HC Deb 03 March 2004 vol 418 cc1048-9W
Phil Sawford

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the average cost of complying with statutory requirements for each individial care worker in respect of(a) criminal records checks, (b) NVQ training, (c) health and safety training, (d) manual handling training, (e) food hygiene training, (f) first aid training and (g) other statutory requirements. [158236]

Dr. Ladyman

The cost to an employer for a Criminal Records Bureau check is £29 for an enhanced check and £24 for a standard check. This will increase to £33 and £28 respectively as of 1 April 2004.

National Vocational Qualification training is not a statutory requirement on all individual social care workers. However the Department's National Minimum Standards set out the proportions of staff that should have achieved NVQ qualification in each type of service provision in order for that provision to be registered by the National Care Services Commission.

For strategic planning purposes, the Department accepts the cost estimate from Topss England, the national training organisation for social care, which is £1,000 per NVQ qualification. This is very approximate because NVQ qualifications differ substantially across the levels, and every worker brings different experience and learning capacity to their assessments.

In respect of other training, it is for the employer of social care workers to ensure that their staff training meets statutory requirements, which vary between different care settings, and no data collection is made centrally of the costs.

To assist employers in this, in addition to the substantial general finance settlement increases to local councils, and the existing Department's Training Support Programme Grant (£56 million), the Department introduced a new National Training Strategy Specific Grant to councils for 2003–04 of £25 million, rising to £31 million next year, and a provisional £95 million the year after. For 2003–04, this grant has a condition attached that councils must spend 50 per cent, of their allocation on workers in the private and voluntary sectors. For 2004–05 and 2005–06 this grant will become a Specific Formula Grant, and cease to be ring fenced, therefore without any conditions. Also the Department funds Topss England £15 million per annum to support the implementation of their National Traininmg Strategy. In addition to the Department's grants, funding is being drawn into the system from many other sources, most notably the Learning and Skill Councils.

Forward to