usually a social worker employed by the local authority. secondly, as a result of this, and often with council funding, workers provide face-to-face support, including accommodation and care in care homes, supported activity in the community, and domiciliary care. this may be contracted directly by the council's staff, or may be purchased by the cared-for person themselves with a personal budget provided by the council, or independently from the council if they have been financially assessed as able to meet the costs themselves. this is provided by companies and voluntary agencies registered as competent, and the front-line staff are often employed as care assistants. the range of work settings includes the community, hospitals, health centres, education and advice centres and people's homes. social care practitioners frequently work in partnership with staff from other professions, including health, housing, education, advice and advocacy services and the law. informal carers this is a term used (sometimes shortened to "carers") to identify people who are providing support that is close to or within the support that a council would be under obligation to provide if their assessment showed that this was necessary to maintain well-being. there has been a slow growth in the responsibilities of councils to support ongoing carer support, including providing access to "respite" services aimed at the needs of both the cared-for person and their carer. some carers are children under 14, who help to look after a sick or disabled relative. their needs are often overlooked between adults and children's services, and councils often do not have suitable resources to support young carers. qualifications the care standards act 2000, as well as establishing regulations covering service provision, brought greater recognition for the profession of social work with the introduction of a social work degree and social workers' register. to become a social worker in the uk and use the title, students need to complete an honours degree or postgraduate ma in social work. there are access courses for mature students, trainee schemes and employment based routes to gaining the qualification. qualified social workers are currently required to register with the health and care professions council (hcpc) before commencing practice. social workers are also required to ensure that they keep their training and knowledge up-to-date with current developments in the field. occupational therapy is another important profession working in health and social care settings, contributing to the promotion of people's independence through advice and provision of equipment, and enhancing the suitability of housing through adaptations. there are many other social care roles for which other qualifications, experience and training may be necessary. examples of the range of professions within this field include policy makers, researchers, academics, project workers, support workers, employed care staff (in residential or domiciliary care settings sometimes confusingly referred to as "carers") and personal assistants. social workers' hierarchy in england and wales although there is no formal or national hierarchy (rank) of social workers, many local authorities in england and wales adopt a similar pattern of seniority of social workers. this is mainly for the purpose of case work allocation, supervision, leadership and management. as an example, below is an example of three role structure for an adults, childcare and mental health social work team. to compare, there are also links to the pcf levels of practitioner. adultschildrenmental healthpcf newly qualified social worker (for 1 year)newly qualified social worker (for 1 year)newly qualified mental health social worker (for 1 year) (band 5 afc)pcf - nqsw social worker social worker / qualified care manager / social work practitioner / level 1 or level 2 social workersocial worker / social work practitioner / level 1 or level 2 social workermental health social worker / mental health practitioner (band 5 afc)pcf - social worker senior social worker / higher grade social worker / level 3 social workersenior social worker / social worker (child care practitioner status) / level 3 social workersenior mental health social worker / approved mental health professional (band 6 afc)pcf - social worker or pcf - experienced social worker senior practitioner / assistant team managersenior practitioner / assistant team managersenior practitioner / team leader (band 7 afc) (inc amhp)pcf - experienced social worker or pcf - advanced social worker team managerteam manager / practice managerteam manager / clinical manager (band 8a afc) (inc amhp)pcf - advanced social worker or pcf - strategic social worker service managerservice managerservice manager (band 8b afc) (inc amhp)pcf - strategic social worker area director / operational managerarea manager / area directorsenior manager / head of service manager (band 8c afc)pcf - strategic social worker assistant director / deputy director of adult servicesassistant director / deputy director of children servicesassistant director / deputy director of mental health (band 8d afc)pcf - strategic social worker director of adult servicesdirector of children servicesdirector of social care (band 8d or 9 afc)pcf - strategic social worker social care organisations social workers are regulated by social work england which sets codes of conduct and practice. through the work of the munro review, the social work reform board and the piloting of social work practices, government aims to give greater autonomy to social workers. the reform board recommended the development of a professional college. the college of social work has been set up with the aim of improving and supporting social work by leading the development of the profession and representing it in discussions with organisations that regulate, train, work with, and are affected by social work. social care services are regulated by the care quality commission. other social care organisations include the social care institute for excellence – an independent charity that identifies and transfers knowledge about good practice – and skills for care, the national lead agency for policy and strategy related to workforce development and the adult social care workforce. the national skills academy for social care, launched in 2009, provides learning support and training practice for social care workers and employers in england, with a specific remit on leadership development. the association of directors of adult social services is the official voice of senior social care managers in england. there are many other voluntary and independent organisations that exist to support the delivery of social care. these support both the social care workforce and people who use services, and include user-led organisations. future directions local authority spending on adult social care is a demand on the local tax revenue and for this reason and associated costs to the nhs from hospital admissions, social care is high on the uk government's agenda, with an aim of integration of health, social care and education to reflect the overlap between these areas. developing the skills of the social care workforce is a continuous priority, specifically in response to changes in the social care sector and media coverage of social care issues. following the recommendations of the social work taskforce (2009), the college of social work has been set up. the college will represent and support social workers and help maintain standards for the profession. skills for care is the lead national body for strategy and policy in relation to workforce development and the social care workforce. robots are being developed which it is hoped will be able to help with some social care. the social market foundation has suggested that the adoption of technology should be "properly handled" so that it complements human interaction rather than replacing it. between april 2014 and october 2019 the number of domiciliary care services in england increased by 23% to 9,528. however the residential care sector is declining, and the care quality commission has warned that the domiciliary sector is not growing fast enough to meet the increasing demand and does not match the falling number of nursing and residential home beds. nursing homes fell 6% and residential homes 11% in the same period. they said effective domiciliary care needed innovative providers who could bring together nurses, occupational therapists, physiotherapists and other carers. reform has been a long debated issue within adult social care, over the last 20 years there have been 12 white papers, but even with these the kings trust argues this has not led to the considerable reform needed. james bethell in january 2021 "acknowledged the frustration felt by many" after the house of lords economic affairs committee had called for an extra £8 billion a year to tackle the "national scandal" of underfunding in the sector.