'User error' blamed for more than 1,000 social workers deregistered despite paying renewal fees
Published by Professional Social Work magazine, 5 December, 2022
More than 1,000 social workers have been deregistered by Social Work England despite believing they had successfully submitted their renewal on time and paid the registration fee.
The regulator blamed “user error”. However, a number of social workers spoken to by PSW criticised the renewal process.
In order to continue practising, the workers have been told they must pay a £135 ‘restoration’ fee on top of their £90 initial renewal. The regulator said it was assessing applications as "quickly as possible". However, the Social Workers Union (SWU) said the problem was with the regulator's renewal process and called on it to apologise to those affected.
The deadline for applications, which for the first time included two continuing professional development pieces including one that has to be peer reviewed, was 30 November. Social Work England claimed the process had “ran extremely smoothly this year” and practitioners had been sent "several" email reminders throughout the process.
Out of 300 workers responding to a poll on the Social Work in England Facebook site alone, 20 people said they had been affected.
Agency worker Rachel King said: “I can honestly say I did everything to make sure it was submitted correctly. We know how serious it is and we know the consequences so why would we not pay attention?
“But I got an email saying I have been deregistered. The impression you get is that there was something you forgot to tick.”
Rachel accused it of acting in an anti-social work “punitive” manner. She added: “I am an agency worker and a single mum and have three children. The agency I am working for will allow me to work as an unqualified worker but for some people it could mean all kinds of things. They could lose their house.
“It is shocking. As social workers we are not supposed to work in a punitive way. But this feels very punitive from our regulator."
Some social workers complained about being unable to get through to the regulator when they telephoned to find out why they had been deregistered.
One said: “I have tried to get through to Social Work England but you are just on hold. One person who did get through was told it was because they hadn’t ticked a box.
“But if you are getting your payment email, that is your confirmation – why would they take payment from someone if they haven’t registered them?
"I don’t think 1,000 social workers being deregistered in this way counts as running smoothly. We are in a profession that has a huge deficit in numbers, crippling caseloads and hampered by poor services; 1,000 people unable to protect the families they currently support will cost lives."
The worker, who claimed they did not receive any warning reminders from the regulator, added: “It is very upsetting. I have not slept all weekend. I am now on indefinite leave just before Christmas.”
Another worker who also believed they had completed the process but now finds themselves barred from practising said: “I put in the application in on time and they took the money. I have been trying to get through to them from 9am to 11am.
“In my team there is myself and my manager. We have a skeleton team and it is on its knees. We are under so much pressure working all the hours of the day. I hate to think how the team is coping.
“There was no consideration about what is happening out there. I’m really thinking if this is time for me to leave the profession. I love my job but I have been stressed since Friday. As social workers, we don’t need this.
“If there is something wrong with the application, why not give us a grace period?”
According to Social Work England, 1,017 practitioners submitted their CPD and paid the registration fee but did not submit the application form as a result of user error.
The figure is more than one per cent of the total. Of these, 175 have so far not asked to have their registration restored.
John McGowan, general secretary of SWU, said: "This is very disappointing behaviour from England’s regulator. In most online transactions you must complete all steps before payment is taken. Social Work England’s approach is anomalous and has penalised hundreds of hard-working practitioners who thought they had done everything correctly.
"In addition, and especially in the current cost of living crisis, it seems unacceptably harsh to charge workers an extra £135 ‘restoration’ fee for what some members suggest is a technical error or lack of clarity in the process, rather than “user error”, as the regulator suggests.
"Members have highlighted numerous examples of correctly completing registration highlighting that the process of renewal is not easy, and that the web page is not user friendly with no helpline number to assist. This is shameful from the England regulator who should simply accept that they got this one wrong and apologise to all social workers in England affected by this. This would seem to be the professional and proper way forward rather than pretend that nothing is wrong'.
McGowan added: "Some members will be in extreme hardship as a consequence of this with members worried about defaulting on mortgages, financial hardship and not being able to re-register for a significant period. With social workers already stretched this is the last thing that our members need over the Christmas period."
Social Work England said it is prioritising the 842 who have since asked for their registration to be restored.
Philip Hallam, executive director of regulation for Social Work England, defended the organisation. He said: “The renewals process 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.
“Our system meets the Government Digital Service standards. 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.”
Hallam said social workers who had failed to complete all steps of the process were sent targeted emails at various times, including on the final day of renewal.
He added: “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.
Speak up for social workers
Meanwhile, Social Work England was urged by BASW and the Social Workers Union to do more to highlight the “deteriorating context” social workers practice in and enhance public, political and media perceptions of the profession.
It was also called upon to be “less adversarial and more inquisitive”, focusing on solutions and “lessons learned”.
The message came in a response by BASW and the Social Workers Union to a consultation on Social Work England’s strategy for the next three years. Read the full story here.