Reminder for Social Workers in England – Renewal Deadline is 30th November

As of early October about half of all social workers had completed their renewal – if have you don’t need to read this. If you haven’t done it yet, read on!

Renewal – the basics

1. You should by now have received your letter from HCPC containing all the information you need to renew your registration.
2. The deadline for renewal is 30 November 2014.
3. You can renew online at 8www.hcpc-uk.org/renew
4. If you haven’t received anything from HCPC you should contact them to check they have the correct contact details for you.

(You can call the HCPC Registration Department on 0845 300 4472 (Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm).

5. Find out more at www.hcpc-uk.org/renew

Renewal – making your declaration

You will need to make a declaration consisting of five parts:

1. Practising your profession: You have to say that you have ‘continued to practise your profession since your last registration’. The HCPC defines ‘to practise’ very broadly as ‘drawing on your professional skills and/or knowledge in the course of your work’. They give the examples of education, management or research.

UNISON has checked with HCPC about the position of social workers who are seconded to trade union duties full-time. HCPC confirmed that ‘someone who is working full-time for a union should have no hesitation in making the declaration to say that they have practised their profession.’

• HCPC do say that on returning to front-line practice after a period of secondment or in another role it is your responsibility to ensure you only practise in areas where you have required the skills and knowledge – and to ask for the refresher training and/or professional activities you need to get back up to speed.

2. Meeting the standards of proficiency:You have todeclare thatyou continue to meet the proficiency standards which are at www.hcpc-uk.org
3. Good character:You haveto declare that you remain of ‘good character’. That means disclosing convictions or cautions as required.

There has been a recent change that means that certain minor convictions or cautions no longer have to be disclosed to HCPC (or as part of criminal records checks) unless they relate to a ‘listed’ offence:

v  You do not have to disclose CAUTIONS if they were received more than six years ago (or more than two years ago if you were under 18 at the time)

v  You do not have to disclose CONVICTIONS if

• it was for a non-custodial sentence
• you received the conviction more than 11 years ago (or more than five and a half years ago if you were under 18 at the time)
• you have no other convictions (at any age)

However, all convictions and cautions relating to LISTED OFFENCES must still be disclosed. Listed offencesinclude serious violent and sexual offences and

offences which raise concerns about whether individuals should work with children or vulnerable adults. More information at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/dbs-listof-offences-that-will-never-be-filtered-from-acriminal-record-check

4. Health: You have to declarethat you do not have any health conditions that may affect your fitness to practice. You do not have to disclose all health conditions or disabilities – only those that affect your fitness to practice.
5. CPD: You have to declare that you meet the CPD standards.

CPD audit – are you the one in 40?

Most social workers will simply complete the declaration to say they have met the CPD standards and that will be that. However, 2.5% of all registered social workers – one in every 40 – have been randomly selected for CPD audit. If this is you, you should already have had your notification by now.

If you received your renewal documents, and you haven’t received a CPD audit letter, you don’t need to worry it’s not you – this time.

If it’s you, what should you do?

• Don’t panic!
• In UNISON’s September bulletin we gave a summary of what’s involved – ask your branch for a copy if you didn’t see it.
• Look at the information and videos on http://www.hcpc-uk.org/registrants/cpd/audit/
• Ask your line manager for support – HCPC do not notify your employer that you have been selected so your manager won’t know unless you tell them!
• Your manager should be able to help you if you need to access training and development records, supervision notes or other records covering your CPD.
• You may need to ask for some quiet time to complete your profile.
• There is no requirement for anyone to sign off your profile as it will be assessed by a HCPC assessor but you can still ask your manager or a colleague for feedback before you submit. There are sample CPD profiles for social work at www.hcpc-uk.org/registrants/cpd/sampleprofiles/
• Speak to your UNISON steward if you are experiencing problems or have concerns.

Renewal – paying your fees

1. Your renewal is only complete once you have signed the declaration and made your payment.
2. If you are registering within two years of when you qualified as a social worker you get a 50% reduction.
3. The HCPC offers a direct debit option to spread the cost of the two-year registration period into four instalments.
4. Check whether your authority operates any reimbursement scheme – many UNISON branches have tried to get reimbursement agreements with their employers.
5. DON’T FORGET TO CLAIM YOUR TAX RELIEF! HCPC says that nearly 50% of their registrants were not aware of the tax relief available to them. If you are a standard rate taxpayer you will get £16 a year tax relief off your £80 annual fee. See www.hcpc-uk.org/registrants/fees/taxfor more information on how to claim it.

Don’t miss the 30 November deadline as it could cost you £280 in readmission fees