Independent review
Completed
Hudson Review of Social Work Regulation
Index summary
The review examines the effectiveness of Social Work England and government in delivering the statutory functions set out under Part 2 of the Children and Social Work Act 2017, including fitness to practise, education and training standards, governance, sponsorship, data and public confidence in the profession. It was commissioned as a statutory review under section 64 of the Children and Social Work Act 2017. The Government published its response alongside the report on 9 July 2026.
Original evidence
Government Response
The Government response, presented to Parliament pursuant to section 64 of the Children and Social Work Act 2017, states that the Government 'accepts the review's central conclusion that sustained improvement is needed' and organises its reply around four priorities: strengthening fitness to practise and public protection, clarifying Social Work England's role, leadership and sponsorship, building a clearer standards and professional development landscape, and improving data, transparency and equalities. The response addresses each of the 21 numbered recommendations individually (pages 18-26 of the response document). It states Social Work England 'will be expected to deliver, within six months, an externally supported, end-to-end fitness to practise strategic improvement plan', and warns that 'If Social Work England does not meet this six-month deadline, or if reporting shows insufficient progress against the plan, the Government will escalate intervention, including through governance, sponsorship and statutory levers available to the Secretary of State.' On recommendation 6 (extending Social Work England's role to post-qualifying education and training standards), the response states: 'We agree that this should not be taken forward at this point in time.' Ministers responsible: Josh MacAlister OBE MP (Minister for Children and Families) and Stephen Kinnock MP (Minister of State for Care).
Recommendations
Recommendation 1
Recommendation · source text
Government, working with Social Work England and other relevant organisations, should create a single, clear framework that maps existing standards, explains their respective functions, their status and how they relate to one another.
Government response
The Government agrees that DfE and DHSC should work with Social Work England and relevant sector bodies to develop an overarching framework that clarifies the purpose, status and relationship of different standards, frameworks and guidance. This work should reduce duplication, support clearer expectations and improve coherence across professional regulation, qualifying education and professional development.
Recommendation 2
Recommendation · source text
Social Work England should further strengthen the ETS be refining KSB statements before publishing the revised ETS, including clarifying how they should be used for assessing practice placements.
Government response
The Government agrees that Social Work England should review the Knowledge, Skills and Behaviours before publishing revised Education and Training Standards, including clarifying how they should support practice placement assessment. Social Work England launched three public consultations related to its quality assurance of social work courses on 11 June 2026 including their Education and Training Standards. Implementation and any further iteration of these standards will need to be sequenced carefully and will be subject to Secretary of State approval.
Recommendation 3
Recommendation · source text
Social Work England should consult on a standardised route to qualification as a practice educator.
Government response
The Government supports Social Work England consulting on a standardised route to qualification as a practice educator. Practice educators are central to high-quality placements and student assessment. Further work will be needed with employers, education providers and the sector to consider capacity, recognition, burden, funding implications and implementation. This work should support quality and consistency in practice education while avoiding unnecessary barriers to expanding placement and practice educator capacity.
Recommendation 4
Recommendation · source text
Social Work England should reform the current approach and processes for CPD requirements to:
- move from annual CPD requirements to a three-year cycle
- include external moderation and meaningful assessment of CPD on the impact on professional practice.
Government response
The Government agrees that continuing professional development should be more proportionate, meaningful and focused on professional practice. We support Social Work England reviewing the current CPD model, including whether CPD assurance should move to a longer cycle, how moderation could be strengthened, and how the model can better assess the impact on professional practice.
The Government recognises that annual fee collection, core registration data, confirmation of fitness to practise and register accuracy raise separate legal and operational considerations. Further work will therefore be needed before any changes are made to registration processes beyond the CPD model. Government will work with Social Work England to ensure that any future model supports public protection, public confidence, accurate registration data and proportionate requirements for social workers.
The Government recognises that annual fee collection, core registration data, confirmation of fitness to practise and register accuracy raise separate legal and operational considerations. Further work will therefore be needed before any changes are made to registration processes beyond the CPD model. Government will work with Social Work England to ensure that any future model supports public protection, public confidence, accurate registration data and proportionate requirements for social workers.
Recommendation 5
Recommendation · source text
Social Work England should set clear, consistent oversight processes and standards for student behaviour and explore how to strengthen processes, in partnership with course providers, to ensure a consistent approach when fitness to practise concerns are raised during a student's academic journey.
