§ Mr. KidneyTo ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his oral statement to the House on 5 November 1998,Official Report, columns 1011–13, what assessment he has made of the call for a comprehensive system of training and qualification for all residential care workers contained in the Residential Forum's report, "A Golden Opportunity". [66814]
§ Mr. HuttonWe are working to reshape training for residential child care staff in the context of the White Paper Modernising Social Services and as an integral part of our Quality Protects programme. To achieve our aims, we shall work in partnership with employment, users, professional and education interests in order that the best possible training opportunities may be provided for these staff. We have already begun this work through a series of initiatives reviewing the content of professional social work training, investing in new post qualifying training specifically for child care to be delivered in centres of excellence and by funding training to National Vocational Qualifications level 3 for other residential child care staff.
109WWe see residential child care work as being firmly rooted in the values and ethos of social work and we intend to continue this as the basis of training for staff who deal with damaged and vulnerable children.