Social Work England set to miss fitness to practise targets amid surge in concerns

Social Work England has warned it is unlikely to meet two of its key 2025-26 fitness to practise performance targets, following a sharp rise in concerns about practitioners.

Community Care reported that the regulator told its latest board meeting that delays in triage – the initial stage where concerns are assessed – and at the case examiner stage mean end-of-year objectives will not be achieved, despite increased funding from the Department for Education and higher income from social worker fees.

Concerns about social workers rose 29% year-on-year, with 1,788 referrals in the first nine months of 2025 compared with 1,383 in the same period of 2024. Quarterly figures show a steady rise, peaking at 655 concerns between July and September 2025, up 43% on the previous year. The majority of referrals now come from the public, accounting for 72% of known sources in 2025-26, compared with 64% last year. Most are rejected at triage.

Cases completing triage in July–September 2025 took an average of 38 weeks, up from 30 weeks in the previous quarter and above the 34-week target. Social Work England aims to reduce this to 26 weeks by year-end, but admits this is unlikely to be met. Despite throughput rising from 367 cases per quarter in 2024-25 to 535 this year, open triage cases increased from 1,887 in March to 2,134 in September.

Vacancies slowed progress at the case examiner stage, with only 78 cases concluded in July–September, well below the quarterly average of 108 in 2024-25. Average case duration rose to 113 weeks, far exceeding the 96-week target. The regulator has now filled three examiner posts, with new staff due to start in December.

Investigations, by contrast, are being concluded more quickly. They lasted 50 weeks on average, beating the quarterly target of 62 weeks and improving on the 63-week average earlier in the year. Open investigation cases fell from 471 in March to 434 in September.

Final hearings remain a major challenge, with 449 cases awaiting hearings at the end of September. Social workers whose cases concluded at hearings in July–September waited an average of 227 weeks – over four years – for an outcome. Despite only 19 hearings being completed in the first half of the year, Social Work England insists it is on track to meet its target of 92 hearings in 2025-26.

Social Work England said it was recruiting five additional fixed-term triage staff and reviewing processes to streamline case handling. A spokesperson added: “We continue to receive significantly more referrals than forecast. While this impacts triage performance, we are consistently concluding higher numbers of cases compared to last year. Additional budget has been allocated to ensure more cases progress towards hearings in future years.”

Despite investment and staffing increases, Social Work England faces mounting pressure from rising public referrals and a growing hearings backlog. While investigations are speeding up, triage and case examiner delays mean the regulator is set to miss two of its headline performance targets this year.

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