Guidance

Adult Social Work Apprenticeship Fund: guidance

Updated 3 October 2024

Applies to England

Guidance updated 13 August 2024

This guidance has been updated because the Social Work Apprenticeship Fund proposed by the last government will not be continued. See this statement from the Minister of State for Care on changes to the adult social care workforce reform programme.

This does not affect the first round of allocations from this fund, under which £8 million was awarded in March 2024.

Introduction

In January 2024 the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) committed £12 million to support local authorities’ adult social work services to create additional adult social work apprenticeships. In March 2024, £8 million of the funding was delivered. The further £4 million committed by the previous government has been suspended.

 

Purpose

The purpose of the Adult Social Work Apprenticeship Fund was to increase social worker capacity in local authority adult social care. The funding provided a contribution for local authorities to fund the costs associated with facilitating apprenticeships that are not otherwise covered by the apprenticeship levy. Local authorities could apply for funding of up to £30,000 per apprenticeship.

The apprenticeship levy (or levy transfers for non-levy paying employers) funds the higher education institute degree elements of an apprenticeship. There are other elements to an apprenticeship that the Adult Social Work Apprenticeship Fund should be used for, such as recruitment, supervision and management costs.

A more detailed list of what the funding is advised to be used for is in the ‘Funding criteria’ section below.

The Adult Social Work Apprenticeship Fund aimed to:

• increase social worker workforce capacity in adult social care
• contribute to the wider government levelling up agenda, through supporting all training routes into the social work profession and creating workforces that reflect all communities
• increase opportunity for those who may not have the financial resources to pursue social work as a career through the traditional academic route
• support adult social care pressures - increasing the number of apprentices will create additional social work capacity to manage assessments, undertake safeguarding enquiries and complex casework, support hospital discharge, and tackle assessment waiting lists

We expect local authorities to use the fund to support the creation of adult social work apprentices that are in addition to the local authority’s existing pipeline of social work apprentices. We also expect local authorities to work with their chosen training provider to ensure delivery of the degree training elements of the apprenticeship.

To access the funding, local authorities were invited to submit an expression of interest (EOI) application form and were required to meet all the eligibility criteria set out in this guidance and on the application form itself.

More information can be found in the ‘About the EOI application process’ section below.

It’s important to note that:

• DHSC was under no obligation to accept any application or make an award of funding
• costs incurred in submitting an application are ineligible expenditure under the terms of the grant
• DHSC funding for the Adult Social Work Apprenticeship Fund cannot be extended past 31 March 2025

About this funding

There was one application round in February 2024. Following this, £8 million was distributed in March 2024. Local authorities were able to apply for up to £30,000 per apprenticeship.

DHSC’s expectation is that the grant will be fully spent on recruiting and training adult social work apprentices.

About the EOI application process

Who could submit an EOI

We welcomed EOIs from individual local authorities and groups of collaborating local authorities in England.

Where local authorities were collaborating, a lead local authority had to be identified. If successful, the lead local authority would be responsible for managing funding, providing evidence of money spent (in line with the terms of the grant award) and receiving grant payments.

Eligibility criteria

The information set out below was required in section 2 of the EOI form.

Only local authorities that met all the essential criteria below were eligible for funding.

The eligibility criteria required local authorities to confirm:

• they are able to employ an apprentice for the remainder of the social work degree apprenticeship once the grant funding comes to an end on 31 March 2025

• the funding is intended to be used to support apprentices working in adult social care that are additional to the local authority’s existing recruitment of social work apprentices

• responsibility for staffing costs incurred following the apprentice qualifying - for example, employing a qualified apprentice in a social worker role

• that the apprentice will be able to start the apprenticeship in financial years 2023 to 2024 or 2024 to 2025

• that their chosen training provider can accommodate the number of planned apprenticeships

EOI application assessment method

We aimed to distribute the funding to local authorities across the country that meet the eligibility criteria fairly, and according to the following priorities:

1. Applications to recruit adult social work apprentices in roles to support adult social care discharge - for example, hospital-based discharge and care teams.
2. Applications that were submitted first - according to the date and time the application was received.

Funding request and criteria

Local authorities were asked to detail the number of apprentices they were requesting funding for and the expected and/or proposed start date for their apprentice.

