Registration is changing: A summary of consultation responses

Between 30 May and 14 July 2023, we asked for your views about our proposed changes to registration.

We shared our proposed changes to:

• registration requirements for social care managers
• registration renewal for social care workers
• registration requirements for special school residential workers
• registration requirements for special school residential managers.

To make sure those who might be affected by the proposed changes had a chance to comment, we:

• put the document in a prominent place on our website
• held a webinar to help people understand the proposed changes
• put information about the consultation in our e-bulletin
• sent information about the consultation to registered persons and employers.

The consultation document was available in Welsh and English, and other versions were available on request. We also accepted responses that weren’t submitted through our online survey.

We received 227 responses. Of those who responded, 78 per cent said they were responding as an individual and 22 per cent said they were representing the views of an organisation.

Of those who responded, the largest number of responses:

• from individuals came from social care managers, social care workers and social workers
• from organisations came from social care employers, local authorities and third sector organisations.

Q1. Do you agree with our proposal that social care workers who don’t hold the recognised qualifications but do have sufficient managerial experience and are enrolled to complete the level 4 and level 5 qualification within three years of registering, can register to be a social care manager?

You responded:

Yes: 77 per cent

No: 23 per cent

You said that the proposal would benefit attracting new managers and will enable opportunities for mangers to move from other regulated settings.

Q2. Do you agree with our proposal that social care workers who were required to complete the level 2 or 3 qualification listed in the qualification framework within the first three-year period of registration, will now have up to six years (over two three-year periods of registration), to complete the qualification?

You responded:

Yes: 68 per cent

No: 32 per cent

Most of you told us that allowing more time to complete the qualifications was a good idea and this change will have a positive impact on well-being.

Q3. Do you agree with our proposal for special school residential workers to register using the qualifications listed?

You responded:

Yes: 89 per cent

No: 11 per cent

Q4. Do you agree with our proposal for special school residential workers who don’t hold one of the recognised qualifications to register using the employer assessment route?

You responded:

Yes: 89 per cent

No: 11 per cent

Q5. Do you think the standards and expectations for workers set out in the residential childcare practice guidance are reasonable and achievable?

You responded:

Yes: 91 per cent

No: 9 per cent

Q6. Do you agree with the proposal for special school residential managers to register using the qualifications listed?

You responded:

Yes: 91 per cent

No: 9 per cent

Q7. Do you agree with our proposal for special school residential workers who don’t hold one of the recognised qualifications to register using the other registration routes?

You responded:

Yes: 81 per cent

No: 19 per cent

Q8. Do you think the standards and expectations for managers set out in the practice guidance are reasonable and achievable?

You responded:

Yes: 93 per cent

No: 7 per cent

Q9. What effects will our proposals have on the Welsh language, specifically on:

• opportunities for people to use Welsh
• treating the Welsh language no less favourably than the English language.

How could we increase the positive effects or reduce the negative ones?

You said:

“Hopefully there will be more awareness of the importance of the Welsh language and maybe encourage people who live and work in Wales who do not speak Welsh to have the confidence to try and learn the Welsh language, even if it is just a few words or phrases.”

“There should be no negative impact on the use of Welsh language and a more positive effect should be observed as the Active offer is a natural part of the delivery of qualifications in Wales.”

Several people suggested it would be helpful to have access to Welsh language resources that staff could use.

Q10. Do the standards have an impact on those with protected characteristics? The protected characteristics are age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.

You said:

“I feel that the proposals will accommodate those with protected characteristics - in particular, age, disability, and pregnancy and maternity as these can affect how an individual progresses with their qualification. This is because they may need extra support to complete their qualification so it may take them longer.”

“What would benefit people with learning difficulties/low levels of literacy who work in the sector is to introduce an accepted Level 1 qualification that would allow them to register to continue to work in the sector and achieve a realistic qualification. Lots of workers have a lot to offer the workforce but are put off by the demands of having to achieve a qualification, especially workers who have been in the sector and out of education for many years.”

There were a high number of responses that suggested allowing six years to complete the qualification would have a positive effect on those with protected characteristics.

We looked at the responses and discussed them as part of our plans for the future of registration. Your responses to this consultation have been extremely helpful and we’re grateful to everyone who took part.

We used your feedback from the consultation to shape our approach and timeline for making changes to registration.

We’ll make the following changes:

Registration requirements for social care managers

By October 2023, we’ll accept social care workers who don’t have the level 3 qualification, but who can demonstrate sufficient managerial experience.

We’ll broadly consider ‘sufficient managerial experience’ as having at least three years’ equivalent experience within the last 10 years of managing either a social care, health or similar setting, which was under regulatory oversight. The Registrar will consider each case individually and apply judgement where needed.

We’ll develop our systems within Social Care Wales to allow for these changes and look to implement these by October 2023. In the meantime, people can contact our registration team to apply for registration in this way.

Registration renewal for social care workers

We recognise that many people can complete the qualification in three years, and we still expect that most social care workers will achieve their qualifications within three years.

We listened to your feedback and the positive impact this change would have for those who are part time, with protected characteristics or due to other circumstances struggle to complete the qualification in this timeframe.

All social care workers will now have six years to complete their qualification.

We’ve already implemented this change and will update our website shortly.

Registration requirements for special school residential workers and special school residential managers

Subject to the outcome of the Welsh Government consultation, we’ll implement the routes to register, registration fees and practice guidance for special school residential workers and managers.

If implemented, we expect the requirement for registration won’t take place for at least 18 months. Our Registration team will be in touch with residential special schools to support with registration and answer any questions. Working with residential special schools, we’ll develop resources such as frequently asked questions to support with this.

We’ll continue to produce all our resources in both Welsh and English and support workers and managers to use Welsh in the workplace.

We already have a range of resources available on our using Welsh at work web page, and we will continue to raise awareness of them.

We’ve been developing an e-learning module that includes:

• a short history of the Welsh language
• legislation and the active offer
• why is using the Welsh language in the workplace important
• Home from Home (a short film showing the impact of the language and dementia)
• more resources to support awareness and language development.

The e-learning module will be available for the sector early autumn and you can find out more on our website.