For those interested in facts and figures about the social work and social care workforce in Northern Ireland, the Northern Ireland Social Care Council (the Social Care Council) Live Register Report detailing the numbers of social workers, social care practitioners and social work students registered in Northern Ireland will now be available online – here.
This first Live Register Report gives an insight into the 46,597 people registered with the Social Care Council and approved to work in social work and social care at the end of December 2023. The report reveals that 39,188 of these registrants were registered as social care practitioners, 6,628 as social workers and 781 as social work students on December 31st.
The Live Register Report will assist those reviewing, planning or researching social work and social care services; providing an overview of where social workers and social care practitioners are employed, the range of people and services they support and changes to numbers of people employed within these services. It also provides breakdowns of the different workforces by gender, and age. The Social Care Council will now make these reports available online on a quarterly basis.
As the regulator for social work and social care in Northern Ireland, the Social Care Council is responsible for maintaining a register for all workers. It also sets the standards for education, training and practice for all social workers and social care practitioners.
Patricia Higgins, Chief Executive of the Social Care Council said:
“The Social Care Council’s Register is dynamic and changes as people enter and leave the workforce.
Releasing these figures quarterly will provide insight into the social work and social care workforces demonstrating just how many different roles and areas of work there are within the fields of social work and social care.”
Details on how to register as a social care practitioner or social worker can be found here.