Government response
The Government agrees that students should have a clear understanding of the professional standards expected of registered social workers, and that education and training providers should have consistent processes for managing and reporting relevant concerns. Further work will be needed with Social Work England, education providers and employers to consider the appropriate route, proportionality, data protection implications and alignment with existing suitability and registration processes.
Recommendation 6
Recommendation · source text
Government should consider, with key partners, including Social Work England, how best to support the development of a coherent, profession-wide architecture that clarifies progression pathways, associated learning and development, and the standards that underpin practice. In the longer term, the quality of post-qualifying education and training should be strengthened by extending Social Work England’s role to include the setting and assuring of post-qualifying ETS.
Government response
The DfE and DHSC will work with Social Work England and partners to consider how progression pathways, associated learning and development, and underpinning standards should fit together across children’s and adults’ social work.
The Government notes the review’s longer-term proposal that Social Work England could have a role in setting and assuring post-qualifying education and training standards. We agree that this should not be taken forward at this point in time. Any extension of Social Work England’s role would require further policy, legal, funding and delivery work, and would need to be carefully sequenced with Social Work England’s existing core regulatory responsibilities and the immediate priority to improve fitness to practise.
The Government notes the review’s longer-term proposal that Social Work England could have a role in setting and assuring post-qualifying education and training standards. We agree that this should not be taken forward at this point in time. Any extension of Social Work England’s role would require further policy, legal, funding and delivery work, and would need to be carefully sequenced with Social Work England’s existing core regulatory responsibilities and the immediate priority to improve fitness to practise.
Recommendation 7
Recommendation · source text
Government should update regulations to require that social workers, whose registration includes an annotation, inform Social Work England of their appointment to an annotated role and notify the regulator of any changes to that status.
Government response
An annotation is a marker on a social worker’s entry on the Social Work England register showing that they have completed approved training for a specialist or statutory role, such as Approved Mental Health Professional or Best Interests Assessor. Annotations support public protection and workforce visibility by making specialist qualifications visible on the register, but the review found that the system needs to be clearer and more accurate.
The Government agrees that annotation should be clearer and more accurate, particularly where it relates to statutory roles. We will consider the changes needed to regulations to clarify expectations on annotated registrants, including requirements to notify Social Work England of appointment to an annotated role and any changes to that status. Further work is needed on scope, timing and alignment with wider policy on statutory roles, and any future changes to the annotation framework.
The Government agrees that annotation should be clearer and more accurate, particularly where it relates to statutory roles. We will consider the changes needed to regulations to clarify expectations on annotated registrants, including requirements to notify Social Work England of appointment to an annotated role and any changes to that status. Further work is needed on scope, timing and alignment with wider policy on statutory roles, and any future changes to the annotation framework.
Recommendation 8
Recommendation · source text
Social Work England should deliver, within six months, a comprehensive, end-to-end strategic improvement plan for fitness to practise. This should include revised forecasts and key performance indicators on timeliness and methods to track progress and recalibrate at pace where needed. Social Work England should work with a relevant independent expert to provide effective challenge and scrutiny to this process and assurance of delivery improvements.
Government response
Social Work England will be expected to deliver, within six months, an externally supported, end-to-end fitness to practise strategic improvement plan. The plan should bring together existing work into a coherent approach covering business process, capability, resources and performance management, and must include revised forecasts and KPIs on timeliness, methods to track progress and clear delivery expectations. The Department for Education will strengthen oversight of this work and monitor progress closely, including whether progress is sufficient and whether recalibration is needed. If Social Work England does not meet the six-month deadline, or if reporting shows insufficient progress against the plan, the Government will escalate intervention, including through governance, sponsorship and statutory levers available to the Secretary of State.
Recommendation 9
Recommendation · source text
Government should take the next available opportunity to legislate to improve fitness to practise, including:
- prioritising amending the Family Procedure Rules 2010 and/or the associated Practice Directions, to enable information relating to private family court proceedings to be lawfully shared with Social Work England in a manner which enables its lawful use in fitness to practise proceedings
- updating Social Work England’s powers on accepted disposals to enable them to impose an accepted disposal where a social worker has not engaged at all with the process
- enabling the PSA to request that a case examiner decision be revised
- limiting the upper time a social worker can be suspended to two years
This should also include any further legislative change identified by the improvement plan set out in Recommendation 8.
