Part of Children and Social Work Bill [Lords] – in a Public Bill Committee at 2:15 pm on 10 January 2017.
‘(1) The Secretary of State may—
(a) determine and publish improvement standards for social workers in England;
(b) carry out assessments of whether people meet improvement standards under paragraph (a).
(2) The Secretary of State may make arrangements for another person to do any or all of those things (and may make payments to that person).
(3) The Secretary of State must consult such persons as the Secretary of State considers appropriate before determining a standard under subsection (1)(a).
(4) In this section “improvement standard” means a professional standard the attainment of which demonstrates particular expertise or specialisation.
(5) Nothing in this section limits anything in section 38.’—
This new clause allows the Secretary of State to determine and publish improvement standards for social workers or arrange for someone else to do so. There is also a power to carry out assessments. The clause does not limit the regulator’s functions under clause 38.
Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
A parliamentary bill is divided into sections called clauses.
Printed in the margin next to each clause is a brief explanatory `side-note' giving details of what the effect of the clause will be.
During the committee stage of a bill, MPs examine these clauses in detail and may introduce new clauses of their own or table amendments to the existing clauses.
When a bill becomes an Act of Parliament, clauses become known as sections.
