Social Work England (SWE) reported its 2022 Q3 performance, noting it only met 2 out of 5 fitness to practise targets.

In its report to its Council, it reported that “the median age of the triage caseload is 17 weeks against a target of 14 and the median age of the investigation caseload is 64 weeks against a target of 49.”

It reported an increase in the number of Q3 referrals, receiving 516 during the
quarter, compared with 442 in Q2 and 403 in Q1.

It also reported an increased number of cases have been referred for an investigation from triage, with 159 referrals being made in Q3, compared to 144 in Q2.

SWE did report progress made in dealing with legacy cases.  It said, of the 1,459 legacy cases transferred to it from the HCPC, only 184 remain. Despite the progress, however, the performance is below the expectation.  SWE said, “by the end of Q3 we had concluded 87% of the legacy caseload against our forecast of 91%.”

Colum Conway, SWE Chief Executive, said:

“The Q3 report shows the challenge in this quarter for Fitness to Practise (FtP) to achieve timeliness targets in some areas. This is due in part to increased recruitment activity to fill vacancies, and the resulting lag in bringing teams to full capacity. Also, timely progression of cases continues to be balanced against progressing cases with a higher risk profile.

“As would be expected we keep all aspects of our KPIs under constant review, and it is the case that the overall caseloads have decreased, and there is now capacity to have an impact on the targets into the future. Work on the legacy caseload is progressing fairly close to plan and it is anticipated that with agreement on the rollover of project funding the targets for this work will be achieved as planned by June 2023.”

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