HPC answers some questions posed by Prof Andrew Samuels

"Dear Professor Samuels

Thank you for your recent emails. I have responded to each your questions in turn below.

1) How many people do you think will be registerable?

Estimates of numbers of psychotherapists and counsellors in the UK do vary by between around 40,000 (the approximate total of individuals on the larger professional bodies' registers / membership) up to around 100,000.

Reaching a more precise figure at this stage is difficult as it is hard to quantify the number of practitioners who may practise outside of the existing self-regulatory systems run by professional bodies and associations. In addition, at this stage it is also difficult to quantify how many practitioners are registered currently with more than one organisation.

I am sorry that I am not able to be more helpful in relation to this question.

2) How many voluntary registers do you think will be involved? How many are above 1,000?

We anticipate at the present time that the numbers of registers we will need to consider for transfer will number around the 30 to 40 mark. However, we may be contacted by other organisations who wish their membership lists to be considered for transfer and there may of course be further registers established or consolidation of registers prior to the opening of any statutory register, which would affect the overall figure.

I know that the registers / membership of the BACP, UKCP, BPC and BABCP all total over 1,000 members / registrants. However, we will know more once we begin the process of making recommendations about which registers should transfer early in the new year.

3) How do voluntary registers get transferred?

In order to introduce regulation for the first time, a Section 60 Order under the Health Act 1999 is required. This piece of secondary legislation has to be passed in Westminster and in Holyrood before the regulation becomes law.

The Section 60 Order specifies which registers will transfer to the statutory register and may indicate any arrangements that need to be entered into between the HPC and the holder of that register. This is a result of discussion between the Department of Health, the organisation and the HPC.

In terms of logistics, we would work with the organisation holding the register to establish the data they hold and compare it to the data we require for registration (name, address, data of birth, etc). The transfer of data would then normally occur electronically with security measures such as encryption put in place to protect data security.

Once the register transfer has taken place and the HPC register opened, we would normally write to everybody that has registered to welcome them to the Register. Approximately one month later the profession would go into ‘renewal’ – every profession renews its registration with us on a two-yearly cycle. Registrants would receive a renewal form and would be given three months in which to complete the form including reading and signing the declarations and returning this to us with payment. Registrants can choose to pay their fees for two years in full, or to pay via a 6 monthly direct debit. If we do not receive a completed form after two months we send a reminder; if a completed form and payment is not received by the end of the three month period, the registrant with lapse from the Register.

An organisation could potentially only send a proportion of names on their list(s); the registers that transfer is controlled by the detail included in the Section 60 Order. For example, when practitioner psychologists became regulated by us on the 1st July 2009, only those who held British Psychological Society practising certificates and who held or held in the past membership of one of the divisions relating to a relevant domain of practice transferred. This is fine detail that would need to be discussed between the Department of Health, the organisation concerned and us prior to the opening of the register. For example, as we register at the point of qualification and do not hold a student register, we would not want to transfer any data relating to students. In addition, we know that some registers differentiate between psychotherapists and counsellors, whilst others do not, and, depending on the final recommendations, we may need to enter into discussions about which parts or sections of registers transfer and to which ‘sub-section’ of the HPC register.

With regards whether someone can refuse their data to be transferred, this is something that an individual would need to take up with the organisation that holds their data (i.e. the holder of the voluntary register); this would also be something which might be covered during discussions with the Department of Health in specifying the registers that transfer in the section 60 order. Once the section 60 order comes into force, that gives the holder of the register the legal permission to transfer the register data.

4) What happens if someone whose data you hold after the transfer of a voluntary register does not re-register? Is it deleted, or held for the purposes of investigation of a protected title?

If someone transfers of the HPC register but does not renew their registration, they will no longer be registered and their name will no longer appear in the public-facing register.

In terms of the data we hold, if someone lapses from our register, their details would remain in our registration database (but no details would be publicly available). In many circumstances, someone may come off our register because they are taking a career break or are going on maternity leave but wish to re-register again in the future. Sometimes individuals also fail to renew their registration on time because of an oversight on their part and need to apply for readmission to the register so that they can begin to practise again. If someone has been previously registered with us, they have to complete an application form. If someone has previously been registered with us, we do not ask for proof of qualification but we ask instead for confirmation that they were previously registered. Subject to checks that the information we require has been received, they will be re-registered under their previous registration number – this avoids potentially creating duplicate entries in our register, ensuring the register remains as accurate as possible.

The information is not retained for the purposes of investigating protection of title offences. However, if we do receive a complaint about the potential misuse of a protected title, our first check is to ensure the person concerned isn’t already registered with us. Sometimes we receive complaints about the misuse of protected titles where the person is already registered with us, sometimes under their maiden rather than their married name or vice versa. In such circumstances we can normally advise the complainant and registrant as appropriate and close the case without the need for further investigation.

5) How do you know who their employer is? Why do you write to the employer?

When someone registers with us or renews their registration, we ask them to provide /update us with a home address and employer / practice address (if they have one). The employer / practice address is used in order to provide information on our online register which includes the approximate geographical area in which the registrant practises. For example, someone who worked in SE11 would have the location ‘London’ listed against their name in the online register. However, their full home or employer / practice address would not be publicly available. Listing a general area on the public-facing register means that a member of the public can easily identify a practitioner as this allows them to differentiate between registrants with the same or similar names.

If the voluntary register holds details on employer / practice address, this will normally be given to HPC as part of the Register transfer. However, this data will sometimes not be held on the voluntary register, or, in the case of a HPC registrant, this information may not have been provided or the registrant may not have kept their details up to date.

When someone lapses from the register, we will write to the employers details (if we have them) within a month to let them know that the individual has lapsed. If someone is not on our Register, then they are legally unable to continue using a protected title. We do not have powers to make any legal requirements of employers directly; it is an individual’s responsibility to renew their registration if they still wish to practise using a protected title.

We write to the known employer following feedback we received from employers who asked us to do this. They wanted to ensure that they met their obligations to ensure that their staff were registered when necessary. In particular, employers want to avoid problems that arise where a member of staff fails to renew their registration but does not advise their employer who is unaware until the next time they check the registration status of members of staff.

The letter we send to employers (if we have this information) advises them that a registrant has lapsed from the registrant and explains that they are legally unable to use the protected title for their profession until they have readmitted to the register.

This letter is only sent where we hold details and where someone has lapsed from the register because they have failed to renew their registration and pay the requisite fee by the renewal date. However, registrants may decide to come off our register at any time by voluntarily asking us to remove their name.

I hope the above is helpful and answers your questions; but please let me know should you have any additional questions or points of clarification.

Kind regards,

Michael Guthrie"