Response to PSA fees consultation

11 November 2020

Dear Alan,

Re: Professional Standards Authority fees regulation consultation

We welcome the opportunity to comment on the Professional Standards Authority’s proposed fees requirements for 2021/22 in respect of its regulatory oversight and standards functions and to provide feedback which we hope will support that work.

About us

Social Work England is a specialist body taking a new approach to regulating social workers in their vital roles. We believe in the power of collaboration and share a common goal with those we regulate - to protect the public, enable positive change and ultimately improve people’s lives.

Consultation feedback

The consultation document describes some of the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic and the necessary adaptations to regulatory activity. We have shared with the Authority our own experiences of responding to the pandemic and continue to work across professional regulation and social work to continue to carry out our regulatory functions.

We agree with the Authority’s call for reform of the legal framework for regulation. We look forward to supporting that work where we think our unique powers, processes and experiences can provide insight into regulatory reform. We also acknowledge that the Authority is of the view that it should have additional powers, including overseeing rule changes by regulators. However, unlike the health regulators, our rules amendments follow a different route to approval.

The Authority’s strategic plan includes assessing the risks of different regulatory approaches in the 4 countries of the UK. We would like to ask how the Authority intends to do this in relation to the regulation of social work, as only 1 of the regulatory regimes is subject to Authority oversight.

Do you think that our proposals for our work in 2021/22 are reasonable?

We support the Authority’s proposals for its work in 2021/22 but have some additional observations and questions.

The Authority began looking at our accepted disposals in 2019/20 so that it could understand and research the implications of the new regime. If it is considered appropriate to continue to do so, we would be interested in discussing what the Authority’s expectations and approach will now be in this area.

We also note that the Authority assists the Privy Council and Secretary of State for Education with their appointment functions in relation to the regulatory bodies, and would like to confirm that this is in relation to the councils only and not our Board appointments.

We agree with the feedback provided by other regulators in relation to Section 29 cases. Rather than using these powers to scrutinise all final hearings and review hearing decisions, we think the Authority should consider adopting a more intelligence-and risk-based approach, based upon its experience gained over many years of scrutiny activity. Identifying risk areas in decisions and focussing on outcomes with those particular issues or trends could mean the Authority is able to move to a more focused sample.

Are you aware of any legislative changes that will impact on the Authority in 2021/22?

Yes, it is hoped that amendments to legislation will be secured through the regulatory reform programme being led by the DHSC in 2021/22. The Authority is part of the steering-group and is aware of the changes being proposed. We think this will have a significant impact on the Authority’s activity profile if it intends to have greater involvement in the analysis of all interim decisions in fitness to practise. However, we feel a more appropriate option would be a ‘regulator/registrar lead review system’ which the Authority may advise upon. If, as suggested, the Authority intends to take a greater role in analysing how regulators use enhanced rule-making powers, this may also impact workloads in 2021/22.

Do you think that our assumptions regarding the number of Section 29 cases we will receive are reasonable? Can you provide us with estimates of the number of cases you will conclude during 2021/22?

We think the Authority are best placed to estimate this based on previous years’ activity. However, it is not clear from the consultation document if the Authority has considered the impact the pandemic may have on a regulator’s ability to conclude final hearings. We would expect the impact of the pandemic to continue to limit hearings activity for the first part of 2021, but there may be an acceleration of activity in the later stages of the year. The Authority may need to reflect on information provided by each individual regulator.

We are targeting the completion of approximately 160 final hearings in 2021/22, although there is some uncertainty caused by the pandemic. In addition to this, we will need to hold approximately 80 substantive review hearings, which also fall within the Authority’s Section 29 remit. This figure is an estimate based upon the existing review caseload and previous decision-making trends, and we are still undertaking a reforecast in fitness to practise for next year.

Do you think that our assumptions regarding the recovery of costs are reasonable?

Yes, the recovery rate of 25per cent is consistent with the prior 3 years.

We would not expect success rates in appeals to differ from previous years, so the assumptions seem reasonable. One area that remains unpredictable is if the necessary reliance on remote hearings impacts the quality of adjudication. If so, we think the rate of success may increase and cost recovery might be slightly higher than 25per cent. However, this is speculative as there are no clear trends to suggest remote hearings are having a detrimental impact at this stage.

Do you agree with our proposed budget?

Yes, the assumptions appear reasonable and we were pleased to note that any underspend in the 2021/22 budget will be used to reduce the fee for 2022/23.

However, we have some concerns about the rigid approach to scrutiny activity and the impact of Covid-19 on the number of final hearings that might take place next year. In relation to the latter, we would expect evidence that this has been properly costed in the budget based on responses to this consultation.

We believe in the power of collaboration and support the Authority’s intentions to extend collaboration beyond professional and system regulators to other relevant stakeholders. We look forward to hearing more about the Authority’s new stakeholder engagement strategy.

We support the Authority’s plans for regulatory research. As an organisation we are committed to learning about social work and to gathering data and intelligence about the profession and people's experiences. We want to make a unique contribution to the evolution of regulation, inform our work as the new specialist regulator and provide a detailed picture of social work in England.

I hope the Authority finds this feedback helpful.

Yours sincerely

Colum Conway

Chief Executive