The European Qualifications (Health and Social Care Professions) (EFTA States) (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020

Amendments to Schedule 11 (social workers in England)

19.  In Schedule 11—

(a) for paragraph 4 substitute—

“4.   In paragraph (8) of regulation 8 (the registrar and the register), for “a relevant European State other than the United Kingdom” substitute “Iceland, Lichtenstein, Norway or Switzerland”.”;

(b) for paragraph 11 substitute—

“11.   The 2018 Regulations and any rules made under the 2018 Regulations continue to apply without the amendments made by Part 1 of this Schedule in relation to the following applications made before IP completion day (including any appeal arising from them)—

(a) an application made under regulations 10(1), 13(1) or 15(1) of the 2018 Regulations (applications for registration, renewal or restoration);

(b) an application made under regulations 9(1), 10(4) or 33(1) of the Health Professions Order 2001(1) (applications for registration, renewal, readmission or restoration) and treated as an application under the 2018 Regulations by virtue of Part 2 of the Children and Social Work Act 2017 (Transitional and Savings Provisions) (Social Workers) Regulations 2019(2).”;

(c) in paragraph 12—

(i) in the heading, for “one year” substitute “five years”;

(ii) in sub-paragraph (1)—

(aa) in paragraphs (a) and (b), in each place it occurs, for “exit day” substitute “IP completion day”;

(bb) after “European states” insert “(but subject, in the case of a relevant applicant, to the modification to the 2018 Regulations specified in sub-paragraph (1A))”;

(iii) after sub-paragraph (1), insert—

“(1A) The modification to the 2018 Regulations mentioned in sub-paragraph (1) is that regulation 18 is to be read as if for paragraph (1) there were substituted—

“(1) This regulation applies to a relevant applicant (within the meaning given in regulation 1A of the European Qualifications (Health and Social Care Professions) (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019) (“EP”) who is lawfully established, in Switzerland (“State A”), as a social worker.”.

(1B) A relevant applicant in relation to whom sub-paragraph (1) applies may only provide services as a social worker in England for a period not exceeding 90 days in total in any calendar year.”.

(iv) after sub-paragraph (2), insert—

“(2A) Sub-paragraph (2) does not apply in the case of a Swiss visiting social worker.

(2B) But a Swiss visiting social worker’s entitlement does not continue (or further continue) under regulation 18 of the 2018 Regulations on or after the end of the visiting practitioner transitional period.

(2C) In this paragraph, “Swiss visiting social worker” means a visiting social worker who—

(a) is a national of the United Kingdom or is a Swiss national, or

(b) is a third country national, who was, immediately before IP completion day, by virtue of an enforceable EU right entitled to be treated, for the purposes of access to and pursuit of the profession of social work, no less favourably than a national of the United Kingdom or Switzerland.”;

(d) after paragraph 12 insert—

“Recognition of professional social work qualifications

12A.— (1) Where a qualifying application is received before the end of the Swiss recognition period, the provisions of the 2018 Regulations continue to apply in relation to that application (including any appeal arising from it) without the amendments that Part 1 of this Schedule makes to the provisions of those Regulations mentioned in sub-paragraph (3).

(2) In this paragraph “qualifying application” means an application from a qualifying applicant to be registered as a social worker in accordance with the 2018 Regulations.

(3) The provisions of the 2018 Regulations are—

(a) regulation 2;

(b) regulation 8(8);

(c) regulation 11(4), (5) and (8);

(d) regulation 19(1)(e) and (i);

(e) paragraphs 1(b) and 2 of Schedule 1.”;

(e) in paragraph 13—

(i) in sub-paragraphs (a)(i), (ii) and (iii) and (c)(i) and (ii), in each place it occurs, for “exit day” substitute “IP completion day”;

(ii) in sub-paragraph (c), for “Union” in the first place it occurs substitute “Communities”.

(1)

S.I. 2002/254, as amended by S.I. 2018/893. The Order was re-named by section 213(4) and (6) of the Health and Social Care Act 2012 (c. 7), and by paragraphs 45 and 46 of Schedule 5 to the Children and Social Work Act 2017. There are other amending instruments but none is relevant.

(2)

S.I. 2019/1140.