Recommendation 3

HM Government Accepted

We recognise the importance of professionals having the right skills and understanding to respond effectively to HBA. We are clear that cultural sensitivities must not be a barrier to tackling these crimes. That is why the Home Office provides free e-learning courses on FGM1 and forced marriage2 for professionals (including police officers, social workers, and teachers), with specific chapters for a range of professions to help them recognise the warning signs and ensure that the right action is taken to help protect those at risk. In 2022, 5,209 people from a wide range of professions completed the “Awareness of Forced Marriage” course and 51,298 people completed the “Recognising and Preventing FGM” course. We have also published statutory multi-agency guidance for both FGM3 and forced marriage4, as well as publishing an FGM5 and forced marriage6 resource pack which features specific guidance for a range of professionals including police, teachers, social workers and health care professionals. In addition, the College of Policing has developed a briefing note to support first responders in addressing HBA. The College issued a call for practice to all forces in 2020 and developed 1 https://www.virtual-college.co.uk/resources/free-courses/recognising-and-preventing-fgm 2 https://www.virtual-college.co.uk/resources/free-courses/awareness-of-forced-marriage 3 Multi-agency statutory guidance on female genital mutilation - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) 4 Multi-agency statutory guidance for dealing with forced marriage and multi-agency practice guidelines: Handling cases of forced marriage (accessible version) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) 5 Female genital mutilation: resource pack - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) 6 Forced marriage resource pack - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) a paper setting out approaches used by different forces – this enables all forces to learn from the experience of colleagues. The College has also developed a national training package called ‘Family Disturbance’. It is focused on HBA, forced marriage and female genital mutilation (FGM). It has been available for two years. All information about College products is available on a single page on the College website along with links to other sources of information, such as CPS Forced marriage and honour based abuse | College of Policing. The joint Home Office and Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Forced Marriage Unit’s (FMU) delivers training sessions for police officers, social workers and others. In 2022 it delivered training and awareness-raising activity to 1,537 police officers, social workers and other professionals. The FMU has also developed a bespoke training package for registrars, in collaboration with the General Registry Office and this is being delivered nationally every quarter. Responsibility for the Social Work profession is shared between the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and the Department for Education (DfE). The Departments share a policy of increasing the quality of social work education and training (and thereby social workers), alongside a joint commitment to maintaining a sufficient supply of social workers with the right skills, knowledge and values to work with adults, children and families. Social work is an academic and practice-based degree. Qualification is via a 3-year undergraduate degree or a 1–2-year postgraduate degree. Course modules include case studies and practice placements which are designed to provide students with essential practice skills and knowledge to work with people, young children, and families with a range of needs applying theoretical and legislative frameworks. Students learn the different types of abuse and neglect, how to identify and report concerns, and how to work with other professionals to protect children, young people, and adults. All courses are accredited by the regulator Social Work England, responsible for professional education and accreditation of courses and practice standards. Once qualified, social workers need to maintain their professional credibility and qualification through undertaking annual Continuous Professional Development (CPD) activities which includes safeguarding and registering with the profession regulator Social Work England. Social Work England (SWE) set out the professional standards a social worker must know, understand and be able to put into effect. SWE has implemented new, tougher, education and training standards and is assessing and approving all social work education and training courses against those standards. Local authorities are responsible for developing their workforces, including social workers. To support child and family social workers to continuously improve their practice, the Department for Education (DfE) has developed the Post Qualifying Standards for child and family social work, which set out the skills, knowledge and behaviours social workers need to protect vulnerable children and families. Knowledge and Skills Statement Five specifically ref