Government response
The Government accepts in principle that legislative and procedural changes may be needed to support a more effective fitness to practise process. We will prioritise further work on the proposals identified by the review, including access to relevant information from private family court proceedings, accepted disposal powers where a social worker has not engaged with the process, the Professional Standards Authority’s role in relation to case examiner decisions, and the maximum period for suspension. These proposals will require further policy and legal work to determine the appropriate route, timing and cross-government dependencies. Any future proposal to introduce primary legislation would be subject to the usual collective agreement and Parliamentary clearance processes. We will also consider whether further legislative changes are needed following Social Work England’s fitness to practise strategic improvement plan.
Recommendation 10
Recommendation · source text
Government should work with the PSA, Social Work England and health and care professional regulators to consider what changes are needed to support appropriate referrals, particularly when other avenues have not been exhausted.
Government response
Referral pathways should be considered further, particularly where concerns may be better addressed through local complaints processes or other routes before regulatory action is required. We will work with the Professional Standards Authority, Social Work England and relevant regulators to consider whether changes are needed. Any changes must continue to support public protection and public confidence while ensuring that fitness to practise processes are focused on matters that properly require regulatory action.
Recommendation 11
Recommendation · source text
Social Work England should develop a refreshed communications strategy focused on:
- all registrants – ensuring effective and clear communication with registrants and applicants
- fitness to practise – ensuring those under investigation, those who have made referrals and witnesses receive regular updates on their cases, employers are clear what is required of them, and evidence-gathering with them is streamlined
- the wider system – improving transparency about performance, processes and the organisation’s improvement strategy
Government response
The Government agrees that Social Work England should develop a refreshed communications strategy covering communication with registrants and applicants, communication through the fitness to practise process, and wider transparency about performance, processes and improvement activity. This should support clearer understanding of Social Work England’s role, professional standards, registration, CPD and fitness to practise, and should form part of the wider improvement approach.
Recommendation 12
Recommendation · source text
Social Work England should increase visibility of the action it is already taking on equalities, including by publishing more substantive and detailed data on equalities aspects of regulation and encouraging employers to take action based on the data.
Government response
The Government agrees that Social Work England should increase the visibility of its equalities work, including by publishing more substantive data on equalities aspects of regulation and encouraging employers to consider and act on the evidence. This should support greater transparency on differential outcomes and disproportionality in regulatory processes, and on whether referral and fitness to practise decisions are proportionate and alert to bias and assumptions.
Recommendation 13
Recommendation · source text
Social Work England should commission research or evaluation on fitness to practise to explore and address concerns about differential impacts on groups with particular characteristics.
Government response
The Government agrees that Social Work England should strengthen the evidence base on fitness to practise outcomes, including differential impacts on groups with particular characteristics. This should include consideration of whether decisions and outcomes are proportionate, and how bias or assumptions may affect referral, progression, sanctions or experience of the process. This should support fairer, more transparent and more evidence-led regulation.
Recommendation 14
Recommendation · source text
Government should clarify the role of Social Work England as focused on core regulatory functions. This does not preclude Social Work England using its unique position to support improvement through the provision of data and intelligence, but it should not carry out improvement or advocacy activities.
Government response
Government agrees that Social Work England’s role should be clearly focused on core regulatory functions. Its primary role is to protect the public through professional standards, registration, education and training assurance and fitness to practise.
We agree that a clear focus on core regulation does not mean Social Work England should withdraw from proportionate engagement, communications, research, data, co-production or equalities activity where these support effective regulation, public protection, workforce insight or understanding of the profession. Its national register, regulatory data and sector reach can legitimately support evidence-gathering, research, policy development and system learning.
However, its role should remain distinct from professional representation, advocacy or wider sector improvement delivery. Social Work England should not be expected to act as the voice of the profession or to lead improvement activity that properly sits with Government, employers or wider sector bodies.
We agree that a clear focus on core regulation does not mean Social Work England should withdraw from proportionate engagement, communications, research, data, co-production or equalities activity where these support effective regulation, public protection, workforce insight or understanding of the profession. Its national register, regulatory data and sector reach can legitimately support evidence-gathering, research, policy development and system learning.
However, its role should remain distinct from professional representation, advocacy or wider sector improvement delivery. Social Work England should not be expected to act as the voice of the profession or to lead improvement activity that properly sits with Government, employers or wider sector bodies.
