Local Authority Research Evidence Review

Transcription

1 Local Authority Research Evidence Review Executive Summary of Key Findings and Conclusions April 2014 Written by Skyblue Research for Skills for Care Reference no. P13-SKY This work was researched and compiled by Anthony Gray and Paul Rhodes of Skyblue. 1

2 Table of contents Introduction and purpose 3 The evidence review 3 Key research questions 4 Sources consulted 4 Economic and policy context 5 The local authority adult social care workforce 5 The NMDS-SC data 5 Demand for labour and skills in adult social care 6 Apprenticeship starts to 2012/13 7 Direct payments and personal assistants 8 Recruitment of apprentices 8 Conclusions, issues and recommendations 9 Bibliography 10 Acknowledgements The authors would like to acknowledge the support and assistance of Skills for Care, in particular Jenny Swift and Adam Andrew, in providing access to data and reports and providing comments on an earlier draft of this executive summary and the main accompanying report. 2

3 Summary Report Introduction and purpose Skills for Care commissioned Skyblue to carry out a pilot research project to investigate local authority participation in adult social care Apprenticeships. The first stage of the project was to undertake an evidence review to ascertain the insight that is already in the public domain with the following three aims, namely to: 1. Inform Skills for Care's understanding of the current situation in relation to Local Authority recruitment of Apprentices specifically within adult social care roles (but also to provide some comparisons with other frameworks). 2. Establish whether further primary research with local authorities is necessary. 3. Further shape and guide Skills for Care s support to local authorities on Apprenticeships. Our review has confirmed that there is a lack of information specifically and directly dealing with Local Authority involvement in Apprenticeships in adult social care (and other frameworks). We have therefore included information from reports that did not have this particular focus, but which contain insights that are pertinent to the key research questions. For example, Skills for Care would like to understand the extent to which local authorities use Apprenticeships as a method of recruitment as opposed to using Apprenticeships to support the up-skilling of existing employees. From this wider literature, we have reviewed issues such as employer perceptions, and the costs and benefits, of Apprenticeships generally to inform our understanding of the underlying reasons for recruiting new entrants as apprentices and in relation to addressing the need for a skills uplift to meet increasing demands for adult social care. These perceptions, costs and benefits can be tested with local authority representatives as part of the planned primary research. 1 A parallel strand of activity was an interrogation of the National Minimum Dataset for Social Care (NMDS-SC) with the support of Skills for Care s Analysis Team. The evidence review This study has taken the form of an evidence review, identifying and reviewing potentially relevant documentation, employing key word searches and analysis and interpretation of relevant information. 1 See the attached bibliography and discussion within the main report for a comprehensive review of the available literature and data sources. 3

4 Figure 1 Diagrammatic representation of the evidence review Scope Identify published information, secondary research and policy papers that may potentially have relevant information. As a separate strand, analyse data from the NMDS-SC dataset. Objective Provide comparisons (where available and appropriate) with other roles for which local authorities recruit apprentices and other supporting information that appeared to be relevant. Objective Establish the extent to which local authorities encourage providers within the independent sector to recruit apprentices (for example through their procurement processes). Objective Identify (any) evidence as to whether Local Authorities facilitate the recruitment of apprentices by individual employers (as personal assistants). Key research questions Within this broad scope and main objectives, we incorporated the following key research questions: 1. To what extent do local authorities: Recruit social care Apprentices Recruit other Apprentices Recruit young people not in education, employment or training (NEET) into Apprenticeships Encourage social care providers to recruit social care Apprentices, e.g. through procurement processes Facilitate Individual Employers (IEs) to recruit Apprentices as Personal Assistants (PAs) 2. What good practice approaches are taken? 3. How can Skills for Care support local authorities to increase recruitment via Apprenticeships? 4. How can local authorities support Individual Employers and care providers to increase recruitment via Apprenticeships? Sources consulted Sources consulted have included a wide range of existing literature on Apprenticeships covering: recruitment, retention, completion, attainment and issues such as value for money, return on investment and their overall impact (see bibliography for further details). 4

