The Social Care Wales Workforce Development Grant (SCWWDP) is a long-standing grant programme that supports education, learning and workforce development across social care in Wales.
Today, we’ve published the national themes and findings report of how the SCWWDP grant was invested by regions in 2024 to 2025 - highlighting key trends, achievements, and areas for future development.
The 2024 to 2025 main findings are:
- overall, total spend on SCWWDP increased by 0.5 per cent (£61,542), from £12,694,344 to £12,755,886
- additional investment from local authorities (above the required 30 per cent match funding) grew by 4.2 per cent, reversing last year’s decline.
In 2024 to 2025, the SCWWDP grant supported a wide range of education, learning and development including:
- 2,486 vocational qualification learners – a 31.6 per cent increase on last year
- 693 people on social work qualifying training – up 2.2 per cent on last year
- 134,526 training places, with an 86.2 per cent attendance rate, and improved uptake by voluntary and private sector providers.
Sarah McCarty, our Chief Executive, said: “We want the social care workforce to be motivated, engaged and valued, with the capacity, competence, and confidence to meet the care and support needs of the people of Wales. Workforce development plays an essential role in achieving this, and the SCWWDP grant makes a key contribution to regional workforce development.
“Local authorities lead regional partnerships made up of the statutory, private and voluntary sector, and provide match funding to deliver a wide range of training and development opportunities.
“We’re pleased to publish the national themes and findings from the regional use of the SCWWDP grant in 2024 to 2025. This report shows the vital contribution SCWWDP funding plays in supporting the development needs of the social care workforce across Wales. It highlights the progress made and the challenges still being faced, particularly around digital skills and workforce planning. We are committed to working with partners to address these priorities and prepare the sector for the future.
“We’re extremely grateful to the workforce development teams and partnerships across Wales for their ongoing support in delivering SCWWDP and helping to strengthen the social care workforce in Wales.”