitting their CPD, paying their fee and then receiving acknowledgement from Social Work England that they had completed these steps, without specifying that they had to complete a final part of the application form.
The first some knew of this was when they were informed, after the 30 November deadline, that they had been removed for failing to register. Others, including agency worker Rachel King, said they were sent an email beforehand telling them that they had not completed the process but without any guidance on how to do so.
In a letter of complaint to the regulator, she said: “I attempted to log onto my Social Work England account and could not find any information on what needed to be completed – I found myself going round on pages of information that were not directional or helpful.
‘Stress, anxiety and distress’
She added: “I cannot put a price on the amount of stress, anxiety, and distress this has caused me, and I feel in good faith I did all I could see and was guided do to process my renewal and even went back once I had received the email but could not see what needed to be done.”
Maria Rooney was also affected.
She said, in a complaint to the regulator: “There is no warning or alert on the registration system to notify social workers that their application is incomplete after they paid their registration fee payment either.
“Social workers are automatically assuming that their application is complete as they receive an email straight away saying their registration fee payment is successful but no email to notify them straight away that they have failed to complete the declaration section. Surely the registration fee should not be taken until the declaration section has been completed?”
She added: “I am also requesting that all social workers’ restoration fees are reimbursed to them as this is unfair. We are living in a cost of living, poverty, mental health and housing crisis, which is also affecting social workers, not just the general public.
‘Risk of worsening recruitment crisis’
“There is also a national crisis with the recruitment and retention of experienced/permanent social workers, and this may make the situation even worse.”
Other practitioners posted their experiences on the Community Care website.
“It feels so punitive that they can see I completed everything within timescales yet there is no flexibility. I feel that you shouldn’t be able to pay the fees without the form being completed (bar CPD). it seems such a frustrating experience as a statutory Social Worker when you already work over your hours with high case numbers. This is not withstanding potential financial costs on a personal level in a midst of a cost of living crisis.”
“I feel that is unfair and unjust as there is no right of appeal and no one to turn to because I have been told by the union that it is not an employment issue! Feeling deflated right now! This is even worse given the life-saving work that we do.”
“This is the first time i have done a renewal as was NQSW last year, I am gutted my already swamped team will have to carry me while i wait for my registration reinstated and i am £135 worse off just before Christmas.”
Philip Hallam, Social Work England’s executive director of regulation
In response, Social Work England’s executive director of regulation, Philip Hallam said: “We can see that a small group of people unintentionally failed to renew and the majority of these were people completing their application on the last day, which may have led to them not completing all of the steps properly.
“We appreciate that this is a stressful situation and are assessing applications for restoration as quickly as possible. We advise people who unintentionally failed to renew to notify their employer and ensure that they do not practise as a social worker if they do not hold registration. Further information about the process for restoring to the register can be found here.”
Registration process ‘ran smoothly’
He added: “The renewals process and ran extremely smoothly this year and without any technical issues. The three-month renewal window is designed to give people ample time to complete the process and contact us with any questions well before the deadline.”
Hallam said the regulator complied with the Government Digital Service standards, which requires organisations to understand users and their needs, making the service simple to use, making sure everyone can use it and operating a reliable service.
He added: “We provided social workers with extensive information on how to complete the three-step process (as set out in our legislation), which was the same as the previous two years. Our website includes a detailed, step by step guide to the renewal form, along with a video walkthrough.
“We sent social workers several emails and a letter to remind them to apply, including targeted emails at various times to social workers who had failed to complete all steps of the process. This was supported by an extensive comms campaign, including proactive contact with employers and sessions with our regional engagement leads. On the final day of the renewal period, we sent emails to anyone who had not completed all three steps.”
Despite the issues that led some being inadvertently removed, other registrants reported finding the process smooth.
Very much this. I’m not saying it’s the same for everyone but I have found @SocialWorkEng to be unfailingly helpful & the registration process very straight forward. The Engagement Officers have been there for SW employers to liaise with. https://t.co/KSYDqaDHf3
— Rob Mitchell (@RobMitch92) December 6, 2022
‘A national shortage of social workers’
In response to the situation, the Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS) pointed to the potential impact on social work capacity.
