News Archive 2007
Click on the titles below to check out 2007 news relating to NISCC. Please note that some of the links lead to downloadable documents. Material for other years can be accessed by clicking on the links on the left hand side.
DHSSPS (NI) News Release
9 October 2007
Appointment of Members to the Northern Ireland Social Care Council
The appointment of 12 non-executive members to the Northern Ireland Social Care Council (NISCC) has been announced.
The Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety today announced that the Minister, Michael McGimpsey, has appointed the following non-executive members to the Northern Ireland Social Care Council with effect from 1 October 2007.
- Mr Joseph Blake
- Mrs Geraldine Campbell
- Mrs Julie Erskine
- Mr Glenn Houston
- Ms Miriam Karp
- Mrs Ruth Lavery
- Mrs Gillian McGaughey
- Mr Brendan McKeever
- Mrs Maire McMahon
- Mr James Perry
- Dr Trevor Spratt
- Mrs Eleanor Taggart
Membership of the council brings with it substantial responsibilities. The aim of the council is to protect the public through improving safeguards to vulnerable people, raising the standards of social care practice and strengthening the professionalism of the workforce. The composition of the council reflects the widest range of key interests which will enable the council to successfully discharge its functions.
Notes:
• The overall aim of the NISCC is to regulate the social work profession and other social care workers by promoting high standards of conduct and practice among social care workers and high standards in their training, and maintaining a register of those who can practice within a social care context. It is responsible for improving the quality of personal social services by raising standards in the workforce. The NISCC has a duty to secure the interests and welfare of service users and to strengthen public protection and confidence.
• The NISCC was established on 1 October 2001 under the Health & Personal Social Services Act ( Northern Ireland ) 2001 and following reconstitution from 1 October 2007 will be managed by a board consisting of a non-executive chair and 12 non-executive members.
• Non-executive members of the Northern Ireland Social Care Council will receive annual remuneration of £6,000.
• The usual term of office is four years, however, to avoid wholesale changeover at the end of September 2011, the terms of appointment have been staggered for periods of two, three and four years. All of the appointments are effective from 1 October 2007.
• Appointments to the NISCC are made with the approval of the Minister for Health, Social Services and Public Safety. There are no specific qualifications for appointment. Each person is appointed to act in a personal capacity and not as a representative of any organisation, but because of the personal skills and experience they possess.
• The overall membership of NISCC has been appropriately balanced so that no one interest predominates. Membership reflects a wide range of interests in the field of social care and includes:-
• Lay Members – people who have direct experience as users of social care services or as carers or experience of voluntary work.
• Stakeholder Members – people who have direct involvement in commissioning or delivery of social care services or in the delivery of education or training in social care, or as a representative of a trade union, professional or other regulatory body concerned with health and social care, or someone from the legal profession.
• Registrant Members - people who must be social care workers.
• The appointments were made in accordance with the Code of Practice issued by the Commissioner for Public Appointments for Northern Ireland . A selection panel, which included an independent assessor, as required under the Commissioner's Code, considered the suitability of all candidates. The final decision on the appointments rested with the Minister.
• All appointments are made on merit and political activity plays no part in the selection process. However, in accordance with the original Nolan recommendations, there is a requirement for the political activity of appointees (if any declared) to be published. Mr Blake, Mrs Campbell, Mrs Erskine, Mr Houston, Ms Karp, Mrs McGaughey, Mr McKeever, Mrs McMahon, Mr Perry, Dr Spratt and Mrs Taggart declared they had not engaged in any political activity in the last five years. Mrs Lavery declared she had engaged in some political activity in the last five years.
If you want to read more about the appointed members, please click here
International Federation Of Social Workers - Global Social Work Day – 27 March 2007
Social Work: Making A World Of Difference
The IFSW is raising awareness of the importance of social workers around the World by celebrating Global Social Work Day 2007 on March 27 . The purpose of the day is to have social workers all over the world prepare and participate in different kinds of events which will put social work on the agenda at all levels and, thereby, to promote the importance of the social work profession and to raise the sense of community among social workers.
Since 1996, Europe has celebrated an annual Social Work Action Day (SWAD). This year, the European SWAD will be within the frame of the Global Social Work Day 2007 on March 27. Europe will specifically highlight activities in relation to fighting poverty.
Social workers deal with poverty in all kinds, shapes and forms in their daily work. The European SWAD 2007 is about all the different ways social workers are active in alleviating poverty around the world. Social workers see first-hand the debilitating effect of poverty on those struggling to patch together meagre resources to live. Social work's concern with poverty is linked to the profession's ethical norm of justice. As such, special attention is given to those who are not only poor, but are members of groups that often are excluded from pathways to self-sufficiency, such as women, children, and the mentally ill. Social workers also see the resilience and creativity of those who develop alternative economies and approaches to problem-solving in ways that other economic entrepreneurs might envy.
IFSW Europe has established a special section on their site www.ifsw.org which can be used by national and local associations for obtaining information on poverty, social inclusion and ideas for celebrating the European SWAD 2007.