College of Social Work closure shocks children's leaders

Financial problems caused by a failure to secure sufficient membership or government contracts are understood to be among key factors in the demise of the college three years after it was set up.

A TCSW spokesman confirmed that the closure will take place and said a full statement is expected later today (Friday).

The recent decision by the Department of Health and Department for Education to turn down its proposals to take on extra responsibility for post-qualifying training – which would have put it on a par with other professional health and social care colleges and brought in extra income – looks to have been a major factor in the decision.

It also failed to secure other government work to support the development of the new role of Approved Child and Family Practitioner.

Reacting to the news, government adoption adviser Sir Martin Narey said: “The closure of the college is a sad event but was perhaps inevitable. It was always unlikely that after paying compulsory and substantial fees to (the social work regulator) Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC), and then perhaps trades union subscriptions, that a sufficient number of social workers would pay a third set of fees to join the college.

“Eighteen months ago I mapped out a role for the college which would have seen them taking over HCPC's two roles and it's regrettable that the college did not seize and pursue that option which would have brought financial stability and meant the college was – unequivocally – leading the social work profession.

“The closure is particularly regrettable in the light of (TCSW chief executive) Annie Hudson's impressive and passionate leadership. I have hugely enjoyed working with her."

June Thoburn, professor at the University of East Anglia’s School of Social Work, also believes a failure to attract membership fees was a factor in the closure.

She said: “I always wanted to have a single college. It’s no good blaming social workers for not joining, they’ve had no rises in salary. The college didn’t have a high enough membership fee for what it wanted to do.”

Thoburn, also a member of the college's children and families faculty, said she had hoped that more government money would have been made available to TCSW to put it on a par with the medical royal colleges that oversee other health and care professions.

She is also concerned that with the end of the college the role of social worker will continue to be downgraded. Social work “is fast becoming an apprenticeship” and the profession is in danger of becoming a “laughing stock” around training, she added.

Ray Jones, professor of social work at Kingston University, described the news as “a sad day for social work”.

He said: “The college has given tremendous commitment in seeking to promote and develop social work,” adding that its closure “raises further concerns about the government’s lack of commitment for social work and social workers”.

Guy Shennan, chair of the British Association of Social Workers (BASW) is also concerned that the closure of TCSW signals a lack of commitment to the profession from ministers.

He said: “We can appreciate why many social workers are now doubting the government’s commitment to the profession, given that its first action following the election is to close TCSW.”
 
“There is no doubt that the children, families and adults that we work with are going to experience ever-increasing hardship and the college closure is yet another blow for our social work colleagues and for service users.”

He added that BASW hopes to hold talks with TCSW members and ministers “to discuss how this work can be taken forward”.

Set up in 2012 through £5m in government funding, it was envisaged that the college would be the main professional body for social workers. Its creation had been among recommendations made by the Social Work Task Force in the aftermath of the Peter Connelly scandal in 2008.