Workforce development policy committee chair Rachael Wardell said: “There is a national shortage of social workers and more children and families who need our help and support, so – although no social workers have raised this issue via ADCS – if there is a flaw in the process for renewing social work registration that leads to some social workers being deregistered, unintentionally, we would hope Social Work England are looking into that so that further capacity is not taken out of the system.”
The British Association of Social Workers (BASW) England said it and the Social Workers Union had been contacted by social workers with concerns about this year’s process.
National director Maris Stratulis said: “This includes social workers who claim they have completed the full application process, but due to a system error their renewal application has not been successful. BASW cannot comment on individual experiences, but we have advised people to contact Social Work England directly to discuss their concerns and complaints.
“We must remember there are significant number of vacancies across children’s and adults’ social work services. More than ever, we need to sustain and value our workforce, not add to their existing pressures and demands. If system errors have occurred, we sincerely hope the regulator will swiftly address these issues compassionately with individual registrants as a matter of priority.”
The 1,017 make up just over a quarter of those removed who were removed this year (3,740), a group that also includes 428 who started, but did not complete, the CPD process.
The number of removals was greater than in 2021 (2,869) but in line with previous years, where annual numbers leaving the register ranged from 4,000 to 6,000.
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I uploaded CPD and paid and at no point was I prompted to fill in an application form. Now kicked off the register. Absolutely disgusting.
The same. I think once you complete the CPD it should direct you straight to the rest of the application process.
I’m angry that now, instead of us paying the £90, it will now cost us a total of £225 with the re-registration fee, all because of a simple mistake while most of us are working extremely stressful jobs with unmanageable hours, along with any personal stressors in our lives.
Lauren,
I’ve checked the emails from SWE and I received 7 in total reminding me to renew and there was a pretty big thing at the top of my SWE account saying I had not completed my renewal.
Not sure how you missed all that but hey, it’s not your fault is it.
Social Work England is conning social wokers. You cannot pay £135 to be restored and charged again the yearly subscription this is so wrong, it is akin to stealing from poor paid individuals.
If a worker has failed to register they should only pay the restoration fees but to ask them to pay the yearly subscription again after 10 days of being restored is day light robbery and it is simply wrong and an ethical
I did not realise this was the case Ann- this is outrageous. A colleague of mine started her application but did not get to complete it because she was ill and then suffered a bereavement. The removal from the register with no scope for compassion or consideration has directly led to her no longer wishing to carry on as a social worker.
Nudge, Nudge…. the purpose of the system is what it does; is the direction being nudged-in a move towards a US licencing approach much like the vehicle licensing approach. If so, and there are many advocates of such an approach, how will this impact any future consideration of professional and employer insurance ĺiabilities?
For CPD see Nudge by Thaler and Sunstein as well as work by Eugene Litvak, especially his contribution to queue theory. New Managerialism or New Project Management remains a hallmark of Anglo-Saxon and Protestant countries/States throughout Europe and the US. For CPD see Oranges and Apples by Bojan Radej.
Q: How do social workers demonstrate anti-oppressive and anti-discriminatory practice, today?
Thank you for this thoughtful response. I am no longer practising but what a warning of things to come. It’s been a slow creep since the 1980s but now…part of a whole dehumanising commodification of human life.
That’s shocking & daylight robbery, I wonder how they can possibly justify it
That happened to me last year. It was incredibly stressful and embarrassing. Don’t know why SWE can’t ensure their system is more straight-foward to navigate. When a difficulty in using the online system is the reason for a full quarter of all de-registrations – ie. A full quarter of them being accidental after the SW has submitted their CPD and paid their fee, there is clearly a problem with the online system. SWE completely fails to appreciate the impact of workload and working conditions. Social Workers are rarely given protected time to spend learning about this glitchy system. It is done amongst tremendous work pressure not least of which is responding to distressed clients and management demands to tick more and more boxes in endlessly duplicating bureaucratic information systems. Don’t know why this problem hasn’t been addressed since last year other than SWE not having sufficient regard for Social Workers to do it.
I too had this exact experience last year!
Thank you for this thoughtful response. I am no longer practising but what a warning of things to come. It’s been a slow creep since the 1980s but now…part of a whole dehumanising commodification of human life.
I had the same experience two years ago, I couldn’t work leading up to and over Xmas and it cost me more money to be reinstated. I’ve still not had a chance to find out what actually was wrong as I’d been told I hadn’t paid the fee despite it being paid by DD and I was told the CPD had been submitted then another time it wasn’t!
