Date posted: 01/10/2021

New service to help businesses offer apprenticeships

A new government service will assist businesses in establishing more apprenticeship opportunities, allowing more people to obtain the careers they desire.

Large businesses will be able to easily pledge funds to smaller businesses through a new government service, to help create and recruit for more apprenticeship opportunities.

Date posted: 20/08/2021

£551m extra Covid funding for health and social services

The Welsh Government has set aside £411 million for ongoing pandemic costs until April 2022, as well as £140 million for recovery and reducing waiting times.

The Minister said: “The Covid pandemic has had a massive impact on the NHS and social services in Wales and is still facing significant costs in dealing with it. I am therefore pleased to confirm an extra £411m for these costs, including the vaccination programme, testing, PPE, and new cleaning standards for infection control.

Date posted: 13/08/2021

Skills for Care launches three-year strategy to develop social care workforce

Skills for Care has unveiled a new three-year strategy to help build the sector's 1.5 million workforce's values and skills, promote reform, and ensure that social care is recognised as a valuable and desirable vocation by the general public.

Skills for Care CEO, Oonagh Smyth, said: “We are delighted to launch our new strategy and excited about the impact it will have on people drawing on care and support and working in social care over the next three years.

Date posted: 04/08/2021

Rishi Sunak's Plan for Jobs boosted as apprenticeships hit an all-time high

Apprenticeship numbers reached an all-time high yesterday, boosting Rishi Sunak's Plan for Jobs. There are 18,950 openings for at-work training this summer, which is four times as many as this time last year.

Many bosses have taken advantage of the offer of £3,000 for every trainee they take on — unveiled in the Chancellor's spring Budget.

Date posted: 02/07/2021

Adult social care to be given over £250 million for protection against Covid-19

People in care homes or those being cared for at home will benefit from an extra £250 million to continue to protect them from Covid-19, the Department of Health and Social Care has announced.

Made up of £142.5 million Infection Control Funding and £108.8 million for testing, the fund will help protect people in adult social care by continuing to meet the cost of rigorous infection prevention and control measures, as restrictions in wider society are eased, and supporting rapid, regular testing of staff to prevent COVID-19 transmission.

Date posted: 16/06/2021

Samaritans helpline for health and social care workers extended

The Samaritans is extending its helpline for frontline health and care workers in England to provide support during the pandemic.

The charity’s helplines have supported thousands of NHS and social care workers since the start of the COVID crisis last year, and now the Department of Health and Social Care has agreed to extend funding for a dedicated line until at least September 2021.

Date posted: 01/06/2021

£100m to kick-start NHS and social care recovery from pandemic in Wales

Health and Social Services Minister Eluned Morgan has set out plans for a £100 million investment to kickstart the Welsh health and care system’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Date posted: 24/05/2021

New award to recognise exceptional practice in adult social care workforce

The government has launched gold and silver awards to pay tribute to the outstanding contribution made by staff working in social care in England. Chief Nurse for Adult Social Care, Professor Deborah Sturdy outlined her commitment to recognise the outstanding contribution made by nurses and care workers in adult social care in England and their enormous range of skills, expertise and compassion.

Date posted: 14/05/2021

National NHS and social care staff survey launched to identify current skills shortages and inform future workforce development

NHS and social care organisations across the UK over the last twelve months have undergone enormous change, mobilising effective workforce innovations and flexibilities at pace, to adapt and respond to unparalleled demand.

Due to the impact of COVID-19 as well as from pre-pandemic operating conditions, staff continue to face ongoing challenges. Skills for Health, the Sector Skills Council for Health have launched, the ‘Developing a Resilient Workforce Survey’ aims to identify the critical development shortages at an individual, organisational and systemic level, to support the UK government, NHS and social care leaders implement measures that will not only protect staff from pressures that pre-date the pandemic but, crucially, address the new challenges they will continue to face as a result of it.

Date posted: 05/05/2021

Three signs that someone has great management skills

How can you tell if someone has great leadership or management skills? Should you look at the training they've received or the activities they perform? While those are the typical ways to assess managers, it's actually a poor approach to assessing management skills.

