The Scottish Government has announced (5 April 2017) the allocation of £1 million to voluntary sector care at home and housing support services to support staff to meet qualification requirements.
The fund is intended to aid voluntary organisations, particularly small-medium sized organisations, to ensure that staff meet the registration requirements set by the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC). The funding can be used directly to fund or support new training and development needs associated with meeting the requirements for registration with the SSSC.
The Voluntary Sector Development Fund money is being allocated to 79 charities which provide care at home and housing support services.
In light of the announcement, Dr Donald Macaskill said:
“We welcome this announcement by the Scottish Government to support the development of a qualified, registered social care workforce. We look forward to further discussions with the Scottish Government and other partners around how to ensure this critical workforce are trained, supported and valued appropriately. However, we are concerned about the nature of this funding allocation in that it is only accessible to the voluntary sector. In keeping with the principles of health and social care integration, we believe there should not be unhelpful segregations of the social care sector but that the contribution of every worker should be valued equally, regardless of employer.”
For more information about the funding allocation announcement, please see https://beta.gov.scot/news/1-million-for-care-worker-training-2017-04-05/
