Discontinuation of the NAAS

Rachael Wardell, Chair of the ADCS Workforce Development Policy Committee said:

“ADCS welcomes the government’s commitment to raising the quality and confidence of the social work workforce, however, we have long held reservations about the necessity and value for money of the National Assessment and Accreditation System (NAAS) when we have limited resources available. The announcement that the NAAS will not continue in its present form beyond March 2022 affords us all a real opportunity to invest in other parts of the wider children’s workforce that equally need our attention, such as early help services, and to think differently about further development of the social work workforce.

“Many local authorities will have their own CPD offer in place to support social workers and it is important that they are given the financial means to continue or expand these offers. We also know that retaining enough experienced social workers is a big challenge and ADCS urges the government to use this opportunity to develop a national recruitment and retention strategy to encourage more people into the profession, and crucially to want to stay. We look forward to working with the Department in the coming months.”

ENDS

---

---