1. Introduction to the consultation
2. Who does this apply to?
3. Why we are proposing to increase the registration fees
4. Proposed changes to the fees
5. When might fee changes happen?
6. How can I take part in the consultation and when does it close?
7. More about the SSSC and what do we do
8. Impact assessment
1. Introduction to the consultation
This consultation sets out a proposal for increasing the fees paid by registrants of the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC). These fees support the aims of regulation of the social work, social care and children and young people workforce, which are to:
- increase public protection
- improve the skills, qualification levels and professionalism of this workforce
- improve the experience and outcomes of people who use social work, social care and children and young people services
- promote the sector so that it is recognised as professional, regulated and valued for the difference it makes to people’s lives.
The registration fees were last reviewed and increased in 2017 to better reflect the cost of registration and fees paid by similar professions. In 2016 as a result of feedback from the consultation, the then Minister for Early Years asked that we consider a longer term plan for increasing fees incrementally so that fees should increase by small amounts regularly. We delayed this work, due to start in 2020, because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
We are now going ahead with a consultation on proposed increases to the registration fees. This is a legal requirement. Following the consultation, the SSSC’s Council will consider the response and decide on any increase. Their decision will then go to the Minister to consider. If an increase is approved, fees are likely to increase from 1 April 2025.
2. Who does this apply to?
This consultation is relevant to all registrants, social work, social care and children and young people employers, learning providers, people who use services and carers, trade unions, relevant membership and other professional bodies.
The proposed fee increases apply to all registrants including those where their employer pays their fee, for example, Scottish local authority employees.
The feedback from the 2016 consultation was very important in shaping the Council’s decision so we want to hear from as many stakeholders as possible.
3. Why we are proposing to increase the registration fees
You can find the full proposals set out in the consultation survey and there is a link below explaining how to take part in the consultation.
When the Scottish Government established the SSSC in 2001 the intention was that, over time, the registration fees would contribute to the SSSC’s costs for our work in regulating the workforce. And different fee levels were set to reflect the different groups of workers we register and recognises the different roles and salaries.
Our sliding scale for fees means that the fees for most of our registrants are lower than the fees other workforce regulators charge. This reflects the lower salary levels for many of the roles and that the Scottish Government provide the majority of our funding.
Other regulators charge higher fees as they are largely self-funding.
The Register has grown to over 178,500 people across social work, social care and children and young people services. While most of the workforce is now on the Register, there is considerable turnover and movement in this workforce which means that the numbers continue to change and grow, particularly in the adult social care sector.
Maintaining the Register increases the work of our registration, fitness to practise and hearings functions and our qualifications and workforce development and planning functions.
As with all public organisations we regularly review our operations to make sure that we are as efficient as possible.
This year, we implemented a significant improvement programme which has streamlined our processes as well as bringing changes to the qualifications and skills requirements, making registration simpler and easier for everyone.
We are continuously improving how we carry out our regulatory work to make sure we remain effective and efficient and to target our resources where they are needed.
4. Proposed changes to the fees
Current fees
The registration fees are set out in Table 1 below. The annual fee registrants pay is tax deductible for UK taxpayers. This means that for registrants paying tax at the Scottish basic rate of 20%, the current annual fee for social workers, for example, is £64 after £16 tax relief.
Table 1: Current fees and fees after tax relief
| Role | Current fees | Example of fees after 20% tax relief for a Scottish basic rate taxpayer if the person claims tax relief. |
| Social work student | £15 | £12 |
| Support worker | £25 | £20 |
| Supervisor/ Practitioner Residential child care workers School care accommodation officer | £35 | £28 |
| Manager/Social worker | £80 | £64 |
Proposed changes to fees
Following consultation with Scottish Government Ministers and approval from the SSSC’s Council, we are looking for your views on the proposed changes to the fees set out in Table 2 below. The proposal is for a small increase every year for five years, in line with the feedback from the consultation in 2016.
This table shows what the fees would be over the next five years with the planned increase for each year. Taking this approach means that the fees increase gradually over five years with registrants paying the full increase from year five.
The changes we’re proposing range from a maximum of £8 per year for social workers, managers and Care Inspectorate inspectors through to £2 per year for social work students.
With tax relief, the increase for basic rate taxpayer registered as a social worker or manager will be £6.40 per year.
Table 2: Proposed fee changes
| Role | 2024/25 Current fee | Proposed increase per year over five years | 2025 / 2026 | 2026 / 2027 | 2027 / 2028 | 2028 / 2029 | 2029 / 2030 |
| Social worker/ Manager | £80 | £8 | £88 | £96 | £104 | £112 | £120 |
| Supervisor/ Practitioner | £35 | £4 | £39 | £43 | £47 | £51 | £55 |
| Support worker | £25 | £3 | £28 | £31 | £34 | £37 | £40 |
| Social work student | £15 | £2 | £17 | £19 | £21 | £23 | £25 |
Tables 3 and 4 below show the current fees (2024/25) for other social care and health regulators for comparison.
