Agreement reached over College of Social Work

The two bodies have announced a deal to create a single, UK-wide College of Social Work.

The move follows a row that erupted earlier this year around a membership deal The College of Social Work had signed with the union Unison, which BASW branded as "anticompetitive".

During the row BASW, which owns the College of Social Work company registration, announced plans to set up its own rival college and change its name to BASW – The College of Social Work.

The Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE), which hosts the interim board of The College of Social Work, then accused BASW of creating confusion and dividing the profession.

The deal between the two organisations commits both to setting up a unified college by January next year. The creation of the college was a recommendation of the government’s Social Work Taskforce in January 2010.

A working group of senior figures from both sides has been set up to iron out issues such as trade union deals and staffing arrangements.

BASW chair Fran Fuller said: "This is a very significant development in ensuring social work can become the proud, confident and respected profession that we know it deserves to be.

"There are still important issues to resolve of course, but we now have a solid mechanism to work through them together in the best interests of the profession."

The College of Social Work’s interim co-chair Maurice Bates said: "We are very pleased to have made significant progress in our discussions with BASW."