The first ever national college for social workers has been approved, after the government accepted the Social Work Task Force's proposals. A ten year reform programme has today been approved to build a college solely for the profession of social work, meaning social workers will gain a stronger collective voice.

Employers will have to follow new standards, making sure their employees have a high level of supervision, time for professional development and have manageable workloads. A high quality of training, recruitment and working conditions were also new measures put forward by the taskforce today.

The government promise a transformation for social care, by building a safe, confident future it promises 15 recommendations. Some of which include: Tougher entry criteria for social work degree courses, to address concerns about poor literacy and analytical skills among a minority of students. A more sophisticated workforce planning system to improve recruitment, entrants will also have to pass a written test. An overhaul of the social work degree through a common curriculum and robust assessments of courses will be put in place and frontline social work managers and aspiring managers are to receive dedicated training and support. It will see new arrangements to ensure sufficient, high-quality practice placements, delivered in partnership by universities and employers. And required placement days will be cut from 200 to no less than 130 to help improve quality.

These recommendations along with the new college, will be implemented early next year and hopes to improve the current social care sector completely. It will also offer thousands of new jobs and more quality training within social care.