Workforce Development Fund 2023-24 FAQ's |
This page contains information that explains the Workforce Development Fund (WDF). It outlines eligibility and evidence requirements. If you are learning about WDF for the first time or are preparing to lodge your first claim, read this page first.Click here for information explaining how to submit your claim for reimbursement from the WDF through Devon Care Home Collaborative (DCHC).What is the Workforce Development Fund (WDF)?The Workforce Development Fund (WDF) for 2023-24 is a retrospective funding stream from the Department of Health and Social Care disseminated by Skills for Care. This means that an employer must have directly incurred costs for the qualifications or learning undertaken by their staff before a claim is made through WDF on completion of the learning. The fund focuses on the achievement of qualifications, learning programmes and digital learning modules and supports the continuing professional development of staff across the adult social care sector in England. In 2023-24 WDF will respond to a key sector priority: Additional support to registered managers and service managers as this is key to providing quality care. Enhanced funding will continue to be available for completion of leadership and management qualifications and learning programmes. How do I become eligible for funding?There are three things that you must do before you become eligible for WDF:
How do I comply with the ASC-WDS requirements?For a workplace to meet the ASC-WDS requirements for the Workforce Development Fund in 2023-24, the following three things must be completed:
How can I tell if I have met the ASC-WDS requirements?When logged into your ASC-WDS account you can run a report to check whether your account meets the requirements for WDF. The is also a browser indicator within the ASC-WDS platform that shows if the WDF requirements are met. Can I claim learning that has been completed as part of an apprenticeship:You can but you need to be aware of the following information, which differs between apprenticeship levy payers and non-levy payers. Levy paying employers, this also includes employers in receipt of transferred levy funds: The apprenticeship levy can only be used to pay training delivery and endpoint assessment costs. It will be possible to claim WDF alongside the apprenticeship levy, but it will not be possible to use the WDF towards training delivery or end-point assessment costs because the levy is used for that. The apprenticeship levy is a tax being applied by government so public money cannot be used to offset it. However, the WDF can be used towards the associated costs of training, such as the 20% off the job learning time requirement, wage replacement costs if required to release the learner to undertake training etc. Further information is available in our frequently asked questions. If a levy paying employer has used all of their levy and is accessing funding in the same way as a non-levy paying employer, see the paragraph below in relation to calculating the total cost of training delivery for those learners. Non-levy paying employers: Pay 5% of the training delivery costs and the government pays the remaining 95%. When calculating the total cost of training before making your WDF claim, the funds that you have directly paid towards training delivery (which may be a maximum of £150 on a standard capped at £3,000) can be factored into the total cost of training. The 95% from the government (up to £2,850 in this example) cannot because that would constitute double funding and that is not allowed. The total cost of training can also include wider costs which are directly incurred by the employer as a result of the learner undertaking training, such as the 20% off the job learning time requirement, wage replacement costs if required to release the learner to undertake training etc. If you need further information about funding for apprenticeships in addition to what is available via the Workforce Development Fund, you can find additional information on the Skills for Care website. How does reimbursement work?Once a member of your staff has completed some learning that is eligible for funding, you should claim funding from DCHC by submitting the relevant forms along with a copy of all of your learners’ certificates. You must include details of any qualifications which are being claimed as part of an apprenticeship or declare that none of the learning within the claims is part of an apprenticeship. It’s important to note that a maximum of £2,000 per learner can be claimed in any funding year. The funding year for 2023-24 is 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2024. The WDF funding contribution is a maximum of the value set out on the list of funded qualifications and learning even if you have incurred higher costs than this figure. If you have incurred lower costs than the value advertised, it’s possible to claim a lower amount of funding by advising your partnership of the amount that you want to claim. Qualifications evidenceTo claim funding for a qualification a copy of the learner’s certificate must be submitted which contains the following information:
Apprenticeship standards evidenceThe evidence to claim an apprenticeship standard is a copy of the learner’s diploma certificate to claim the diploma within the apprenticeship standard (full detail as set out in the qualification evidence section above) and a copy of the final apprenticeship standard certificate. The final apprenticeship standard certificate must contain the following information:
Learning programmes evidenceTo claim funding for a learning programme a copy of the learner’s certificate must be submitted which contains the following information:
Digital learning modules evidenceTo claim funding for a digital learning module a copy of the learner’s certificate must be submitted which contains the following information:
Ready to lodge claim?When you are ready to lodge your claim for reimbursement through DCHC, click here to learn how to claim. Who can help me?
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