Moving it away from near Christmas would be better as there is soo much going on for SWs both professionally and personally
This happened to me when I was off with stress last year. It seems to me that this fault in the system is by design, as they stand to make more money when we have to pay again. I do not know what purpose SWE serves to actual social workers, other than to collect our fees to pay their pen pushers and on it goes.
I am.actually disgusted by his comments, “We can see that a small group of people unintentionally failed to renew and the majority of these were people completing their application on the last day, which may have led to them not completing all of the steps properly”
I completed my CPD in October, I paid on 23rd November the reason it was accessed on 30th November is because that was when the email was sent out to say we can see you have uploaded your cod and paid your fee but it is not complete yet, not on the 23rd after payment was made oh no on the 30th November… And I know of a number of people who received this email and did manage to find how to submit but have stated it was not obvious. I was coming back from a 15 year old funeral so it may be I missed something but why advise me on the 30th not on the day I made my payment ! ! !
As for many emails; yes throughout the process I did receieve emails after CPD for the fee and after the fee. And each time I clicked back in to check what I needed to do. I completed all parts, I updated employers information, I updated everything I ticked the can you work with vulnerable children questions all 3.. tell me how I then missed clicking a final Submit button. Let’s not forget the additional 135, 000 Social Work England made put of this.
Absolutely spot on. This was my experience. I paid 5 days before, did one CPD in May and second one on 25th November, both CPD were done five day before the deadline. I got an email that my CPD and payment was successful in 25th November. I thought that’s it, done!. I was very busy working till past 12 am on the night of 30th November to 1st Dec. Checked my email for the first time during that day as I logged off my work laptop at 12. 15 am, I saw SWE’s email that although I have completed my CPD and paid my fees, my application is still showing “in progress” and am to log in to my account before 12. 59 pm. I was devastated. It was another opportunity for my hubby to remind me to not put work work before myself and stop working unpaid hours because I would probably have had time to check my emails the evening of that day. I didn’t sleep all night thinking about letting down the children and family. I had s 47 to do, CP conference and all the deadlines. I called SWE in morning of 1st Dec ,I was told by the advisor that he can see my CPD and everything is fine. I later got an email at 5.15 pm on 1 December that I have not been registered and van”t work. How can SWE be so inconsiderate as they can see that we submitted our CPD and paid the fees. It’s not fair to charge £135 to restore my registration 2 days after. I can understand if I didn’t do my CPD or not paid the fees but the system is not great considering the number of Social Workers affected. SWE is not taking any responsibility for it. I am appalled that they are getting away with this. It shows how this profession is so downtrodden and we don’t have any representation to stand up for us.
I was fortunate in that i picked up the email from SWE saying it wasnt complete, as you pointed out, it was on the 30th. I paid fees and confirmed CPD on the 20th. I nearly got caught out as its not at all obvious once fees are paid that further sections need completing. SWE need to cinsider how many others nearly fell foul before concluding whether the system was fit for purpose or not and where responsibility lies.
The above response from SWE is gaslighting in the extreme.
Complacency, blaming social workers, nothing to see here, thanks for the £90, give us another £135, go on your way we don’t care. Pirates also drown when they sink the ship they inch to the edge to the rocks each year. And ADCS response: “hope” that the captain becomes better at steering. 4 social workers deregister in my team for failing to tick one box. How apt in the bureaucracy that pretends to be social work these days. 4 plus me retiring now means in a team of 14, 5 social work vacancies overnight. The process was a success according to Hallam so why bother about re-allocation chaos, cancelled appointments, unfinished reports, insecurity, anxiety.
This also happens to me and I didn’t do it on the last day. I know that I completed it and my money was taken. There is no margin for their error they will not consider a system failure and the cost for reinstating is excessive how much money have they made out of hard working social works ?
I completed the steps then paid my registration fee only to be informed on 2 December that I failed to renew my registration even though SWE successfully took my registration fee! I have now made a formal complaint to SWE & requested a refund of my restoration fee!
Happened to me too! Not sure how as I thought everything was completed.
Social Work was not easy job as it is but now I find myself removed from a register over this?