Date posted: 21/04/2021

How Leaders Can Adapt To The Future Of Work To Drive Inclusivity and Productivity

Inclusive team leaders and managers are more likely to incorporate best practices based on the interests of everyone on their team. More and more, diversity in the workplace has been considered to be one of the most crucial essentials to a thriving, dynamic, and productive business.

Date posted: 15/04/2021

Where are our disabled senior leaders?

Disabled people are significantly less likely to be employed as managers. According to recent figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in the UK, just over half of disabled people (52.1%) aged 16 to 64 years in the UK were employed in 2020. Around 8 in 10 (81.3%) of non-disabled people were employed during the same period.

Date posted: 13/04/2021

How new leaders can make a positive and lasting impact

Stepping into a new leadership role can be a huge challenge for anyone, especially in today’s fast-paced business world, where expectations are high and new CEOs and executives are expected to hit the ground running. There are several areas that a new leader can focus on to quickly build authentic relationships, build goodwill and begin to deliver results.

Date posted: 30/03/2021

Long-term Vision and Reform Urgently Needed for Adult Social Care

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown the importance of social care and the need to regard it as part of the national infrastructure. Care England, stands ready to support the Government in developing a new vision for social care, that is properly funded, understood, and respected by everyone.

Date posted: 23/03/2021

Welsh Government publishes pandemic recovery plan for the NHS and social care

Health Minister Vaughan Gething yesterday published a plan, supported by an initial £50m funding, to help the health and care system in Wales to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Mr Gething said: “The Covid-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on our health and social care system, patients and staff. As we emerge from the most serious stage of the pandemic, we are now in a position to set out how we can start to recover.

Date posted: 17/03/2021

"It's hard to be what you can't see": Making female leaders more visible

Women leaders are hungry for inspiration and want to learn how to navigate the uneven professional playing field. The Female Lead seeks to increase the visibility of women’s success stories in all walks of life and offer girls a wider selection of role models than those represented in popular culture.

Date posted: 11/03/2021

New five year plan focuses on inclusive Apprenticeships for Wales

"The strategy has been developed by the Welsh Government’s contracted Apprenticeship providers and aims to achieve an inclusive Apprenticeship Programme where current under-represented groups have equal opportunities to benefit," said Humie Webb.

Apprenticeships are set to play a vital role in the Welsh Government's Covid-19 economic recovery plan. In the last four years, the Welsh Government has supported more than 100,000 apprenticeship starts in its term of office – 60% were undertaken by females, while 57% were learners aged 25 and over.

Date posted: 09/03/2021

Spring Budget boost for Apprenticeships would be welcome, but SMEs MUST seize this opportunity now

The proposed increase in incentives to take on apprentices in England and Wales to £3,000, expected in the Budget would be very welcome. These incentives for SME businesses and sole traders to invest in a new generation of skilled workers are critical if the UK has the best possible chance to bounce back from the overwhelming impacts of COVID.

An injection of a further £126million in skills by the Chancellor would provide opportunities to breathe new life into our economy.

Date posted: 04/03/2021

Pandemic offers recruitment opportunities for the Health and Social Care sector

As a result of COVID-19 the NHS has seen a 'huge increase in numbers' applying to both jobs and to training opportunities. Adult social care employs around 1.5 million people in England. The Health Foundation and the Institute for Fiscal Studies project that 458,000 additional full-time equivalent social care staff will be needed in England by 2033/34 to meet the expected growth in demand.

People previously in customer facing roles could be valuable assets to the sector. Anita Charlesworth, director of research and REAL centre at The Health Foundation, told MPs 'Social care needs people with those skills, but we need to train them. At the moment only 50% of our workforce has a relevant care qualification,' she said. 'So, we do need to invest in training and we need to make sure that social care is not a temporary job…'

Date posted: 02/03/2021

Rishi Sunak's Budget to include measures to boost Apprenticeships for young in wake of COVID-19 pandemic

Unemployment is at its highest level in almost five years, with younger and typically lower-paid workers bearing the brunt of job losses. Mr Sunak said it was "vital" support continued to get people back into work.

