Skills for Care Training Strategy Implementation Funding 2009 - 2010 (England Only)

We regret that there is no comparable funding by Skills for Care's equivalent bodies in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

2009/10 Contract

UKHCA has been successful in obtaining a contract from Skills for Care for the eighth year running This funding plays a vital role in supporting our member organisations in England to implement their workforce training strategies and builds on the success of our 2008-09 project.

For 2009/2010 Skills for Care will provide funding for the following:-

• Common Induction Standard (CIS), Manager Induction Standard, Learning Disability Qualification
• NVQ Health and Social Care awards
• First Aid, Food Hygiene, Moving and Handling (validated by an external accredited body)*
• English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) for Work (for 2009/10 only)*

The funding is available on a strictly first come first served basis and employers must meet the following criteria:-

• Be in full, current membership of UKHCA
• Complete our partnership form - this can be downloaded from our web site or a copy is available from Ailsa Blair 020 8288 1553 or ailsa.blair@ukhca.co.uk or Sharon Hutton on 020 8288 1716 sharon.hutton@ukhca.co.uk.
• *Have signed up to the National Minimum Data Set-Social Care (NMDS-SC)

*Skills for Care will not fund any claims from those organisations that has not registered on the NMDS-SC web site www.nmds-sc-online.co.uk and obtained a NMDS-SC unique reference code.

The 2009/10 paperwork for claiming under this project was circulated electronically and by post on 23/24 June 2009.

UKHCA is able to add new partners to this partnership during the year. Member organisations in England that wish to join our partnership should complete and return the partnership form which can be downloaded from our web site.

UKHCA received a contract for 2009/10 on 12th June 2009. In the short period of operation of this year’s contract we have experienced an unprecedented surge in demand for funding of Skills for Care units. This we believe is the result of; capping the Train to Gain funding and Skills for Care decision to fund a number of internal short courses for the first time. 

UKHCA has made representation through Ministerial channels to increase the level of Train to Gain funding and TSI Funding. 

In order to make an equitable distribution of funds, we find it necessary, in the short term, to impose a restriction on the number of units that can be funded per organisation. This constraint will be in place until the contract value can be re-assessed in November.

Funding will still be on a first come first served basis within the limits set out below.

• 50 Inductions per organisation
  (if an organisation has more than one office/branch in partnership then each will have an upper limit of 50)
• 24 NVQ Units NVQ per organisation
  (if an organisation has more than one office/branch in partnership then each will have an upper limit of 24)
  (This must not include any NVQ units that have been received through Train to Gain or where the learner has paid or contributed towards the cost of the NVQ award)
• 10 Short Courses per organisation
  (if an organisation has more than one office/branch in partnership then each will have an upper limit of 10)

New Evidence Requirements for Short Courses First Aid, Fodd Hygiene, Moving & Handling and ESOL for Work

Skills for Care have provided the following comprehensive clarification and guidance regarding the evidence requirements for the above courses. This notification supersedes previous communication regarding evidence requirements for these learning programmes.

Skills for Care has stipulated that the above learning programmes must be validated by an awarding or official recognising body, irrespective of how the course is delivered. As well as the usual Skills for Care Claim form fully completed the following evidence requirements must be provided:

• A valid Learner Certificate
• Evidence that shows the course is validated by an awarding or official recognising body. This should be in the form of documentation issued from the awarding or official recognising body to the training provider that they are approved to deliver that particular course (if not clearly demonstrated on the Learner Certificate)

Moving & Handling of People Skills for Care is aware that there is not an identifiable external awarding body. As a result the usual Skills for Care Claim form fully completed must be accompanied with:-

• Either the CV or qualification demonstrating the trainer’s ability in this subject
• Documents detailing the learning outcomes and/or assessment criteria

Please note the distinction between the evidence requirement for Moving & Handling and the Moving & Handling of People.

Skills for Care have stated that these learning programmes are for 2009/10 only and each organisation can only claim for one Moving & Handling or One First Aid or one Food Hygiene course per learner, irrespective of the course title.

Once your organisation is a partner in order to claim your units you need to have :-

• Completed and returned the UKHCA Agreement form
• Updated the NMDS-SC organisation information using the web site www.nmds-sc-online.org.uk

If your partner organisation has already submitted more than the above allocation these units will be returned on request, otherwise these will be held until November when these limits will be reviewed .

If you have any questions please contact Ailsa Blair 020 8288 1553 or email ailsa.blair@ukhca.co.uk or Sharon Hutton 020 8288 1716 or email sharon.hutton@ukhca.co.uk.

New Partners

If your organisation wishes to access this funding then it is important that you complete and return the partnership form. Where your organisation has more than one office/branch please attach a separate sheet to your partnership form with the name and address and unique NMDS-SC reference code for each office/branch.

Current 2008/09 partners

All organisations that completed a partnership form and were included in our 2008/09 partnership are not required to complete another form.

NMDS-SC (National Minimum Data Set for Social Care)

Skills for Care will not accept any claims from organisations that have not completed and returned the partnership form and can provide a unique NMDS-SC reference code. Skills for Care also require all partner organisations to update their organisational record after 1st April 2009 using www.nmds-sc-online.org.uk. Your organisation can obtain a unique reference code by completing the questionnaire on line at www.nmds-sc-online.org.uk. NMDS-SC Help Line is 0845 873 0129.

To sign up on the NMDS please see: www.nmds-sc-online.org.uk/

The NMDS aims to deliver a national picture of the social care workforce in England. This in turn will produce vital data to support the case for more funding for the domiciliary care sector to recruit, train and retain care staff through workforce development initiatives.

Skills for Care have already developed a Sector Skills Agreement (SSA) which outlines agreed solutions to the already identified gaps in workforce development. The key priorities in the SSA are:

• Leadership, management and human resource practice
• Attracting and retaining a quality workforce- ensuring employability and progression skills
• Developing the skills of the social care workforce of the future- workplace intelligence, workforce skills and support systems
• Developing new types of working
• Improving the skills and enhancing the roles of commissioners

As with any competitive bidding process there is no guarantee that we will be successful or indeed be able to every organisation's training needs through this route. However, we continue to seek further funding from various other sources for all parts of the United Kingdom.

2008/09 Project

This project is now closed.

Train to Gain (England Only)

We regret that there is no comparable funding equivalent bodies in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

What is Train to Gain?

Train to Gain is a funding stream designed to increase the level of qualifications in the current workforce to an NVQ level 2 standard. Employees meeting the train to gain criteria will be entitled to a free level 2 National Vocational Qualification (NVQ).

Employees must be:

• 19 years of age or older
• Hold a National Insurance Number
• Have been resident in the European Union for the last 3 years
• Have NO formal qualifications equivalent to 5 GCSE grade A-C or above

How can I access Train to Gain with UKHCA

Please contact UKHCA Assessment Centre: 01202 683222 for further information.