Main findings from the Social Care Wales Workforce Development Grant (SCWWDP) end of year monitoring for 2023 to 2024

The 2023 to 2024 main findings are:

• overall, total spend on SCWWDP has increased by 1.8 per cent (£219,086), from £12,475,258 to £12,694,344
• there was an increase of 9.2 per cent in spend on staff who provide direct learning and development
• nearly half of local authorities (45.5 per cent) witnessed an increase in sector wide training attendance.

The SCWWDP grant:

• was used to support learning and development programmes in all seven regions of Wales, with a continued trend of delivering on a more local level
• supported 1,889 vocational qualification learners, an increase of 3.3 per cent on last year
• supported 1,356 people on social work qualifying training, an increase of 15.9 per cent on last year
• supported 996 people with social work post qualifying training, an increase of 16.8 per cent on last year
• supported 448 people with social work post qualifying specialist awards, for example, enabling practice, best interest assessor and Approved Mental Health Professional (AMHP). This was an increase of 15.2 per cent on last year
• provided 135,169 training places, with 82.8 per cent attendance
• helped increase training attendance from wider services such as health, the police, education, unpaid carers and volunteers. This was an increase of 28.2 per cent on last year.

We’ve identified many future developments, which are described in more detail in this report, including:  

• building a fuller picture of social care workforce development across Wales  
• monitoring the risk of higher investment in social work  
• strengthening grant guidance 
• training take-up and attendance reflecting the sector profile 
• measuring impact. 

The full report is available in Microsoft Word format below.

To find out more about the workforce development and learning opportunities available to the social care workforce in your local area contact the workforce development teams in your local authority.