A new National Skills Academy for Social Care has been launched by the government, which aims to train and raise the status of social care workers.
The new academy will lead training for 35,000 employers in the sector in a bid to upskill and create clearer career paths for the existing workforce in the wake of the Baby P scandal.
Employers in the sector will be encouraged to help shape the training agenda to ensure the skills acquired by workers suit their needs.
Skills minister Kevin Brennan said: “A new National Skills Academy for Social Care will help build a world-beating workforce that will improve standards and help shape rewarding careers – not just among new recruits but within the existing workforce.”
Care services minister Phil Hope added: “We need to ensure that we have a workforce in place that is well equipped to deliver high-quality services driven by the people who use them. The employer-led skills academy will be the driving force to ensure this.
“I want to boost the status of social care so that the sector can attract and retain the best and brightest candidates.”
The academy will focus on increasing up-take of apprenticeships and has already introduced a National Management Trainee scheme pilot to train 20 graduates to become the industry’s future executives.
The new academy will receive £6m in government funding for its first three years, and is the 13th skills academy.
Earlier in the year, Personnel Today‘s sister publication, Community Care, revealed one in nine social care positions remained vacant.
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