Are you an Adult Social Care employer?  Are your employees following QCF/RQF and non accredited learning programmes? Are you paying for all or some of these costs?
If so, did you know that you could continue to support the ongoing development of your staff whilst claiming a contribution to the cost of these qualifications through the ‘Workforce Development Fund’ (WDF).  
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Here at the Aldingbourne Trust we look after a group of Health & Social Care employers that have joined together to access these funds that are provided through the Department of Health and Skills for Care.  This is called the Aldingbourne Trust National Partnership.
Some examples of what can be claimed for
  • Level 2 Diploma in Care – £690
  • Level 3 Diploma in Adult Care – £870
  • Level 4 Diploma in Adult Care – £1,050
  • Level 5 Diploma in Leadership for Health & Social Care and Children & Young People’s Services – adult pathways – £1,200
  • Level 5 Certificate of Fundamental Knowledge in Commissioning for Wellbeing – £300
  • Lead to Succeed learning programme – £350
The overarching principle is that employers cannot make a profit on the cost of the claims for learning and development.  If you are claiming from more than one funding source you must ensure that you do not claim the same cost more than once as this would constitute double funding.  Direct costs such as course fees*, employees’ salaries, expert witness testimonies and backfill if required (ie wage replacement costs) can be included for this fund (*unless the course fee is paid by the apprenticeship levy).  All costs must have been incurred by you the employer prior to reclaiming a contribution towards these costs towards these costs from WDF
How to join the partnership
  • ​​​You must be an adult social care employer
  • You need to have an NMDS-SC and have updated it since April 2018 - for guidance please click here
  • Complete a member’s declaration form 
  • Complete your workforce plan identifying numbers and types of qualifications you would like to apply for funding for
  • Return to Aldingbourne Trust rachelswanton@aldingbourne.org and await for review decision
  • Gather copies of completed learner certificates see below for evidence criteria and attach copy of completed claim form
  • There is no charge for this service, all we ask is that you commit to submit the required evidence in the form of completed certificates to support your claims within the timeframe specified.​
Learners registered on qualifications since 1st January 2018 will have been registered for an RQF qualification

The 2018/19 funding year will be the last year where QCF qualifications are eligible for funding

​The maximum claim for each learner within the funding year is up to a maximum of £1,200 and is a contribution towards the cost of training

How can I claim for WDF
Firstly you will need to complete a  WDF Claim Form 2018/19 for each batch you send through.   As long as they are from the same establishment the claim form can be used for one or more employees/claims.  Please attach to this the required evidence per employee/claim.  Send your claim form with copies of certificates to Rachel Swanton at Aldingbourne Trust, Blackmill Lane, Norton, Chichester, West Sussex PO18 0JP. Claims can be forwarded electronically ONLY by prior agreement.  

Qualification evidence is accepted by final certificates only:

Claims for funding can only be accepted by the submission of unit (QCF qualifications only) and final certificates. The evidence must show the specified list of criteria. If any of the following details are missing we are unable to process your claims:
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Any missing evidence must be handwritten onto the certificates. 
 
  • Please be aware that Skills for Care will not be able to fund claims that have been paid out in previous years, or have been funded somewhere else.  Skills for Care will only fund qualifications included on the list of Funded Qualifications and Learning Programmes 2018 – July 18.
  • Please note that where employers are claiming from more than one source of public funding they must ensure that they do not claim the same cost from more than one source.  Employers will need to ensure that records of training costs and funding are retained as evidence for up to six years.    
  • It is an employers’ responsibility to ensure that they do not claim more funding than the cost to them, of employees undertaking training, but direct costs such as course fees, backfill or wage replacement costs, can be included. As it is a retrospective funding stream costs must have been incurred before WDF is claimed. 
  • Please refer to Skills for Care website regarding the terms and conditions surrounding employers claiming WDF in conjunction with Apprentice funding.  
So, if you have any questions at all or would like to join the Partnership please do get in touch with Rachel Swanton at Aldingbourne who will be delighted to help rachelswanton@aldingbourne.org or 07841 042 971

If you have any queries relating to the NMDS-SC requirements for claiming WDF, please contact the NMDS-SC support service on: 0845 873 0129  or nmds-support@skillsforcare.org.uk. 
NMDS-SC - https://www.nmds-sc-online.org.uk/