Adult social care apprentices meet Health Secretary

News Release 5 February 2010, Ref 05/10

Adult social care apprentices from all over England met Health Secretary Andy Burnham to celebrate the sector's contribution to National Apprenticeship Week.

Andy Burnham was joined by Social Care Minister Phil Hope at a reception for some of the best social care apprentices and their employers who have been working closely with Skills for Care to encourage more people to take the apprenticeship route into the sector.

Apprentices from Voyage, Oxfordshire County Council, Hendra House, Barchester, Look Ahead Housing and Care, Southern Cross, Hertfordshire County Council and Gateshead Council took the opportunity to tell Ministers how becoming an apprentice has changed not only their lives but improved the lives of the of the people they work with.

Some apprentices had joined social care schemes to escape unemployment with others joining straight from school but one apprentice described it as going from 'unemployed to well respected.'

Skills for Care's national apprenticeship team have worked with hundreds of employers and last year achieved an impressive 65% increase in the number of certification of completion of framework across the sector.

"Skills for Care has put significant investment into creating apprenticeships in adult social care because we believe the potential for apprentices is virtually limitless so I'm delighted our very impressive apprentices got the chance to tell Andy Burnham and Phil Hope their stories," says Skills for Care CEO Andrea Rowe.

"Apprenticeships are a key part of our strategy to meet the looming recruitment crisis in our sector and aside from the inspirational stories of how becoming an apprentice does change lives we know employing apprentices also has a very clear benefit for employers and people who use services."

Media enquiries:

Paul Clarke: 0113 2411297/ 07977519287. paul.clarke@skillsforcare.org.uk

Notes to editors:

1. Skills for Care is the employment-led strategic body for workforce development in adult social care in England, which is licensed jointly with its UK allies by UKCES to be the 'Skills for Care and Development' Sector Skills Council (SSC). The other members of the SSC are the Children's Workforce Development Council (also for England), the General Social Care Council, the Scottish Social Services Council, the Care Council for Wales, and the Northern Ireland Social Care Council.
2. Skills for Care forms a strategic overview of workforce needs in adult social care, which accounts for nearly 1.5 million workers or 5 per cent of England's workforce, spread over more than 35,000 employers. Skills for Care members are drawn from groups representing public, private and voluntary sector care employers, along with representatives of staff, trainers, service users and informal carers. Social care includes residential care, domiciliary care and social work with all its specialisms.
3. Skills for Care and its SSC allies promote and develop the social care sector's National Occupational Standards which are statements of competence that describe 'best practice'.
4. Skills for Care regional committees are major brokers of funding for social care workforce development.