1000 social workers (or previously registered social workers) is surely enough people to make them at least reconsider allowing a grace period for this form or weaving the £135 fee.
This will not be without a detrimental impact upon some of societies most vulnerable people that need protection and social work visits.
I think everyone who was affected by this needs to complain to SWE in the strongest possible terms and should also be refunded the additional fee.
Get your union involved, and take joint action, that is all I can advise.
Good luck.
I suggest as many people as possible complain to Social Work England – feedback@socialworkengland.org.uk
Also to the Professional Standards Authority, which monitors SW England.
Taken from their website:
” Concerns: we cannot deal with individual complaints but you can share your feedback with us about your experience of a regulator or accredited register by using our Share your experience function or email concerns@professionalstandards.org.uk “
Ask the Post Office about system failure- no such thing, apparently. We’ve been here before
Good point
Shocking!
The blame game is on the staff now!
I completed my CPD on 17th Nov; paid the fee on 23rd Nov; and am certain I completed the ‘application to renew’ on same day.
Am struggling to heat my home, so don’t have a spare £135 to pay for restoration after I have already paid £90 renewal fee. If I can be reimbursed the £90 already paid, I will consider reinstating then. Alternatively, I shall be looking forward to stacking shelves at Tesco. Less hassle to be honest! Can’t get to SWE on the phone, have had automated email response to my email which is very generic.
Thak God, work is more understanding that the regulators
I’m not a social worker, but even I can clearly see there is a fault in the registration process. If you can fill everything in AND PAY £90 (makes me feel sick that a social worker needs to pay to be able to work every year!?) but do not receive any kind of notification in the process before payment advising there is a final step before you are re-registered. So clearly a money generating tool by social work England. By Phillip Hallam’s comments, he clearly knows this and is hiding behind the digital standards rule book. If it was so simple to use then there wouldn’t be complaints and an article about the clear issues around its process. Social Work England need to do what’s morally right and get those effected back on the register and fix the online process that has failed so many during a cost of living crisis.
It was only by chance after my uploads that I saw the ‘apply to renew’ button. God knows how I saw it but it made me fearful that a lot of committed SW’s may miss it-I almost did.
I do hope some fairness and common sense prevails here.
I alsoe recieved an email to say my draft CPD has been deleted yet l uploaded completed all areasnd submitted. I will register with Soctland.
We need the GSCC, they were decent, supportive and what is the point of recording
the cpd anyway
It’s a case of having to show that a given number will always fail and get deregister; a way of demonstrating the system works by approving a larger number for re-registration….
…a bit like how Atos and other DWP contractor’s run their services ….
… waiting in the wings are the private equity backed re-registration services and agencies ….
… Cavendish Elite or Boston Group Select, well maybe lol…
…. creating the conditions for new market entry is though, I suggest, outside the scope of SWE and requires a careful eye as their role as a category sourcing agency for US investment becomes transparent…
…. this has been a long time in the planning sw’s ought not to be surprised….
The arrogance and gaslighting is off the scale. Would you ever trust these people with the most vulnerable people in our society? Thank goodness they are tucked away (scamming poorly paid professionals). Makes me regret entering this profession. These are our regulators and yet they are as underhand as Boris and Trump.
A return to non-sw trained social welfare and mental welfare officers is happening …. LASSA is dead.
See Maltese Association of Social Work for cpd
I too submitted two CPD, paid my feels and thought I had completed the form, but apparently, I missed the declaration page. I”m not sure how I did this, and I accept that ultimately this is my own fault. I find it disheartening that the regulators response is to blame user error and it being completed on the last day. I didn’t complete it on the last day. if over 1000 people made the same error, that is about 997 too much to not accept there is a flaw in the system that needs to be tweaked. For those that have experienced this, please complain as this is the only way changes will be made. Please also consider complaining to the professional standards (Standard 10 is regarding SWE registration). It’s such a shame in this unprecedented time where wellbeing is talked at length under the umbrella that SW can never complete their to-do list due to competing demands that there is further barriers to practice. I’m curious out of those of us who thought they had completed it, what their roles are.
After a weekend of unnecessary stress and upset I have received confirmation that I am now back on the register! This clearly shows that the issue that caused me to be de-registered on Friday could have been easily rectified without causing the problems it did, nor the need to charge £135 for the pleasure! I have also made a formal complaint to feedback@socialworkengland.org.uk and requested a refund of the restoration fee, I urge others to do so to.
