Health Minister Jacqui Smith today announced last week the investment of £15 million to fund training and development for the social care workforce.

The extra money will be made available to TOPSS England (Training Organisation for Personal Social Services) and will provide training and development opportunities for 26,500 social care staff. The money will be used to fund a range of initiatives including induction training for 6,000 staff and strengthening NVQ frameworks. The money is on top of £2 million that was invested last year into the fund set up by the Government to help with the implementation of the national training strategy. The money has been used by TOPSS to support induction training for new recruits to the social care workforce.

Jacqui Smith said:
"A high quality workforce is crucial to ensure that the country's most vulnerable people receive the best possible services. Social care workers are a key part of delivering the Government's modernisation agenda as they are at the heart of public services. All corners of society will potentially come in to contact with them through their work in hospitals, community mental health teams, schools, prisons as well as social services departments, residential care homes, day centres and in people's own homes.

"Up until now there has not been a tendency for social care staff to seek qualifications and only 20 per cent of the one million people working in social care have relevant qualifications. There is a big job ahead of us but the £15 million will go a long way to providing that first step on the ladder to gaining relevant qualifications and training."

Within the National Minimum Standards that the National Care Standards Commission (NCSC) are publishing and the Learning Disability White Paper - Valuing People - there is a requirement for both care staff and managers to obtain specific qualifications by 2005.

In addition to induction training staff will be supported to gain NVQ awards. By setting up a strong NVQ infrastructure over the coming year employers will be able to train staff and managers in years to come and promote a culture of lifelong learning and continuous professional development within social care.

The investment in training is part of an overall Government drive to raise standards in social care. The General Social Care Council (GSCC), NCSC and Social Care Institute of Excellence (SCIE) have all been established to take forward the commitment to raising standards.

In October 2001 the Government launched a three year initiative to encourage more people to enter social work and social care. The first wave of activity included a £1.5 million advertising campaign which generated over 14,000 calls to the information line and over 11,000 visitors to the website