The chancellor's boost to existing Apprenticeship and traineeship programmes will include playing up to double the current cash incentive to firms who take on an apprentice, regardless of age. Currently, firms in England are given £2,000 for every new Apprentice they take on under the age of 25, and £1,500 for those over 25, in addition to a £1,000 grant they are already getting under another project.

Date posted: 24/02/2021

Care home residents will be allowed one visitor from the 8th of March

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced that care home residents will be allowed to have one indoor visitor from the 8th of March. The scheme will allow a single visitor to hold hands with their relative/friend in the care home and make repeat visits.

Date posted: 18/02/2021

CMI call for the Chancellor must urgently prioritise management apprenticeships

Good managers are essential to the success of any business or organisation, and management apprenticeships have become popular since the government reformed workplace training funding in 2015 by making employers with annual payrolls greater than £3m set aside an equivalent to 0.5% as an apprenticeship levy. However, as the UK government starts to plan the country’s economic recovery, the CMI analysis estimates that even pre-Pandemic there were a staggering 1.3 million employers who were not offering any apprenticeships.

Date posted: 16/02/2021

Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock on proposals for a Health and Care Bill

The Health and Social Care Secretary, with the support of NHS England and health and care system leaders, has outlined new proposals to build on the successful NHS response to the pandemic. The proposals will bring health and care services closer together to build back better by improving care and tackling health inequalities through measures to address obesity, oral health and patient choice.

Date posted: 10/02/2021

National Apprenticeship Week 8-14 Feb 2021: Building future leaders

The theme of this year’s National Apprenticeship Week is ‘Build the Future.’ While the aim is rightly to promote the benefits and long-term gains of employing young people into a variety of apprenticeships to ‘Build the Future’, it is also true that existing managers are building the future, and must continue to do so, however uncertain that future might appear right now.

If you’re part of a management team within an organisation, you’ll be responsible for building a team that can help the business meet its strategic objectives.

You’ll want to hire the right talent and particularly you’ll want to develop your existing team members to bring specific skills to bear on those objectives. Those at senior levels of an organisation have a huge amount of input and responsibility when it comes to ‘building the future’ of the organisation.

Date posted: 28/01/2021

Over half-a-million additional care workers will be needed in England by 2035 to meet demand

When the COVID-19 tide finally turns, what will it reveal? One thing is for certain the demand for care and a workforce to satisfy it will remain. In October last year, Skills for Care estimated that over half-a-million additional care workers will be needed in England by 2035 to meet demand. Whilst the COVID-19 crisis has highlighted the essential contribution made by paid carers, it also demonstrated how physically and emotionally demanding the job can be. As the dust settles, this may cause some to exit and deter others from entering the profession.

Date posted: 04/11/2020

Employers encouraged to sign up for apprentice cash boost

To get more people into work the Government are now offering employers of all sizes generous cash incentives to employ new Apprentices and to help people get back into employment. These new cash incentives are key for the economy to recover after COVID-19.

As part of the Government’s Plan for Jobs, employers are being offered £2,000 for each new Apprentice they hire aged under 25, and £1,500 for each newly recruited apprentice aged 25 and over. This includes taking on an apprentice who has been made redundant.

To find out more information on the cash incentives on offer you can visit the GOV.UK website.

Date posted: 08/07/2020

Chancellor expected to reveal sliding scale of employer cash incentives to boost apprenticeships

The chancellor is set to announce a sliding scale of cash incentives for employers to take on both young and adult apprentices in his summer statement today, FE Week understands.

Firms are expected to receive more for taking on under 25s. Rishi Sunak is due to provide the details this afternoon as he unveils his plan to tackle the anticipated largescale unemployment caused by Covid-19.

Under current Education and Skills Funding Agency rules, employers and providers already receive a £1,000 incentive each for taking on an apprentice aged 16 to 18.