DfE cuts Social Work England’s funding for 2025-26 due to predicted underspend

The news comes with the regulator having increased its fees for practitioners by a third this year, meaning that the initial registration and annual renewal fees have both increased from £90 to £120. The decision was made despite opposition from the vast majority of about 8,000 respondents – mostly social workers – to its consultation and from the British Association of Social Workers (BASW), Social Workers Union (SWU) and UNISON.