The application form also provided information on expectations for the use of the funding. This included:

• costs associated with the training and supervision of the apprentice, including practice educator recruitment and training costs, which are separate to those funded by the apprenticeship levy

• costs incurred co-ordinating and managing the apprenticeship programme and/or the relationship with the training provider

• recruitment costs associated with the creation of the apprenticeship vacancy, excluding marketing costs

• costs associated with periods of contrasted learning or other required elements of the apprenticeship

• other non-training costs that are not currently covered by the apprenticeship levy (excluding any backfill-related costs), such as travel and subsidiary costs, managerial costs and costs associated with setting up an apprenticeship programme

Funding cannot be used for:

• salary costs for cover when apprentices are undertaking study and/or training

• costs associated with the higher education institute degree elements of an apprenticeship that are covered by the levy

It’s important that local authorities take note of what the fund can and cannot be used for, as there is an expectation that successful local authorities complete a financial return in future to confirm that the funding has been spent on activity related to the creation of additional adult social work apprentices.

More information about the funding return was included in the memorandum of understanding (MOU) sent to local authorities and/or collaborating local authorities that were successful in the EOI application process.

Paying the grant

For the first round of funding that was available, following the EOI process, DHSC transferred funding to successful local authorities in an up-front payment in March 2024.

Local authorities were paid through a section 31 grant under the Local Government Act 2003. This power enables any Minister of the Crown, with the consent of HM Treasury, to pay any local authority in England towards expenditure incurred or to be incurred by that authority.

Requirements for local authorities

Local authority reporting on spending

Successful local authorities were expected to complete and return an MOU. The MOU was not legally binding but further set out expectations for how the grant funding should be used.

The MOU was sent to individual local authorities or the cohort of local authorities that have been successful in securing funding following the EOI process. The MOU included information about future reporting requirements.

We will seek evidence from local authorities that:

• they have spent funds on activity associated with the recruitment and training of adult social work apprentices (refer to the ‘Funding request and criteria’ section in this document)

• their spend has resulted in the successful recruitment of an adult social work apprentice - defined as an enrolled adult social work apprentice

• the adult social work apprentice has completed their first year

Note: we will not require copies of the apprentices’ documentation and/or personal data but will require anonymised confirmation of enrolment and completion for each apprentice.

For more information on DHSC use of data, see the DHSC privacy notice.

DHSC departmental assurance processes

Local authorities are expected to comply with any departmental assurance processes. DHSC will review the information provided by local authorities. If DHSC finds evidence of the grant being misused, it will seek to recover the funding.

Local authority assurance processes

Local authorities are advised to assure themselves that they have spent this funding correctly. There is an expectation for local authorities to work with DHSC to provide the necessary information and data to monitor and evaluate progress against the aims of the fund. As part of this, local authorities will be asked over the next 2 years to complete and sign the following documents:

• statement of grant usage (signed by a ‘section 151’ officer)
• financial breakdown seeking assurance that the funds have been spent on activity associated with the recruitment and training of an adult social work apprentice

DHSC will also request confirmation of adult social work apprenticeship course enrolments and first year course completion. More information on these processes will be included in the MOU sent to each local authority.

Managing risk of fraud

Local authorities should:

• maintain a sound system of internal financial controls
• ensure that appropriate measures are put in place to mitigate against the risk of fraud
• assure themselves that they are legitimate recipients of this funding
• as far as possible, put measures in place to ensure this funding is not used to support activity that has been funded by an alternative source of public funding

If a local authority has any grounds for suspecting financial irregularity in the use of this funding, it should notify DHSC immediately, explain what steps are being taken to investigate the suspicion and keep DHSC informed about the progress of the investigation. For the purposes of interpretation, ‘financial irregularity’ includes fraud or other impropriety, mismanagement, and the use of a grant for purposes other than those for which it was provided.

Circumstances where local authorities will be expected to return funds

Local authorities should promptly notify and repay immediately to DHSC any money incorrectly paid to it either as a result of an administrative error or otherwise. If the local authority fails to repay the due sum immediately, the sum will be recoverable summarily as a civil debt.

Other circumstances where local authorities will be expected to return funds will be specified in the MOU that local authorities should have signed and returned to DHSC.

Local authorities will be expected to return funds if the:

• apprentice fails to complete their apprenticeship
• local authority fails to recruit apprentices following successful EOI application
• funding is not spent in line with the funding criteria
• money has not been spent by local authorities and/or where there is underspend

Subsidy control

Local authorities should ensure they comply with their obligations under the Subsidy Control Act 2022 and the relevant UK subsidy control statutory guidance.