Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with the Education and Skills Funding Agency on increasing the level of apprenticeship levy for adult care workers from the current lowest band of £3,000.

No such discussions have taken place.

Apprenticeships are an important entry route into the social care sector, offer an excellent opportunity for employers to upskill existing staff and train new staff as part of high-quality training programmes, and provide clear career progression routes through the sector.

Apprenticeship standards are allocated funding bands based on recommendations made to the Department for Education by the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE), which is an employer led Non-Departmental Body. The funding bands for Adult Care Worker and Lead Adult Care Worker apprenticeships were reviewed by IfATE in January 2019. Following discussions with the social care trailblazer group (a group of employers involved in developing apprenticeship standards for their industry) and looking at available evidence, both were retained at the same funding rate.

IfATE continue to keep the funding of all standards under review to ensure that funding bands remain appropriate.