§ Mr. HinchliffeTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will make available to local authorities the specific funding for social work student placements which is available to voluntary and private agencies;
(2) what action he is taking to ensure that local authorities provide an adequate number of social work placements for students on the course leading to the Diploma in Social Work.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyIt is the responsibility of local authorities as employers to ensure that they have adequate numbers of suitably qualified social work staff. Authorities must, therefore, plan to make available sufficient good quality practice placements for students on social work qualifying courses and to honour agreements to do so into which they have entered as partners in Diploma in Social Work programme provider consortia.
Funding for practice placements is made available to local authorities through the revenue support grants, and we have also allowed authorities to use the training support programme to fund additional placement days. In recognition of the importance which we attach to securing practice placement provision, we have provided CCETSW with £1.85 million (rising to £2.5 million in 1993–94) for a practice placements initiative which will enable additional practice teachers to be appointed.
§ Mr. HinchliffeTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what consideration has been given to using the training support programme for social work student placements in local authorities.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyPractice placements for social work students are already eligible expenditure under the training support programme. In 1990–91 over 16,800 additional practice placements days were funded from TSP.