Guidance

Adult Social Work Apprenticeship Fund: guidance

Updated 14 February 2024

Applies to England

Introduction

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) is making £12 million available to support local authorities’ adult social work services to create additional adult social work apprenticeships.

The December 2021 publication of the People at the Heart of Care: adult social care reform white paper set out the government’s 10-year vision for how to transform support and care in England. Supporting the workforce is a key part of this reform. The white paper highlights the government’s commitment to the care and support workforce, including social workers, as the government’s biggest asset.

Our investment supports the government’s intent to address limited career progression opportunities, a relatively low take-up of professional qualifications, and limited access to learning and development. 

Purpose

The purpose of the Adult Social Work Apprenticeship Fund is to increase social worker capacity in local authority adult social care. The funding provides a contribution for local authorities to fund the costs associated with facilitating apprenticeships that are not otherwise covered by the apprenticeship levy. Local authorities can apply for funding of up to £30,000 per apprenticeship.

The apprenticeship levy (or levy transfers for non-levy paying employers) funds the higher education institute degree elements of an apprenticeship. There are other elements to an apprenticeship that the Adult Social Work Apprenticeship Fund should be used for, such as recruitment, supervision and management costs.

A more detailed list of what the funding is advised to be used for is in the ‘Funding criteria’ section below.

The Adult Social Work Apprenticeship Fund will aim to:

• increase social worker workforce capacity in adult social care
• contribute to the wider government levelling up agenda, through supporting all training routes into the social work profession and creating workforces that reflect all communities
• increase opportunity for those who may not have the financial resources to pursue social work as a career through the traditional academic route
• support adult social care pressures - increasing the number of apprentices will create additional social work capacity to manage assessments, undertake safeguarding enquiries and complex casework, support hospital discharge, and tackle assessment waiting lists

We expect local authorities to use the fund to support the creation of adult social work apprentices that are in addition to the local authority’s existing pipeline of social work apprentices. We also expect local authorities to work with their chosen training provider to ensure delivery of the degree training elements of the apprenticeship.

To access the funding, local authorities are invited to submit an expression of interest (EOI) application form and must meet all the eligibility criteria as set out in this guidance and on the application form itself. The EOI application form should be used to apply for both funding rounds.

More information can be found in the ‘About the EOI application process’ section below.

It’s important to note that:

• DHSC is under no obligation to accept any application or make an award of funding
• costs incurred in submitting an application are ineligible expenditure under the terms of the grant
• DHSC funding for the Adult Social Work Apprenticeship Fund cannot be extended past 31 March 2025

About this funding

This is a £12 million EOI fund for local authorities that will be delivered over the 2-year spending review period. There is up to £8 million available in 2023 to 2024 and £4 million available in 2024 to 2025. Local authorities will be able to apply for up to £30,000 per apprenticeship.

DHSC’s expectation is that the grant will be fully spent on recruiting and training adult social work apprentices.

About the distribution of the funding

Following successful completion of the EOI application process, the first round of which will happen in February 2024, successful local authorities will be allocated funding of up to £30,000 per apprentice.

A second round of the EOI application process will also happen in late spring or early summer 2024.

About the EOI application process

Who can submit an EOI

We welcome EOIs from individual local authorities and groups of collaborating local authorities in England.

Local authorities can only apply once per financial year - either on their own or as part of a group of collaborating local authorities. There will be one application round in February 2024 and another in late spring and/or early summer 2024.

When local authorities are collaborating, a lead local authority must be identified and, if successful, will be responsible for managing funding, providing evidence of money spent (in line with the terms of the grant award) and receiving grant payments.

Eligibility criteria

This information is required in section 2 of the EOI form.

Only local authorities that meet all the essential criteria below will be eligible for funding.

The eligibility criteria requires local authorities to confirm:

• they are able to employ an apprentice for the remainder of the social work degree apprenticeship once the grant funding comes to an end on 31 March 2025

• the funding is intended to be used to support apprentices working in adult social care that are additional to the local authority’s existing recruitment of social work apprentices

• responsibility for staffing costs incurred following the apprentice qualifying - for example, employing a qualified apprentice in a social worker role

• that the apprentice will be able to start the apprenticeship in financial years 2023 to 2024 or 2024 to 2025

• that their chosen training provider can accommodate the number of planned apprenticeships

In addition, local authorities will need to provide the funding information requested in section 3 of the EOI form.

EOI application assessment method

We aim to distribute the funding to local authorities across the country that meet the eligibility criteria fairly, and according to the following priorities:

1. Applications to recruit adult social work apprentices in roles to support adult social care discharge - for example, hospital-based discharge and care teams.
2. Applications that were submitted first - according to the date and time the application was received.

Funding request and criteria

In section 3 of the EOI application form (‘Your funding request’), local authorities are asked to detail the number of apprentices they are requesting funding for and the expected and/or proposed start date for their apprentice.

