Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of funding for the training and development of the children's social work workforce.

Local authorities are responsible for the training and development of their children’s social care workforce, including ensuring that their social workers meet the standards set out in the ‘Post qualifying standards: knowledge and skills statement for child and family practitioners’.

The government is providing local authorities with £4.8 billion of new grant funding over the Spending Review period to 2025. This will enable the sector to maintain vital frontline services including children’s social care. Moreover, the government has given over £6 billion in un-ringfenced funding directly to councils to support them with the immediate and longer-term impacts of COVID-19 spending pressures. Local authorities are best placed to decide how much to invest in the training and development of their children’s social care workforce.

The government supports local authorities by funding the initial training of social workers. The Department of Health and Social Care provides funding of approximately £77 million per annum for social worker initial training (both child and family and adult social). In addition, the department provides approximately £50 million per annum on fast-track initial training programmes.

The government works closely with local authorities to ensure that child and family social worker have the right skills and capability to meet the needs of children and families.