Recommendation 15
Recommendation · source text
Government should work with Social Work England to support effective and strong succession planning and recruitment to the board. This should include early consideration about required expertise, including in change management, particularly in regulation, as well as codifying the requirement to have appropriate social work expertise within its membership in the framework document.
Government response
The Government agrees that future appointments and succession planning should support a Board with the right breadth of expertise to provide effective challenge and assurance, including expertise in change management, regulation, fitness to practise, finance, delivery and social work.
The Government agrees with the importance of social work expertise at Board level and will consider how this should be reflected through future appointments, governance documentation and sponsorship arrangements. This will need to be considered alongside the wider skills, experience and public appointments requirements needed for an effective Board.
The Government agrees with the importance of social work expertise at Board level and will consider how this should be reflected through future appointments, governance documentation and sponsorship arrangements. This will need to be considered alongside the wider skills, experience and public appointments requirements needed for an effective Board.
Recommendation 16
Recommendation · source text
Government should introduce a new power for the PSA to require information to support their oversight and scrutiny functions.
Government response
The Government agrees that the Professional Standards Authority should have appropriate information to support effective oversight and scrutiny. Further policy and legal work will be needed to determine the scope, route and timing of any new information power, including how it would interact with Social Work England’s existing duties and wider regulatory reform.
Recommendation 17
Recommendation · source text
Government should work with the Local Government Association and wider sector to strengthen and embed the employer standards, with a focus on employers’ role in regulation.
Government response
Employer roles and expectations should be clearer, including in relation to placement provision and quality, fitness to practise referrals, information sharing and CPD. Government will work with the LGA and wider sector to consider the extent to which employer standards could be strengthened and embedded, with a particular focus on employers’ role in supporting effective regulation. This work will need to align with the wider standards and development architecture described in recommendation 6, including progression pathways, learning and development, and the standards that underpin practice. It should support public protection, high-quality professional development and clearer employer responsibilities without creating unnecessary burden.
Recommendation 18
Recommendation · source text
Social Work England should prioritise improvements in data collection, data governance and data validation set out in their strategy.
Government response
Social Work England should prioritise improvements in data collection, governance and validation, in line with its data strategy. Better data is essential to effective regulation, equalities monitoring and public confidence and understanding the operation and impact of regulation.
Recommendation 19
Recommendation · source text
Social Work England should extend data collection and analysis relating to fitness to practise proceedings. This should include collecting additional consistent data on those referred, including:
- whether individuals have legal or professional representation
- educational and training background
- the relationship of the complainant to the registrant
Government response
The Government agrees that Social Work England should improve data collection and analysis relating to fitness to practise proceedings, including consistent data on representation, education and training background, and the relationship of the complainant to the registrant. This should support better understanding of differential outcomes, access to representation, proportionality, potential bias and the operation of the process. Implementation must be lawful, proportionate and mindful of burden.
Recommendation 20
Recommendation · source text
Government should strengthen sponsorship arrangements through better joint working across DfE and DHSC, with clearer strategic direction set through joint ministerial oversight. This should be complemented by greater senior official involvement to reinforce accountability, to support consistent strategic alignment, and to ensure Social Work England has clear expectations from government.
Government response
Sponsorship arrangements should be strengthened through better joint working between the Department for Education and the Department of Health and Social Care, clearer strategic direction, appropriate joint ministerial oversight and greater senior official involvement. Sponsorship should reflect both children’s and adults’ social work, reinforce accountability, support consistent strategic alignment and ensure Social Work England has clear expectations from Government.
Recommendation 21
Recommendation · source text
Government should consider ways of providing Social Work England earlier and clearer indications of its funding. This could include letters of comfort for its ongoing budget into the next financial year and multi-year grants for specific programmes where appropriate. Government should also include providing Social Work England with an explicit risk-tolerance framework setting out expectations around financial prudence, reserves and forward commitments.
Government response
The Government recognises the importance of earlier and clearer funding signals for effective planning and delivery. DfE will work with Social Work England, HM Treasury and other relevant partners to consider how funding indications, letters of comfort and targeted grant arrangements and an explicit risk-tolerance framework could support delivery of statutory functions, while remaining consistent with public finance requirements and wider spending controls.
No recommendations with this response.