Registration and refreshments

Chair’s opening remarks

Keynote: The importance of the SWFT: What do they expect to achieve?

• How is the work of the Task Force going to be taken forward?
• Delivering the 2020 Workforce Plan
• Is social work one profession or should adults and children be considered separately?
• How can Government help improve the reputation of social work?

Theme One: Time

Ensuring your workforce are equipped to deliver effective and efficient services

• Managing time for your workforce: Allowing them to prioritise tasks and targets
• Dealing with bureaucratic problems at a higher level: Leaving social workers to fulfil their roles outside the office
• Allowing time to pick up the pieces when other services such as schools and hospitals “shut down” to admissions
• Rotating social workers between different teams and roles to develop skills and multi-agency relationships

Theme Two: Tools and support

Employers' role in ensuring effective regulation of the social work profession

• Working in partnership with Higher Education Institutes to develop high quality training programmes
• Providing effective supervision, support and training throughout a social worker’s career
• Sharing information and cooperating with GSCC investigations into misconduct
• Adhering to the Code of Practice for Employers of Social Care Workers

Remodelling the Social Work Workforce in a recession

• Introducing the national career structure - Sheffield's experience so far
• Creating capacity to remodel the workforce within existing budgets
• Challenges faced and learning gained
  

Question and answer session

Morning refreshments

Theme Three: Training and professional development

Equipping your workforce for the job in hand: Training and educating your social workers to succeed

• Setting out the job demands from the beginning allowing all social workers to be fully aware of what the job involves and the community profile of their assigned ward
• Encouraging your social workers to say “no” when tasks are not theirs to fulfil
• Expanding skill sets: Facilitating the time and opportunity for social workers to complete training and education courses

Minister Keynote session

Theme Four: Developing a national profile

Professional Branding: Portraying the importance of the social work role

• Increasing the awareness and understanding of social work within other professions including health and police
• Community advocacy: Developing a system to achieve public recognition

Question and answer session

Lunch

Theme Six: Improving the reputation of the social work role

Coping with the media backlash, poor reputations and the feeling of being under-valued

• Developing good media relations: Using the media as a tool for promotion
• Implementing efficient recruitment methods through better branding of the social work role
• Promoting social work as a valuable profession and not just a skill set

Working with other associations within the social care remit to develop and manage better reputations

• Helping social workers develop better relationships with other local authorities and organisations, including PCTs, Police and Fire and Rescue Services
• Using these relationships to maintain a higher level of service and better community reputations

Keynote: What does the future look like for social workers?

Question and answers session

Chair’s closing remarks and close of conference