5 Economic and policy context The adult social care workforce is forecast to increase in order to meet additional demand. The drivers of that demand are complex and include demographic changes, the integration of health and social care, personalisation and the implementation of assistive technologies. There is a need to increase the aggregate level of skills and qualifications within the adult social care workforce in order to meet these demands, and others, and an important component of efforts to achieve the skills uplift required is Apprenticeships. The local authority adult social care workforce Local authority employees comprise a small and shrinking, albeit important, component of the overall adult social care workforce. 2 Skills for Care s report on the local authority adult social services workforce confirms a total of 151,000 employees within the sector, approximately 10% of the total employed in the adult social care sector. Given demand for adult social care, the obligations of the statutory sector towards their respective populations, and budgetary challenges, it could reasonably be assumed that local authorities might have the potential to employ a relatively large share of Apprenticeships. The literature suggests that, as employing organisations, local authorities employ a larger number of apprentices, are involved across a wide variety of apprenticeship frameworks, and more likely to have paid fees for other training at level 2/3, than private sector employers. 3 However, data on the number and characteristics of apprentices within local authority adult social services departments is limited. 4 The NMDS-SC data Analysis of local authority employment within a recent Health and Social Care Information Centre report (HSCIC, 2014) reveals much lower numbers than might have been expected taking into account information on actual apprentice starts. 3 See for example: BIS, (2013) Research Report No. 123, Apprenticeships Evaluation, respectively, pp. 18 and 54. However, it would probably be useful to compare local authorities involvement with large private sector employers 4 Skills for Care (2013 Size and structure, p. 31 and HSCIC (2014) Personal Social Services: Staff of Social Services Departments, England, p. 24 (as at September 2013) 5

6 All 152 local authorities provided a return to the NMDS-SC, yet fewer than 100 Apprentices in total are recorded as employed in local authority adult social services departments. 5 Given that in 2012/2013 there were 73,100 apprenticeship starts across health and adult social care frameworks in total 6, the numbers and percentage share of local authority Apprentices, with a total of just under 700 for the sector overall, appears very low. It is not clear what the reasons for this might be. The evidence review has not revealed how many local authorities still continue to deliver adult care services or just outsource all of these services. But we could reasonably assume that a small number of local authorities, at least, contract out the majority if not all of their adult social services provision. Amongst the remainder of local authorities that continue to make direct provision, there may be very low take-up of Apprenticeships by local authorities, a limited understanding of the extent of Apprentice recruitment, or poor enumeration of Apprentices compared with other social care employers. Insights from the Skills for Care Apprenticeships team, other stakeholders and publically available promotional material confirms that there are some exemplar local authorities, FE Colleges and training providers working collaboratively to develop recruitment and up-skilling strategies and drive up interest in Apprenticeships, amongst potential recruits, both young people and adults, and the existing workforce. 7 Our review concludes that there is a limited amount of published information dealing specifically with the subject and that primary research will be required to further shape Skills for Care s support for local authorities on Apprenticeships. Demand for labour and skills in adult social care There are currently 1.64m employees across the adult social care workforce in England. Scenario development suggests an increase to somewhere between 1.8m and 2.5m by Whilst the numbers employed within local authorities may continue to show an absolute increase, the relative proportion of employees in the public sector is declining whilst that in the independent sector increasing. 5 Skills for Care (December 2013) MS Excel Report and HSCIC (2014) Personal social services, p Numbers quoted at the Apprenticeship Summit, Skills for Care, 4th March Data specifically on social care starts for 2011/12 is not yet available. 7 Informal interviews with individuals from Skills for Care Apprenticeship Team and Blackburn College. 8 Skills for (2013) Apprenticeships Ambition Implementation Plan 6