What date did you submit your restoration application? My colleague is still waiting. She received her formal notification on Friday last thing, submitted the restoration Saturday morning but hasn’t heard anything.
Lucy they have said it can take up to 20 working days, although they said they are trying to do this quicker. I am not sure why it would take that long just to literally tick a box, or why it costs 135 pound.
I have been told I can’t work until back on the register, so that could be a whole month, just before Xmas, plus the 135.
They couldn’t care less about us and has made me realise I no longer want to be in a profession, where we have to fight for others rights but nobody fights for us.
This also caused me distress and anxiety. I paid £135.00 to be placed back on the register. My team has to carry me until my registration comes through.
I will make a complaint
This happened to me last year and swe refused to acknowledge thier error after I did cpd and paid £90. I was on maternity leave aswell had to pay the £136 fee and then pay for each month up till this November. I did my cpd registration all by September/Oct this year as I did not want to have the same issue again.
There is something depressingly inevitable about Rob Mitchell and Ryan not remotely considering that perhaps as senior manager their status might have some bearing on how SWE respond to them while humble social workers like me do not share their unwavering faith. There are 1000 reasons why we might have “failed to register” ofcourse but to believe that SWE are incapable of error too is astonishing. So as somone who has given up and resigned my question is what will it take for social work ‘leaders’ to reflect on their unfailing support and unconditional love for SWE while they willfully ignore and worse rubbish experiences of their staff. This support doesn’t feel like concern for standards nor safe practice but an ideological rigidity that refuses to acknowledge the garden is full of dying weeds which no amount of compost is going to turn into a perfumed paradise. Managers loving managers isn’t quite the love that fills the rest of us with the same joy. See what you are meant to see while ignoring inconvenient truths isn’t really that noble is it?
I love this comment although saddened at the obvious loss of talent. Maybe, it’s time for a s11 Enterprise Act Super Complaint. The numbers failed are big enough.
I have had the same experience. However, I received emails saying that I had only registered one CPD. I submitted a total of two CPS’s plus one peer reflection. Luckily I have copies of the emails from SWE, saying that they had received CPD’S, only to discover the information had not been uploaded to their portal.
I have made a formal complaint asking SWE to reinstate my registration with immediate effect and to refund the £135. It should be noted that time I contacted BASW’s union asking them for support. BASW’s union was as much help as they unsympathetic individual that I contacted at SWE.
I had to figure everything out for myself.
BASW initially led the case for registration as part of the push towards increased professional status within Local Government, acting as it were as a balance to the established historical status of medical and allied professionals in the NHS and across Councils as a whole.
For CPD see Prof Gerrald Wilstow on the neo-Liberal drivers of a European and US path dependency in Social Protection..
I also had a message that I had failed to register because I had not uploaded two CPD examples. I completed mine at 07:00 am in the morning of the 30/11. Fortunately I found my messages that confirmed two CPD submissions and the time they were accepted. I argued this in my response to SWE only for them to come back to confirm I had in fact submitted two examples of CPD but I had failed to completed the Declaration. They are not remotely interested in my appeal as I cannot understand why I would be under the impression everything was completely filled in and submitted. This system is flawed and I am so sad and dismayed that this is our standard of care and support available having come through the most challenging of times whilst supporting Covid and everything g else thrown at us. I’m out after 23 years qualified. The system stinks.
Like us all I have a lot of stress/pressure and to some extent ‘procrastinated’. At one stage I also thought I had fully registered and was then asked for another piece of work which I did and recognise i should have read the instructions better. I think there was a sense of ‘blind panic’/am I going to lose a lot of information along with the fact it has to be saved in draft, etc, etc.
I had a sense of relief when I finally did it.
One thing is for sure, I cannot imagine any Social Worker deliberately putting themselves in a position whereby they are unable to practise, lose money and all of the terrible inconvenience that goes with it for their families (both professionally and personally).
A question for Hallam/SWE – What exactly do we get for our registration anyway? Talk about taking advantage of those folk who will be slammed with an additional £135 – On principle, I wouldn’t blame them if they decided enough is enough and leave our profession which already has a massive shortage – Talk about insult to injury, not to mention the vulnerable families affected by their greed!
