Adult Social Care Glossary, v 0.6

(3) In exercising a function under this Part in the case of an individual, a local authority must have regard to the following matters in particular-- (a) the importance of beginning with the assumption that the individual is best-placed to judge the individual's well-being; (b) the individual's views, wishes, feelings and beliefs; (c) the importance of preventing or delaying the development of needs for care and support or needs for support and the importance of reducing needs of either kind that already exist; (d) the need to ensure that decisions about the individual are made having regard to all the individual's circumstances (and are not based only on the individual's age or appearance or any condition of the individual's or aspect of the individual's behaviour which might lead others to make unjustified assumptions about the individual's well-being); (e) the importance of the individual participating as fully as possible in decisions relating to the exercise of the function concerned and being provided with the information and support necessary to enable the individual to participate; (f) the importance of achieving a balance between the individual's well-being and that of any friends or relatives who are involved in caring for the individual; (g) the need to protect people from abuse and neglect; (h) the need to ensure that any restriction on the individual's rights or freedom of action that is involved in the exercise of the function is kept to the minimum necessary for achieving the purpose for which the function is being exercised.

Working definitions of principles and standards (or rules) (adapted from Banks, S (2021) Ethics and Values in Social Work, 5th Edition. London: Red Globe Press, BASW Practical Social Work Series) Principles are essential norms in a system of thought or belief, which form the basis of reasoning in that system. In codes of ethics principles are often divided into two kinds: Ethical principles – general statements of ethical principles underpinning the work, relating to attitudes, rights and duties about human welfare, for example: ‘upholding and promoting human dignity and well-being.’ Principles of professional practice – general statements about how to achieve what is intended for the good of the service user, for example: ‘collaboration with colleagues’. Principles have a much broader scope than rules (or ‘standards’), tending to apply to all people in all circumstances (although in the case of social work, principles often refer to ‘all people using services’). So, for example, ‘social workers should respect people’s self-determination’ is an ethical principle; whereas ‘social workers should respect the rights of people using services to consult their files’ might be regarded as an ethical standard or rule. Standards can also be divided into two kinds, although often they are not clearly distinguished in codes of ethics: Ethical standards or rules – some general ‘do’s and don’ts’, sometimes framed as ‘standards’ for example: ‘do not permit knowledge to be used for discriminatory policies’; ‘protect all confidential information’. Professional practice standards – very specific guidance relating to professional practice, for example: ‘declare a bequest in a client’s will’; ‘advertising should not claim superiority’.