7 Recognising the need to increase apprenticeship take up and delivery within the sector the Department for Health (DH) set a target to double the number of Apprentices by In response, Skills for Care has developed Apprenticeships Ambition: aligned with Government s Skills for Sustainable Growth Strategy (2010) and their own workforce development strategy for adult social care, Capable, Confident, Skilled (2011). 9 The result has been a very substantial rise in apprenticeship starts and positive outcomes. Apprenticeship starts to 2012/13 Apprenticeships in the Health and Social Care Framework (Care) have continued to expand to 2012/13. Starts increased by 15% in 2012/13 compared to the previous year, in contrast to a 2% reduction in starts across the economy overall and represents a six fold increase on 2008/09 whilst retention has increased three-fold since 2005 to 76%. The care element of Health and Social Care now comprises 14% of all Apprenticeships. 10 Source: Scale consultants, Apprentice starts analysis for Skills for Care The percentage of young people aged starting an apprenticeship in adult social care (care element) has declined from 19.1% to 5% whilst the proportion of total starts by those aged 25+ has risen from 43.7% to 68% by 2012/ Analysis of leaver data shows that attainment overall has also been increasing, by 10 percentage points to 64% by 2010/11, but attainment rates for younger apprentices 16-18% (56%) is 12 percentage points lower than for those aged 25+ (68%). 12 These numbers suggest that apprentices may comprise between 3%-4% 13 of the total adult social care workforce: substantially more than the number suggested by returns to the NMDS-SC survey. 9 Skills for Care, (2013) Apprenticeships Ambition; BIS, (2010), Skills for Sustainable Growth Strategy; and Skills for Care (2011), Capable, Confident, Skilled: a workforce development strategy for people working, supporting and caring in adult social care. 10 Scale consultants (2014) Apprenticeships Starts Analysis 2012/13 including providers, for Skills for Care, Draft Final Report 11 Scale Consultants (2014) Apprenticeships starts, p Scale Consultants (2011) Skills for Care: analysis of Apprenticeships 2009, pp Our estimates based upon apprenticeship starts and estimates for total employment within Skills for Care (2013) Size and structure 7

8 The anomalies may have resulted from inconsistent or inaccurate completion of returns and / or under-enumeration of apprentices, by returning officers, and that further, detailed research is required to address and reconcile variations in the existing data. 14 Two thirds (68%) of all Apprenticeships starts in adult social care are aged 25+, and 72% are aged 24+, compared to the national averages of 45% and 49%, respectively. Female apprentices (84%) outnumber males (16%) by more than 5:1 within the sector and almost one in six (14%) of apprentices are BME, compared to 10% across all apprenticeship starts. 15 The shift towards older apprentices could potentially be one of the factors underlying the propensity or reluctance of local authorities to recruit apprentices for example due to TUPE rights, Trade Union and employee opposition or other issues. These issues, amongst others, will need to be investigated in detail within the proposed primary research. Direct payments and personal assistants Around 193,000 adults, older people and carers were receiving direct payments from councils social services departments as at March 2012 and an estimated 52% of these recipients were directly employing a personal assistant. 16 The potential to increase the number of apprentices working as directly or indirectly employed personal assistants may be affected by a complex range of factors, including local authority support provided to individual employers. We have therefore sought to identify relevant drivers, influencers and inhibitors of apprenticeship take up and delivery to inform Skills for Care s approach to supporting Apprenticeships within the local authority and personal assistant sector. 17 Recruitment of apprentices Approximately 95% of employers within the overall economy either specifically recruit an apprentice (49%) or put an existing employee through an apprenticeship (45%). The remaining 5% of employers use both approaches. The consensus from a number of studies is that the smaller the employer the less likely they are to employ an apprentice and more likely to report the need for subsidies to 14 A view supported by the Analysis team at Skills for Care 15 Scale Consultants (2014), Apprenticeships starts, pp Skills for Care (2013), Size and structure, p There is a need to define the personal assistant sector: for the purposes of this report we have assumed apprentices may be employed directly by recipients of direct payments and also agencies employing personal assistants on behalf of one or more recipients of direct payments. 8

