BASW membership likely to mean automatic College membership too

BASW and the development group working to establish the College of Social Work have reached agreement in principle on a deal that would see BASW members automatically becoming members of the College once it is launched, for no extra fee. The agreement would cover the first year of the life of the College, which is likely to be legally constituted in April 2011.

The news came in the same month that BASW revealed details of a move towards possible convergence with the College of Social Work. BASW’s UK Council agreed on 7 July to present convergence proposals to the board of the Interim College, ahead of several months of further deliberations.

Any concrete proposals for converging the two organisations would need the support of BASW’s Annual General Meeting in May 2011, ahead of the anticipated full launch of the College of Social Work in March 2012.

Commenting on the move, Ms Fuller said: “The College of Social Work will change the face of the profession; it is a ground breaking and historic opportunity and it’s important that we get it right, which means examining what will produce the very best outcome for the profession and the thousands of families that social work supports.”

The plan is set to be discussed by the Interim College Board at its next meeting in September.