Skills for Care Workforce Development Fund
- Name of the instrument - Local language
- Skills for Care Workforce Development Fund
- Name of the instrument - English translation
- Skills for Care Workforce Development Fund
- Scheme ID
- 223
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Reporting year
- 2020
- Type of instrument
- Grant for companies
- Sub-type of instrument
- Support for direct costs
- Type of entry
- Single instrument
- Short description
The Department for Health provides funding for employers in the care sector to up-skill their staff. Employers may apply for funding for training programmes that range from health and social care 'license to practice' qualifications to higher-level apprenticeships and Master's courses. Funding is available for course fees (or employer contributions) and associated costs such as employees' salaries while they are undertaking training, coaching and mentoring costs, venue costs for the training, and wage replacement costs. All costs must be incurred before being claimed and employers will need records in place to provide evidence. Organisations apply for the fund through a Partnership and must be operating in England, comply with Adult Social Care Workforce Data Set requirements. The sectors eligible for funding (i.e. priority training areas for fundings) are defined each annual funding cycle and available through the skills for care website. This is de minimis grant funding.
- Short description of the related instruments
- Not applicable
- Level of operation
- Sectoral
- Name of a part of the country
- Not applicable
- Name of the region (for regional instruments)
- Not applicable
- Relevance
- Further instrument
- Legal basis
- Not applicable
- Objective(s) and target(s)
- To support the on-going professional development of staff across the adult social care sector.
- Year of implementation
- 2011
- Operation/management
- The Workforce Development Fund (WDF) is a funding opportunity for adult social care employers in England. It is a finite pot of money which allows employers to reclaim some of the costs incurred through the achievement of qualification units by their workforce. Funding is disbursed by Skills for Care (Sector Skills Council for the social care sector) which is received from the Department of Health.
- Eligible group(s)
- Employees in the social care sector
- Group(s) with preferential treatment
- Certain groups are prioritised annually based on the key sector priorities, in 2021 funding is provided to support new managers, existing managers, deputies and aspiring managers and apprenticeships.
- Education and training eligible
- Training focused on workforce development and on training which gains units and qualifications from the Qualifications and Credit Framework
- Source of financing and collection mechanism
- State (Department of Health)
- Financing formula and allocation mechanisms
- The Workforce Development Fund provides funding based on the credit size of each qualification unit. GBP 15 is funded for each qualification unit. Funding is provided through Skills for Care, following application from employers.
- Eligible costs
- Specific arrangement
- Volumes of funding
- Not available
- Beneficiaries/take up
- Not available
- Organisation responsible for monitoring/evaluation
- Skills for Care.
- Most relevant webpage - in English
- http://www.skillsforcare.org.uk/Document-library/NMDS-SC,-workforce-int…
- Most relevant webpage - local language
- http://www.skillsforcare.org.uk/Document-library/NMDS-SC,-workforce-int…
- Recent changes
No recent amendment
Recent changes in response to COVID-19
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) is supporting the sector through funding rapid induction for newly recruited workers, volunteers' induction and essential refresher training for existing staff. The training is delivered by twelve endorsed providers and funded through the WDF.
- Sources
- http://www.brooklands.ac.uk/docs/Employer_fact_sheet_WDF_2013-14_%28Apr…
- http://www.skillsforcare.org.uk/Document-library/Funding/WDF-15---16/FA…
- http://www.skillsforcare.org.uk/Document-library/NMDS-SC,-workforce-int…
- https://www.skillsforcare.org.uk/Documents/About/Evaluating-our-impact/…
- Short description
- Short description of the related instruments
- Level of operation
- Name of a part of the country
- Name of the region (for regional instruments)
- Relevance
- Legal basis
- Objective(s) and target(s)
- Year of implementation
- Operation/management
- Eligible group(s)
- Group(s) with preferential treatment
- Education and training eligible
- Source of financing and collection mechanism
- Financing formula and allocation mechanisms
- Eligible costs
- Volumes of funding
- Beneficiaries/take up
- Organisation responsible for monitoring/evaluation
- Most relevant webpage - in English
- Most relevant webpage - local language
- Recent changes
- Sources