This section also includes information on expectations of use of funding. This includes:

• costs associated with the training and supervision of the apprentice, including practice educator recruitment and training costs, which are separate to those funded by the apprenticeship levy

• costs incurred co-ordinating and managing the apprenticeship programme and/or the relationship with the training provider

• recruitment costs associated with the creation of the apprenticeship vacancy, excluding marketing costs

• costs associated with periods of contrasted learning or other required elements of the apprenticeship

• other non-training costs that are not currently covered by the apprenticeship levy (excluding any backfill-related costs), such as travel and subsidiary costs, managerial costs and costs associated with setting up an apprenticeship programme

Funding cannot be used for:

• salary costs for cover when apprentices are undertaking study and/or training

• costs associated with the higher education institute degree elements of an apprenticeship that are covered by the levy

It’s important that local authorities take note of what the fund can and cannot be used for, as there is an expectation that successful local authorities complete a financial return in future to confirm that the funding has been spent on activity related to the creation of additional adult social work apprentices.

More information about the funding return will be included in the memorandum of understanding (MOU) that will be sent to local authorities and/or collaborating local authorities that have been successful in the EOI application process.

How to apply

Submit the accompanying EOI form as a single document (with no attachments) by email from a recognised local authority email address to: socialworkapprentices@dhsc.gov.uk.

All the information you want us to consider must be included in the EOI form provided. Additional documents will not be considered.

The subject line of your email should be as follows: ‘Adult social work apprenticeship funding EOI: [local authority name or lead local authority name]’.

Applications received after the deadline will not be considered. Application deadlines are in the section below. Note that local authorities will need to apply again in 2024 to 2025 if they want funding for the second round, even if they have already applied for funding in the first round.

Key timings for 2023 to 2024 funding

Action	Dates
Launch of the fund	31 January 2024
Deadline for EOI applications	21 February 2024
Local authority informed of outcome	March 2024
Payments approved	March 2024

Dates for the second round of funding will be confirmed later in 2024 but the launch of the EOI application process is expected to be in April or May 2024.

Paying the grant

For the first round of funding that is available, following the EOI process, DHSC will transfer funding to successful local authorities in an up-front payment in March 2024. The same process will apply for the second round of funding available in 2024 to 2025 (the dates for the EOI application process and funding distribution are to be confirmed).

Local authorities will be paid through a section 31 grant under the Local Government Act 2003. This power enables any Minister of the Crown, with the consent of HM Treasury, to pay any local authority in England towards expenditure incurred or to be incurred by that authority.

Requirements for local authorities

Local authority reporting on spending

Successful local authorities will be expected to complete and return a MOU before funding is provided. The MOU will not be legally binding but will further set out expectations for how the grant funding should be used.

The MOU will be sent to individual local authorities or the cohort of local authorities that have been successful in securing funding following the EOI process. The MOU will include information about future reporting requirements.

We will seek evidence from local authorities that:

• they have spent funds on activity associated with the recruitment and training of adult social work apprentices (refer to the ‘Funding request and criteria’ section in this document)

• their spend has resulted in the successful recruitment of an adult social work apprentice - defined as an enrolled adult social work apprentice

• the adult social work apprentice has completed their first year

Note: we will not require copies of the apprentices’ documentation and/or personal data but will require anonymised confirmation of enrolment and completion for each apprentice.

For more information on DHSC use of data, see the DHSC privacy notice.

DHSC departmental assurance processes

Local authorities are expected to comply with any departmental assurance processes. DHSC will review the information provided by local authorities. If DHSC finds evidence of the grant being misused, it will seek to recover the funding.

Local authority assurance processes

Local authorities are advised to assure themselves that they have spent this funding correctly. There is an expectation for local authorities to work with DHSC to provide the necessary information and data to monitor and evaluate progress against the aims of the fund. As part of this, local authorities will be asked over the next 2 years to complete and sign the following documents:

• statement of grant usage (signed by a ‘section 151’ officer)
• financial breakdown seeking assurance that the funds have been spent on activity associated with the recruitment and training of an adult social work apprentice

DHSC will also request confirmation of adult social work apprenticeship course enrolments and first year course completion. More information on these processes will be included in the MOU sent to each local authority.

Managing risk of fraud

Local authorities should:

• maintain a sound system of internal financial controls
• ensure that appropriate measures are put in place to mitigate against the risk of fraud
• assure themselves that they are legitimate recipients of this funding
• as far as possible, put measures in place to ensure this funding is not used to support activity that has been funded by an alternative source of public funding

If a local authority has any grounds for suspecting financial irregularity in the use of this funding, it should notify DHSC immediately, explain what steps are being taken to investigate the suspicion and keep DHSC informed about the progress of the investigation. For the purposes of interpretation, ‘financial irregularity’ includes fraud or other impropriety, mismanagement, and the use of a grant for purposes other than those for which it was provided.

Circumstances where local authorities will be expected to return funds

Local authorities should promptly notify and repay immediately to DHSC any money incorrectly paid to it either as a result of an administrative error or otherwise. If the local authority fails to repay the due sum immediately, the sum will be recoverable summarily as a civil debt.

Other circumstances where local authorities will be expected to return funds will be specified in the MOU that local authorities should have signed and returned to DHSC.

Local authorities will be expected to return funds if the:

• apprentice fails to complete their apprenticeship
• local authority fails to recruit apprentices following successful EOI application
• funding is not spent in line with the funding criteria
• money has not been spent by local authorities and/or where there is underspend

Subsidy control

Local authorities should ensure they comply with their obligations under the Subsidy Control Act 2022 and the relevant UK subsidy control statutory guidance.