Table 3: Social work / Social care regulators (part funded by fees)
| Regulator | Students | Support workers | Practitioners/Supervisors | Managers/Social workers |
| SSSC | £15 | £25 | £35 | £80 |
| Northern Ireland Social Care Council (NISCC) | £20 | £30 | N/A | £65 |
| Social Care Wales (SCW) | £15 | £30 | N/A | £80 |
| Social Work England (SWE) | N/A | N/A | N/A | £90 |
Table 4: Health regulators (fully funded by fees and these are the highest of their fees as some of the regulators below have lower fee levels for other registrants)
| Regulator | Fee |
| GChC (General Chiropractic Council) | £800 |
| GDC (General Dental Council) | £621 |
| GMC (General Medical Council) | £455 |
| PSNI (Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland) | £398 |
| GOC (General Optical Council) | £405 |
| GOsC (General Osteopathic Council) | £570 |
| GPhC (General Pharmaceutical Council) | £276 |
| NMC (Nursing Midwifery Council) | £120 |
| HCPC (Health and Care Professions Council) | £116.36 |
5. When do you propose to bring in the fee changes?
- The consultation opens on Monday 30 September 2024.
- The consultation will close on Monday 23 December 2024 and analysis will take place in January 2025.
- The SSSC Council will review the outcome of the consultation at its meeting on 27 February 2025 and their decision will then be brought to Scottish Ministers.
- We will let you know if the fees are increasing and by how much in March 2025.
- If there is a decision to increase the registration fees, this will likely start from 1 April 2025. This means that fees due on or after 1 April 2025 will be at the new rate.
6. How can I take part in the consultation and when does it close?
The consultation opens on 30 September 2024 and closes on 23 December 2024.
Once you’ve read the proposals, you can give your views using the link below.
There are four sections for you to comment on.
- Section 1 asks for some information about you, to help us learn more about who has responded.
- Section 2 covers the proposal to increase the registration fees.
- Section 3 asks for information on the equality impact of the proposals.
- Section 4 asks for your equality information.
Go to the consultation form to reply
7. More about the SSSC and what do we do
You can find out more about what we do, our vision, aims and responsibilities on our About us page.
Alongside our regulatory role, the SSSC is responsible for standards of training and development for the social work, social care and children and young people workforce and we work with the other UK social work, social care and children and young people workforce regulators to develop and maintain these standards.
Registered social service workers bring professional skills, values and knowledge. They work alongside other professionals like nurses, focused on our most vulnerable citizens. Registration brings an assurance to those citizens that the people working with them are properly qualified, skilled and follow the SSSC Codes of Practice which set the standards for this workforce. For registrants, it brings increased credibility and recognition of their essential role and we have seen the positive impact on practice and confidence.
We listen to feedback and continue to streamline and improve our processes and develop resources that support registrants and employers with learning and skills development. We are committed to investing in the development of the workforce. Some of the things we do in the background, including a successful and ongoing digital transformation programme that is improving our efficiency.
In December 2021 we began our biggest change programme, designed to make being registered with the SSSC simpler and easier to understand. We consulted with our registrants and employers and thousands gave their feedback with more people being involved directly as we redesigned products and services.
In June 2024 we went live with our remodelled registration services and launched new services and products including the new continuous professional learning website.
Promoting the value of this workforce is important to us so that people see careers in social work, social care and children and young people as positive career choices that make a real difference. We are working with partners to design career paths for people working in different roles in social services as well as bringing in a flexible approach to qualifications so that people can move between different types of roles without having to gain additional qualifications, for example, moving from working with adults to children and young people.
The wellbeing of our registrants is critical and since the start of the pandemic, we have developed resources that support registrants and employers, collaborating with Scottish Government and other partners.
We speak out on behalf of the workforce and help to give a voice to the many stories of the skill, knowledge, compassion and dedication of our registrants.
We regularly ask for feedback from our stakeholders through annual surveys. Most of those who responded to our annual Registrant survey in 2023 told us that registration with the SSSC is beneficial to them and gave positive feedback on their level of satisfaction with our work which increased from 62.1% to 70.8% on the previous year.
Our budget
Our 2024/25 budget includes grant in aid from Scottish Government of £14.224m (71%) and registration fee income of £5.903m (29%).
When the Scottish Government established the SSSC in 2001 their intention was that, over time, the registration fees would fund the cost of regulation. And different fee levels were set to reflect the different groups of workers we register.
Our fees are currently lower than the fees other workforce regulators charge (eg for nurses and allied health professionals) which reflects the lower salary levels and that the Scottish Government subsidises our work. Other regulators charge a higher fee as they have to be fully self-funding.
Maintaining the Register increases the work of our registration, fitness to practise and hearings functions and our qualifications and workforce development and planning functions.
As our annual costs increase, we are required by Scottish Government to fund more of these costs through the registration fee. The chart below shows the percentage of our budget allocated to regulation and 60% of the direct cost of regulation is currently covered by registration fee income.
Budget allocated to Regulation
Impact assessment