Call for child protection qualification to be compulsory

In its submission to the Social Work Taskforce, the GSCC wants to make its specialist child protection Post Qualifying Award a requirement for all child protection workers. Currently the qualification is only voluntary.

Rosie Varley, GSCC chair, said: "If you look at other professions, in health for example, those that work with children are among the most highly trained. However, in social work the most highly trained take on more managerial roles leaving newly qualified staff to take on a caseload with some of the most difficult and disturbed children. That cannot be allowed to continue."

Making child protection training a requirement would ensure that newly qualified social workers receive close supervision before taking on tough cases, Varley said.

The GSCC also wants to end regional variations in training, by introducing a consistently high level of degree entry candidates nationwide.

Varley said: "There has rightly been an emphasis on diversity and the personal skills of social work students, but there also needs to be that same attention paid to academic capabilities."

The Social Work Taskforce is due to report to ministers this summer.