The same has happened to me.
After an hour on hold I got through to speak to someone at Social Work England who said he could see exactly what I have done. I completed the application to the point of the section on CPD. I’ve then come out of the application to complete the CPD. After taking a good hour and half to write my CPD I had forgotten that I had not pressed the submit button on the application. There was nothing that seemed to tell me that I hadn’t compleated everything.
Having thought that I completed all three stages I am now unregistered, and as an agency worker at risk of losing my job until I am registered again. Thee weeks before Christmas.
Sorry, is it time for social workers to start a petition against this, surely this is abusive !!
This has happened to me. I didn’t see the email until I’ve just searched for it AFTER realising I hadn’t been reregistered. It’s my first year of reregistration and I realise now that I didn’t go back after uploading my second cpd and press submit.
However, the restoration site is not working, I gather it’s overwhelmed with people trying to apply for restoration. This entire situation is ridiculous!
I’m an apprentice social worker and in the past 8 months or so, this is the second string of complaints about SWE I’ve read! Does anyone regulate SWE itself to ensure those who have to register are treated fairly?! And who actually reads the CPD requirements, do they use admin staff who are not qualified SWs? What do you actually get for the £90 fee, I presume the yearly fee is at least double that…
I really could not understand if I had actually been successful in my application and had to turn to friends to compare my screenshot of the final page to confirm I had completed all steps.
Social workers aren’t silly, we’re very competent in IT therefore to be not sure identifies to me that it isn’t a clear system or process.
In addition, colleagues and friends shared they experienced the system crashing contrary to the reports that this year it ran smoothly.
We are under more pressure now than we were during covid, we have higher caseloads as we desperately try to support the most vulnerable in society, with little social care provision, we get slated by the media on top of this, and while everyone else seems to be striking for unfair pay, we plod on, and now are getting the additional stress and abuse from our own regulator, disgusting doesn’t cover it, they now want £135 to re-register, daylight robbery.
It’s a suggestion that as soon as you can do submit CPD and when the portal opens for Re registration in September you do it then as a priority and pay. Get colleagues to check your application. Everything can be rectified in good time. Never do it last minute as rushing leads to mistakes. Look after your own interests. However employers could facilitate registration sessions for staff who want to do theirs with access to supportive guidance on hand. I’m sorry this has caused so much stress but SWE did say there is no appeal if you do not apply and its imperative everything is thoroughly checked. I hope things are soon resolved for those affected.
Why do you accept that every social worker is at fault and SWE is squeaky clean on this. For one a colleague of mine submitted theirs in October in precisely the same way and simultaneously with me. We were peer evidencers. I ‘passed’ they ‘failed’. The question isn’t why but how come? When they contacted SWE with me beside them they were told the only remedy is to cough up £135. I also spoke to the person to try to explain what we had done to be told that that could not be the case and inferred I was lying. No ownership, no accountability, no desire to resolve, just pay up or shut up.and stop practicing. So Higgy I hope that your confidence innSWE is not tested by them telling you something uou know to be untrue. Good luck if they do because it will be you alone against a bureaucratic steamroller that doesn’t brook questioning.
Daylight exploitation by SWE, but of course they will get away with it because no gives a sh1t about us SW’s.
I like everyone else on here have been deregistered.
I know I pressed submit! It asked me to review the application which I did, then pressed submit.
Exploitation and feel like I’m being gas lighted, horrible horrible feeling.
I’m not incompetent or stupid.
Daylight robbery
Q: who owns the information and content of the CPD submitted? How is it re-used and with what permission? And, who is the, actual, ‘holder’?
I can really empathise with my fellow colleagues very dispiriting experiences with SWE. Clearly the government is using SWE for another cash grab whilst penalising Social Workers for a couple of yearly statements which are un objective and arguably meaningless. I too have had experiences with SWE’s glitchy website which they blamed me for after spending nearly an hour getting through to them! Since then, I’ve been sure to take copious amounts of screen shots of my CPD upload, each section of the application form and the R number etc which can be used evidence if anything goes wrong goes wrong with their site. I’m looking forward to my retirement in a couple of years from this nonsense.
