§ Lord Northbourneasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they intend to take action to ensure that local authority childcare homes have adequate funding and enough appropriately trained staff to provide the care that damaged children need. [HL654]
§ Lord Hunt of Kings HeathWe are making significant additional resources available for personal social services (PSS) over the next three years (2003–04 to 2005–06). Total PSS resources are set to increase by an average 6 per cent per year in real terms over that period. The children's services grant alone will total over £560 million in 2003–04. However, most of the resources available to local government are not earmarked and it is for each individual local council to decide how much to spend on its children's homes in the light of its local priorities.
The Care Standards Act commenced in April 2002. National minimum standards for children's homes were issued along with this Act and these form the basis for judgments made by the National Care Standards Commission as to whether individual homes are providing satisfactory care for the children they are looking after. Standard 29 states that in every children's home a minimum ratio of all staff should have completed their National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) level 3 in Caring for Children and Young People by January 2005. Staff may hold other qualifications that require similar competencies to the NVQ3.
Currently £57 million is allocated through the training support programme. The objective of this is to increase significantly the proportion of staff who have appropriate qualifications for the work that 195WA they undertake, at vocational, qualifying and post-qualifying levels.
In 2003–04—as part of the financial settlement for the personal social services—new grants have been allocated to improve the skills of the social care workforce, so that they are able to deliver care that meets the national minimum standards.