Health and Personal Social Services (Amendment) Bill: Final Stage

Executive Committee Business – in the Northern Ireland Assembly at 6:15 pm on 15 March 2016.

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Photo of Simon Hamilton Simon Hamilton DUP 6:15, 15 March 2016

I beg to move

That the Health and Personal Social Services (Amendment) Bill [NIA 68/11-16] do now pass.

I am pleased to move the Final Stage of the Bill, as I believe it is timely and important legislation. Regulation of the social work and social care workforce forms parts of the framework established by my Department to strengthen public protection and safeguards for service users in Northern Ireland. It makes a key contribution to providing independent assurance to the public that those responsible for the delivery of social care across Northern Ireland will be held to account for their conduct against agreed standards of conduct and professional practice.

The conduct model used by the Northern Ireland Social Care Council must be fit for purpose, efficient, cost-effective and command the confidence of service users, the wider public and the social care workforce. The Care Council's current conduct model was put in place in 2003 and, while it has ensured that those who are unsuitable to provide care have been excluded from the workforce, the council has been restricted in the sanctions available for misconduct that does not merit removal from the register. The aim of the Bill is to modernise the Care Council's conduct model so that it reflects best practice models used by other workforce regulators, particularly those used by professional healthcare regulators here in Northern Ireland and across the United Kingdom.

Through the Bill, I want to ensure that the Care Council continues to promote the highest standards and practice. That will be achieved through, first, modernising the Care Council's model of conduct by extending the range of sanctions available to it in the disposal of conduct cases, and, secondly, by extending the Care Council's powers to formally recognise the learning achievements of social workers.

As I explained to Members at the Second Stage in December last year, the existing conduct model is based on a determination of misconduct. The current range of sanctions allows the council to take action against registrants through admonishments, suspension from the register and, the most serious sanction of all, removal from the register. However, when compared with other healthcare regulators, such as the General Medical Council, the current range of sanctions available to the Care Council is limited. That essentially restricts the Care Council's ability to respond flexibly and proportionately to cases where there has been misconduct or concerns about an individual's practice. That is particularly so where there are issues regarding health or competence.

The Bill proposes the introduction of two additional sanctions to be available to the Care Council, including undertakings and conditions. Those wide-ranging sanctions will enable the Care Council to require remedial action to be taken to address any shortcomings or deficits in a registrant's performance and, in so doing, to improve the quality and safety of care provided by the individual in the future.

Registration with the Care Council requires that registrants maintain and keep their knowledge and skills up to date to be accountable for the quality and safety of their work with vulnerable people. The Bill seeks to extend the Care Council's powers to give formal recognition to the learning achievements of social workers, as at present, the legislation allows the council to award certificates to social workers only for the successful completion of formal professional training courses approved by the council. The Bill will extend the Care Council's powers so that it can recognise learning achieved by social workers to improve their knowledge and skills through a wider range of approaches to learning and development, such as academic courses, research, in-service training, e-learning and distance learning programmes.

In summary, the Bill will modernise the model of conduct used by the Care Council so that it keeps in line with regulatory best practice and gives it the powers to recognise the learning achievements of social workers achieved through a broader range of learning methods. It is timely for those improvements to be implemented for the benefit of registrants, service users and the public and to ensure that the Care Council's regulatory practice reflects a modern approach to the regulation system of the social work and social care workforces in Northern Ireland.

Photo of Maeve McLaughlin Maeve McLaughlin Sinn Féin

Go raibh maith agat, a LeasCheann Comhairle. On behalf of the Committee, I welcome the Final Stage of the Bill.

The objective of the Bill, as the Minister outlined, is to modernise the model of the code of conduct used by the Social Care Council to bring it into line with other health and social care regulators. A further feature of the Bill will be extending opportunities for the recognition of the continuous professional development activity of social workers post registration.

The evidence received on the Bill at Committee Stage was straightforward and very supportive of the clauses. The only issue that the Committee pursued related to clause 2, which provides powers to disclose information about a person's fitness to practise.

The Committee sought a written ministerial assurance that those powers are in line with a person’s data protection rights under other pieces of legislation, and the Minister subsequently provided this written assurance. No amendments were proposed to any of the clauses, either by the Committee or by the Department. I am pleased to see the Bill reaching its Final Stage today and look forward to seeing its implementation in the future.

Photo of Jo-Anne Dobson Jo-Anne Dobson UUP

I am also very happy that this Bill has reached its conclusion. It is a practical piece of legislation, and I am very pleased that the Social Care Council will now have greater powers to recognise the achievements of its workers. The only further point that I will make today is one I have made several times before: I urge the Department, and the NISCC in particular, to work very closely and carefully with the sector to ensure that undue pressure is not placed on employees.

Photo of Kieran McCarthy Kieran McCarthy Alliance

I am pleased to support the Final Stage and to pass on my thanks and congratulations to all those involved in getting us to where we are this evening. It is simple and straightforward legislation, but it offers those in social work additional recognition of their professional standards, and gives greater reassurance to the public. I want to put on record my personal thanks to the carers who come into my home. They do a fantastic job.

It is, of course, right that we continue to praise the critical role that social workers play in supporting so many of our people, especially the most vulnerable, in a whole range of settings across our society. We should also recognise that social workers are being asked to take more and more varied roles and responsibilities, and, again, my experience is that they do so very willingly. It is fully appreciated.

In conclusion, this legislation recognises their critical and growing role and their existing professional standards. Through this type of regulation, they will be on a better, more level playing field when compared with their peers in other professions. The Alliance Party is happy to support the Final Stage of the Health and Personal Social Services (Amendment) Bill.

Photo of Simon Hamilton Simon Hamilton DUP

I thank Members for their contributions. I particularly thank the members of the Health Committee and the Chair for undertaking rigorous and careful scrutiny of the Bill and for the interest and support that it has consistently shown. This Bill will ensure that the Social Care Council's conduct model is modernised and reflects regulatory best practice so that those who deliver social services in Northern Ireland are subject to fair and proportionate sanctions in respect of deficits in performance, and that learning attained through a variety of approaches by social workers can be recognised. I am also convinced that the Bill will help to increase the confidence of those who rightly expect to receive only the highest standards of care, by ensuring that only those who are suitable and competent to work in social work and social care do so. I ask Members to support this Bill at its Final Stage.

Question put and agreed to. Resolved:

That the Health and Personal Social Services (Amendment) Bill [NIA 68/11-16] do now pass.