Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of funding made available for Continuing Professional Development for social workers employed by the NHS.

NHS England allocates funding to commissioners to fund the services they commission within an integrated care board area and in line with their, and NHS England’s, delivery plan. Responsibility for the continuing professional development (CPD) of employees sits with the employers and providers of the services.

More widely, the Department continues to support social workers with their CPD, both in the National Health Service and the wider social care sector, through the Assessed and Support Year in Employment. This includes up to £2.3 million of funding annually to support newly qualified social workers through structured supervision and professional development during their first year of practice. This funding is available to adult social work employers across statutory, private, voluntary, NHS, and independent sectors.