Black, male and 40-plus social workers still overrepresented in fitness to practise cases

Black, male and 40-plus social workers remain disproportionately represented in fitness to practise (FtP) cases, Social Work England data has confirmed.

The regulator has released an update on analysis it conducted last year on how different groups of practitioners were represented in the FtP process, which was based on referrals received from its inception in December 2019 to March 2023.

That found that the three groups were not only overrepresented in concerns referred to the regulator but also in cases that were subsequently investigated and those referred to a hearing, when a panel determines whether the social worker’s fitness to practise is impaired.

The latest analysis extends the dataset by a year, meaning it now runs from December 2019 to March 2024. Unsurprisingly, the overrepresentation of black and male social workers and those aged over 40 remains, at multiple points of the FtP process.

Longstanding concerns about overrepresentation

There are longstanding concerns about overrepresentation in the fitness to practise system.

The then regulator, the General Social Care Council, identified disproportionate numbers of men, black practitioners, those aged 40-49 and disabled social workers in referrals that it received from 2004-11.

In July 2020, seven months after it took over the role, Social Work England reported that black and ethnic minority social workers were overrepresented in fitness to practise referrals it had received thus far.

At the time, it said investigating whether its processes were non-discriminatory was something that it was "absolutely committed to" working on but it needed to develop a system to do that.

Collecting diversity data on social work population

Its next step was encouraging social workers to submit data on their protected characteristics, under the Equality Act 2010, and demographic categories.

By 2023, it had this information for the vast majority of the registered population, which enabled it to carry out the analysis of fitness to practise data published last year.

Commenting on the 2023 data last year, Social Work England said: “We must take considerable care in drawing conclusions, because the apparent differences identified in this analysis do not necessarily indicate that differences in outcomes are caused by a social worker belonging to a group within a particular characteristic."

In its latest analysis, Social Work England examined whether types of concern, regional differences or practitioners' employment sector helped explain its findings. It found minimal differences depending on the social worker's region and that the top three types of concern were the same for black, male and 40-plus social workers.

Children's social workers appeared to be overrepresented in initial referrals compared with adults' practitioners, but this did not explain the overrepresentation of black, male and 40-plus staff across the FtP process.

Further work to identify causes of disproportionality

Social Work England said it would now undertake a more detailed analysis of a sample of cases, including male and female and black and white practitioners, "to gain a deeper understanding of what causes overrepresentation, and understand potential actions to address this".

It would combine this by repeating its broader analysis of fitness to practise and diversity data using "a more advanced method of statistical analysis" that would enable it to "consider multiple factors that may influence how a case progresses" through the FtP process.

The two pieces of work would help it design potential improvements to the FtP process and provide guidance to its decision makers. However, it cautioned that identifying and addressing the root causes of overrepresentation was "a challenging and complex area of work" that would take time.

The regulator's executive director of professional practice and external engagement, Sarah Blackmore, said: "Equality, diversity and inclusion is integral to and embedded in all we do at Social Work England.

"We have always been committed to pursuing positive change in this area for both the profession and people who use social work services. We will continue our work to ensure that our processes and outcomes are fair, efficient, proportionate, and in the public interest.”