Skills for Care complete move to area networks

News release 5 April 2012

Skills for Care has completed a move to area networks that will provide more flexible support to adult social care employers to develop the skills and knowledge of 1.56 million workers across England.

The area networks will reach a wider range of employers bringing together stakeholders through different mediums including face-to face meetings, networking events, email and other virtual opportunities.

Each area network will have a core network group with members representing different sector constituencies who will help shape the activities of stakeholders, set priority areas for discussion and allocate a core network member to each stakeholder theme.

The stakeholder networks will include a wide range of representatives including private, voluntary and independent employers, small, medium and large employers, statutory employers, people who employ their own staff and training providers.

The stakeholder networks will use activities like facilitated discussions to provide summaries of area opinion and views with recommended solutions.

The added benefits of network membership include shaping and informing policy through active conversations that are fed directly to policy makers, access to the latest information on workforce policy, information on the latest Skills for Care resources and an opportunity to network with other stakeholders to share good practice.

"The move to these more flexible area networks could only have been completed thanks to a huge amount of effort by employers in each area and Skills for Care are in their debt for that support," says Skills for Care CEO Sharon Allen.

"The new structure will allow a really robust discussion about the big issues that face each area, but as importantly a chance for employers to not only influence workforce development policy, offering solutions based on the hard won experiences of stakeholders in each area."

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). Both organisations are chaired by Professor David Croisdale-Appleby. 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 1.56 million workers spread over 48,300 establishments employing care staff. 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 area networks are major brokers of funding for social care workforce development.