Both qualified social workers and those still studying have been urged to get involved in the debate surrounding social work reform.

Hilary Tompsett, a leading academic in the field, said that people must "seize the moment" to shape the future of social work jobs in the UK. Tompsett, the head of social work at Kingston University and St Georges, sits on the reform board appointed by the government to oversee the recommendations of the Social Work Task Force. She is also chair of the Joint University Council Social Work Education Committee.

"There's an air of excitement and people are really pleased that finally these things are being debated and a plan of action is taking shape" said Tompsett ahead of the second meeting of the reform board.

She acknowledged that the regulated nature of local government might make some social workers hesitant to speak their mind about reform but said that "social workers and students should feel completely free to approach anyone on the reform board and make their feelings known".

"We've got to seize the moment to safeguard the future of the profession."

Tompsett said that she welcomed the taskforce recommendations on how the profession can make improvements to training, recruitment and leadership. She particularly praised the reforms to training, including the proposal of an assessed first year of practice. This aims to help students with the transition from education to actually working in social work jobs.