Fitness to practise

During the emergency, we will continue to hold fitness to practise hearings where we believe that temporary restrictions (interim orders) are necessary to protect the public.

We will also hold hearings where we are required to review an active restriction on a social worker’s registration. In these cases, hearings will be heard remotely using video conferencing and the social worker will be supported to take part.

We may also hold final hearings in limited circumstances where we believe it is appropriate to adjudicate on the matter by video conference. This will be for shorter hearings and will not include cases where witness evidence is required from social workers or employees who would otherwise be engaged in responding to the pandemic.

We have also made temporary changes to our fitness to practise rules and removal from the register and registration appeals rules. These changes will allow us to serve notice of hearings and send documents by email during the current emergency. These changes came into force on 14 April 2020 and will be reversed at the end of the emergency.