Apparently I did not tick the box to say my reflections were ‘peer’ reflections and I can’t look back on my account to see what I had done as its cleared. Whoever read it surely needed to READ my reflections and would see it was peer. Now I’m £130 down and pay reduction before Christmas. Cannot believe this has happened, feel like an idiot.
Late on Friday I received an email from SWE to say I had been removed from the register and my direct debit cancelled. I can not even begin to explain the feeling of complete shock then despair and distress coupled with sleepless nights that this has caused me. This came after having completed my CPD and registration payment before the deadline for which I received confirmation but nothing to say that I had not ‘completed’ the process. In a state of panic I managed to complete the Restoration and £180 later, it seems like at the click of button I am again registered. All that stress and just like that I am put back on a list ! We work in such a caring profession but where is the care for the social workers. This has shown me that at the drop of a hat I can be ‘deleted’ with out a care or thought for my (our) well being. To be told I could not practice, that my pay will be cut to an unqualified worker when I have bills to pay and and family to support in cost of living crisis has been beyond devastating and additional stress. This has greatly impacted on my mental health and I have experienced chest pains and an increase in anxiety as a result. This is a tough and hard to recruit profession. Social workers are leaving the profession in droves. This is not the way to show that practitioners are valued. This is not the way to retain staff in an already deflected profession. SWE this process needs to be reviewed. This is not ok.
If a 1000 social workers have to reapply at 135.00 times that by 1000.what is social work England doing with that revenue as I don’t see the social work England doing anything g to support social workers
Of the social workers who have paid the 135 to them, they have made 116,000 that’s before they then charged the social workers the 90 as well. Surely it doesn’t cost 135 to change a tickbox on a computer, they are robbing barstewards
Can I ask has anybody received a response ?? I have not .. I thought this was a responsible body who we register with and still no support
From my perspective surly as essentially we are entering in to a contract to abide by our codes of practice you should be notified if you are unable to proceed. If we think of financial contracts it will not let you submit until you have ticked you have read the terms and conditions.
Surely this should be standard and could easily be rectified by SWE instead blame the social worker in particular if you completed your application on the last day. The reason for a deadline is that you have the time to complete it up until the deadline ?
I agree with all comments the Social Work profession is on its knees and we need to start ensuring that we work together so our profession has a voice again.
BASW and their so called Union have been just as unsympathetic and dismissive as their pals SWE. Apparently they can’t help because this is not an employment matter. If one good comes out of this debacle I hope it will be the realisation that as social workers we are on our own. BASW is not independent and our supposed leaders are indistinguishable from SWE. So for me money saved by walking away from my membership of BASW and renewed determination to expose the collusion and timidity of our so called leaders. If I could I would just resign.
I never knew we had a social work union until a few years ago. Never hear anything about them though.
Until social workers go on strike for better pay and conditions inclusive of manageable case loads nothing will change.
Our voices are not heard or listened to.
We need to challenge quangos such as SW England and the social work union should bring them into heel and support social workers and our profession.
I know i’ve said this a few times- But THANKYOU to Community Care for existing and for consistently offering spaces where the thoughts and feelings of social workers, service users and professionals can be heard on a number of issues such as this one. Without you the voices/ strength of feeling would never be heard.
I have just received confirmation stating I have been put on the register (only after them requesting more money for the registration fee). I like many other people submitted my CPD and paid my fee and apparently didn’t the form.
Has anyone been successful with claiming this money back from SWE or even their employer.
Thanks
Hi Can you let me know how long did you wait to be put back on the register
4 days
Dear Ash, I am glad to hear you are back on the register. Did you have to pay the registration fee of £130 and then and additional £90?
Yes, I did. Although I paid £45 as I had already paid one lot of £45, absolutely shocking before Christmas. It’s got me looking at other options for a career as I find it disgusting the amount of money SWE are making from these errors
I left Social Work, senior position after 30 plus years purley and solely because of this corrupt, incompetent, inexperienced regulator. Disgusting organisation.
I’m absolutely appalled by the lack of any human compassion that SWE have!. I have been on maternity leave and whilst this may appear that I have had ‘ample’ time to complete my application form. My pregnancy wasn’t straight forward and my baby is now only 8 weeks old!
I have never failed to complete my CPD or any requirements that have been need to keep my registration in the nearly 10 years I’ve been practicing as a social worker.
