£500 million of dedicated funding to help develop the social care workforce

From tomorrow, Wednesday 6 April, the Health and Social Care Levy will begin to raise funds to help tackle COVID-19 backlogs and reform services. The levy includes £500 million of dedicated funding to help develop the social care workforce over the next three years.

The funding will be spent to help improve recruitment, retention, progression, and staff wellbeing within the social care sector.

The offer laid out by government will help the social care system recover from the pandemic by attracting new staff into the sector and supporting those already in it by providing significant investment in individual learning and development and supporting staff mental health and wellbeing.

 The funding will provide:

• a knowledge and skills framework, career pathways and linked investment for learning and development to support progression for care workers and registered managers
• funding for Care Certificates, alongside significant work to create a delivery standard recognised across the sector to improve transferability across settings, so care workers do not need to repeat the Care Certificate when moving roles
• continuous professional development budgets for registered nurses, nursing associates, occupational therapists and other allied health professionals
• initiatives to provide wellbeing and mental health support and to improve access to occupational health to support staff resilience and recovery following their role in the pandemic
• a new digital hub for the workforce to access support, information and advice, and a portable record of learning and development
• new policies to identify and support best recruitment practices locally
• exploration of new national and local policies to ensure consistent implementation of the above, as well as higher standards of employment and care provided

Minister of State for Care and Mental Health Gillian Keegan said today:

“I am incredibly proud of all the social care staff who have worked so hard, particularly during the pandemic. As we recover from COVID-19, we must look to the future and to reform – this £500 million package of support will boost workforce recruitment, allow staff to progress in their careers in the sector and very importantly, ensure staff wellbeing is better supported.”

“The type of genuinely transformational change cannot be accomplished overnight. We know staff will need continued support, but we hope this package will level up opportunities for current and future social care staff.”

You can find out more about the Health & Social Care Levy here.