9 encourage take-up. 18 Micro businesses and sole traders are even less likely to recruit Apprentices for a variety of reasons such as dealing with the administration of hiring, negative perceptions of bureaucracy and lack of information about Apprenticeships. 19 Inhibitors to the employment of an apprentice would include, but not be limited to, complexities involved in recruitment, health and safety and other employer liabilities, providing adequate supervision at work and with training and, not least, the timescale for recouping the investment in training. We did not find specific references in the literature to local authorities and recruitment from the NEET group into adult social care. However, we did identify two ongoing programmes with this specific objective. The first programme is run by the London Apprenticeship Company, together with local authorities, and the second a joint initiative between the Local Government Association (LGA) and Association of Directors of Children s Services (ADCS) to deliver the Youth Contract. Further investigation of these programmes may provide some best practice insight to inform Skills for Care s approach to supporting local authority recruitment of young people from the NEET group into employment in adult social care. 20 Conclusions, issues and recommendations We have identified that there is a limited amount of information and data in the public domain relating to number of Apprentices employed by local authorities; and the drivers and inhibitors of local authority recruitment of apprentices and involvement in Apprenticeships frameworks. We could not find specific references within the literature addressing local authority recruitment of young people from within the NEET group into adult social care. Neither was there information regarding local authority policy and actions in terms of the employment of personal assistants nor on the appropriateness or otherwise of Apprenticeships in this regard. Finally, we did not uncover efforts to encourage individual employers to explore the potential of apprentices as personal assistants. 18 See, for example, BIS (2013) Research paper no. 157, Evaluation of the Apprenticeship Grant for Employers (AGE 16 to 24) programme and ekosgen (2014) Evaluation of Skills for Care s Apprenticeship Programme 2011/12, Final Report 19 Only 7% of sole traders would consider taking on an apprentice in the following 12 months and 75% of respondents don t know who to talk to about taking on an apprentice. Intuit (2013) One giant leap: the first step to becoming an employer. 20 See and /journal_content/56/10180/ /article 9

10 We conclude therefore that there is a need to undertake primary research to establish the: Numbers of Apprentices within local authority social services departments; Drivers and inhibitors of activity in relation to Apprenticeships for recruitment and up-skilling of new and existing employees in the statutory sector; Extent to which Apprentices are employed as personal assistants and their appropriateness in this regard; and Potential to encourage the recruitment of young people from within the NEET group into adult social care amongst local authorities and their contracted providers. 10

11 Bibliography 1. Audit Commission (2011) improving value for money in social care 2. BIS (2012) Research Report No. 71, Assessing the Deadweight Loss Associated with Public Investment in Further Education and Skills 3. BIS (2012) Research Report No. 67, Employer Investment in Apprenticeships and Workplace Learning: The Fifth Net Benefits of Training to Employers Study 4. BIS (2013) Research Report No. 123, Apprenticeships Evaluation: Employer 5. BIS (2013) Research Report No. 121, Apprenticeship Pay Survey 2012: Research Findings 6. BIS (2013) Research paper no. 138, Measuring Additionality in Apprenticeships 7. BIS (2013) Research paper no. 157, Evaluation of the Apprenticeship Grant for Employers (AGE 16 to 24) programme 8. BIS (2013) The Future of Apprenticeships in England: Guidance for Trailblazers 9. CQC (2013) Department for Work and Pensions employment programmes: Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks for work placements in adult social care settings registered with 10. Care Quality Commission (2013) Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS): checks for work placements in adult social care settings registered with the Care Quality Commission 11. ekosgen (2011) Evaluation of Skills for Care s Apprenticeship Programme 2011/12, Final Report 12. HSCIC (2014) Personal Social Services: Staff of Social Services Departments, England 13. Intuit (2013) One giant leap: the first step to becoming an employer 14. ippr (20011) Rethinking Apprenticeships 15. Penny Tamkin / UKCES (2012) Evidence Report No. 52, Sector Skills Insights: Health and Social Care 16. Scale Consultants (2011) Skills for Care: Analysis of Apprenticeships 2009/10 and (2014) Apprenticeships Starts Analysis 2012/ Skills for Care (2010) Evaluation of the Common Induction Standards 18. Skills for Care, The cost implications of staff turnover 19. Skills for Care, Career progression in care 20. Skills for Care (2013) The size and structure of the adult social care sector and workforce in England, Skills for Care & Development (Intermediate and Advanced Apprenticeships in Health and Social Care (England 22. Statistical First Release, NEET statistics quarterly brief July to September UKCES (2013) Review of Adult Vocational Qualifications in England L 11

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