I completed my application and direct debit has been set up, however both my new born baby, older son were ill in the few weeks leading up to the deadline. Additionally, I have been receiving from a c-section, as well looking after a new born baby, which I’m sure everyone parent can relate to the exhaustion and sleepless nights.
I requested an extension on the day and was sent a generic email, basically quoting legislation and saying I have been de-registered.
As we all know, we don’t get paid well and even less on maternity, so I’m now forced to wait till the end of my maternity to pay.
I find it applauding that there is no consideration to circumstances.
There appear to be a number of issues with the regulator. It seems to me that their system had capacity problems on the last day of 30 November and they come close to blaming the registrants for what looks like an IT malfunction.
I have been retired for nearly two years and maintained my registration in the first year, but this year decided not to stay registered.
I wrote to SWE and went through the process of resigning from the register. I literally lost count of the number of emails I received after this, reminding me to renew by registration.
I have been a social worker since 1984 but now consider that I am well out of this organisation.
Truly appalling state of affairs from our so called professional body, in my eyes they are simply, no more and no less a registration body and do nothing else. An expensive one at that. Thankfully I was able to re-register without any issues but as like the comments above I did not exactly find the SWE website straightforward or even user friendly at all. I can see how colleagues would have easily made these mistakes on the re-registration process. On the matter of recorded CPD having spent hours carefully writing, reflecting and uploading this it seems that the whole lot gets wiped. What kind of way is this of running an organisation…?
Really poor system in which it was difficult to identify how to submit the registration.
I, like many, was struck off this week with no right to appeal. The lack of flexibility SWE has displayed in being unable to review personal circumstances as to why registrations were not submitted is of great concern. So too are the extortionate costs in becoming registered again. I think it’s somewhat ironic that the values SWE consistently displays remains in stark contrast to those professionals it regulates.
I’d pay the restoration fee and registration fee again to see Colum Conway et al on the frontline managing 30 cases! Never gonna happen, but the thought keeps me warm some nights.
So the organisation has made £116,000 out of this, that is disgraceful and they should be challenged
I feel for all of you who have had trouble with registering but I have to say my personal experience was that it was very straight forward.
I hope you all get things sorted.
Ian
Having left a reply a few days ago in defence of social workers and our profession i checked back on this site to see if my comments were uploaded however they were not. I recall mentioning the lack of support for social workers via the Social Work Union, BASW or SWE England. I mentioned pay and conditions for social workers and why in future we should consider strike action. After 20 odd years in social work i do not consider this lightly.
I tried several times to post with details of how to complain to Social Work England
feedback@socialworkengland.org.uk
and to the Professional Standards Authority
concerns@professionalstandards.org.uk
I am truly sorry for all those social workers who have been de registered and unable to work especially in the run up to Christmas. It seems so harsh and punitive. I was deregistered in June of this year because my payment for £45 had been declined by the bank in April. I tried to explain that I have been a social worker for 22 years and have never missed payment. I explained that my father had a stroke in March and died on 7th June 2022, ironically the same day that they had deregistered me. They said that they had notified me via my SWE online account and I had to admit that I only look in the account if I receive an alert through my personal email. I did not realised that I had been deregistered until my agency informed me, this was on 7th September 2022. SWE had details of my current employer but did not notify them that I had been deregistered as they said that it was not their responsibility to do so. So not only was I deregistered but I also was now under investigation for misuse of title as I had been practicing since June.
This afternoon I noted on the SWE website, this message:
Outstanding payments
If your Direct Debit fails, you will receive instructions on how to make
a card payment through your online
account. You will then have until 30
November 2022 to make the
outstanding registration fee payment. If, after this time, if you have not made the payment, you will be removed from the Social Work
England register.
I have come home and the message appears to have changed.
It appears that SWE like the money that they generate from social workers but do not actually like, understand, empower or empathise with their clients or the profession. It is really sad that social workers never get the support that they need.
I am not a social worker and am not personally affected by this. As a neutral person I read that over 1000 people have been removed from the register of a shortage occupation. These people have all paid a significant fee so presumably wish to renew, and in number represent more than a quarter of all removals from the register. Despite this and even after recognising that these people UNINTENTIONALLY failed to renew, the Executive Director of the regulator considers the system ran smoothly. Who decides that his judgement is sound enough for such a role with the regulator?