Funding is available for non-regulated members of the Adult Social Care (ASC) workforce in England. This includes deputy and Care Quality Commission (CQC) registered managers, as well as agency staff.
Care staff
Care staff must be employed by an organisation, including Local Authorities, who must:
- provide an ASC service
- directly employ care staff in England
- have completed the ASC Workforce Data Set (ASC-WDS)
There is no restriction on the number of hours that care staff must be contracted for to be eligible to claim.
Care staff do not need to have British citizenship to qualify for the Learning and Development Support Scheme. They must be legally employed in England and have a UK National Insurance Number.
They can be employed in a direct care role or non direct role.
Personal Assistants
Claims can be made for Personal Assistants (PAs) within the ASC workforce, employed by an employer who has completed the ASC-WDS for their organisation.
PAs whose employers are unable to complete the ASC-WDS should seek funding for training through Skills for Care's Individual Employer Funding scheme.
Who is not eligible
Organisations cannot claim for a course if the employee was not in employment with their organisation at the start of the course.
Organisations cannot claim for care staff with a legal or regulatory requirement to register with a regulatory body.
These are normally referred to as regulated members of the ASC workforce, such as:
- social workers
- occupational therapists
- registered nurses
- nursing associates
- occupational therapists
- allied health professionals
- counsellors