Individual employer funding 2017 to 2018 Money to pay for training How to ask for a grant June 2017
Important Green writing In this easy-read booklet we sometimes explain what words mean. The first time we mention any of these words, it is in bold green writing. Then we write what the words mean in a blue box. If any of the words are used later in the booklet, we show them in normal green writing. These words and what they mean are also in a Word list at the back of the booklet.
Contents How to ask for a grant About individual employer funding....5 A step by step guide showing you how to apply for a grant....7 Step 1.... 7 Step 2.... 7 Step 3.... 7 Step 4.... 8 Step 5.... 8 Step 6.... 8 Step 7.... 8 Where did you hear about these grants?... 9 Rules about how the money can be used...10 Documents you must send in with your application form...11 Proof that you are an employer... 13 Proof of training, travel and temporary personal assistant costs... 13 3
Individual employer funding 2017 18 Completing the application form...14 Employer details... 14 Bank details................................................... 15 Completing the form for an employer... 16 Training course and cost details... 16 Sending in your application form...22 Important... 22 If you have any questions... 23 The grant terms......................... 24 The declaration on the application form...30 About Skills for Care....31 Word list...32 4
About individual employer funding How to ask for a grant You may have a person or people working with you who help you to live the way you choose. These people are called personal assistants. Personal assistant This is someone who helps a disabled person to do things like getting washed, bathed and dressed. You can ask for money, called a grant, to pay for training and qualifications for both you and any personal assistants you employ. Employ This is when you pay someone to work for you. 5
Individual employer funding 2017 18 This booklet will help you to follow the process for claiming a grant. You can ask for a grant if these two things are true. You live in England. You use a social care direct payment or your own money to pay for a personal assistant. 6
How to ask for a grant A step by step guide showing you how to apply for a grant Step 1 Read this booklet and look at the application form. Make sure you understand the rules for claiming a grant. The rules are shown as part of the application form and in this guidance document. Get in touch with us if you have any questions. You can email funding@skillsforcare.org.uk or phone 0113 2411275. Step 2 Find out what training you, and any personal assistant you have, would like. Get in touch with the group who provides training in your local area, or with your local disabled people s group or college. Step 3 Fill in the application form. Send the completed application form to us. You must send us proof of the training course and how much it costs. You must also send proof of any travel costs and how much it will cost to have a temporary personal assistant if you need one. 7
Individual employer funding 2017 18 Step 4 We will let you know when we get your application form. We will look at your application. Step 5 If your application for a grant is allowed, the money will be paid into your bank account. If your application for a grant is not allowed, you can apply for a grant again as long as we still have money to use for grants. Step 6 Do and finish the training course or qualification. Send proof to us that you have finished the course or qualification. Step 7 We may get in touch with you and ask if you think the training was worth doing. 8
How to ask for a grant Where did you hear about these grants? Tick a box to show where you found out about these grants and give us more information where necessary. If you are asking for a grant you can ask for a free copy of our booklet called employing personal assistants toolkit. If you already have a copy of this or you do not want a copy, do not tick the box on the application form. You can look at a copy of the toolkit on this website, www.employingpersonalassistants.co.uk 9
Individual employer funding 2017 18 Rules about how the money can be used The rules for getting a grant are on the application form. You must read the rules and make sure you understand them before you fill in the application form. The rules tell you about these things. How and when the grant must be spent. What you cannot use the grant for. What you must do. What we will do. What we will not do. Data protection. 10
How to ask for a grant Documents you must send in with your application form You must send copies of some documents with your application form. If you do not send in the copies of documents your application will take longer to sort out. We will get in touch with you to ask for any documents that you should have sent in with your application form but did not. The documents you need to send in are proof that you are an employer. proof of training, travel and temporary personal assistant costs. 11
Individual employer funding 2017 18 If the application form has been filled in for you by someone else, then you must also send in copies of these documents. Proof of lasting or enduring power of attorney. Power of attorney This is a written document when one person appoints another person to act on their behalf. Proof of a court appointed deputy. Court appointed deputy This is a person who is appointed by the Court of Protection to make decisions for someone who cannot do so on their own. Official proof that someone else is able to act on your behalf. The other proof will need to be an official government document that states that they are able to act on your behalf, for example, from a local authority or health organisation, Jobcentre Plus, Department for Work and Pensions, The Pensions Regulator. 12
Proof that you are an employer How to ask for a grant You must send us a copy of at least one of these things. Your current certificate of Employer s Liability Insurance. A document with your name and address on it showing your tax employer reference number, also called PAYE, as held by Her Majesty s Revenue and Customs. Proof of training, travel and temporary personal assistant costs You must send us these things. A quote or invoice from the person or group running the training course, including any Value Added Tax. A quote, invoice or receipt for all travel costs. A quote, invoice or copy of a payslip showing the temporary personal assistant s hourly rate. 13
Individual employer funding 2017 18 Completing the application form Employer details You should fill in this form if any personal assistant works for you. If you cannot fill in the form someone can help you fill it in. This should be someone who is legally or officially allowed to do this for you. But this part of the form must always show the details of the employer or the person who needs care and support. Employer This is a person or company that pays other people to do work for them. You must fill in all the parts in this section of the form. We will put all your details on our computer system. We have to do this so we can get in touch with you about your application and pay you any money. We may also send newsletters to you. If you do not want to get these newsletters, get in touch with us and we will stop sending them to you. The data protection part of the application form gives you more details. 14
How to ask for a grant Bank account details You need to tell us your bank details so that if you are given a grant we can pay the money into your bank account. If you do not tell us your bank details we will not be able to give you a grant. We will keep your bank details safe. You need to tell us these things. Bank sort code. This is 3 sets of 2 numbers separated by a dash, for example, 12-34-56. Bank account number. This is the number of your bank account. It is likely to be 8 numbers, for example, 12345678. Name of the account holder. This is the name of the person who has the bank account. Name of the bank. This is the name of the bank where the account is, for example, Barclays, Halifax, Lloyds, NatWest. Bank address. This is the address of the bank where the account is held. Bank postcode. This is the postcode of the bank where the account is held. Type of account. You need to tick a box to show what type of account you have. If you tick other you must say what type of account you have. Payment receipt. This is the email address where we will tell you that the grant has been paid. This must be the employer s email address or that of someone officially or legally allowed to do this for you 15
Individual employer funding 2017 18 Completing the form for an employer If you are filling in the form for the employer, you must be the person who is legally or officially allowed to do this for the employer. We will ask for proof that you are able to do this. You must fill in all the parts in this section of the form. You must say what your relationship is to the employer. Tick all the parts that are true. Training course and cost details All the sections in this part of the form must be filled in and you will need to send us proof of all costs. If the section is not fully completed and you do not send us proof of all your costs, your application may take longer to deal with. Training course title You need to write the name of the training course or the qualification you are taking. For example, First Aid or Dementia awareness. If you have more than one personal assistant you can ask for money to pay for training for each of them. You can also pay for more than one type of training. You can ask for money to pay for up to 5 training courses for each person on the application form. For example, if you have 2 personal assistants they can go to 5 training courses each. And you can go to 5 training courses as well. That is 15 courses in total. 16
How to ask for a grant Name and address of learning provider This is the name and address of the person or group who will be running the training course. For example, a local council, a private training provider or a college. You will need to find a group who will do the training you need. We cannot search for or arrange this training for you. Full name, email address and phone number of the person going on the training course This will be one, some or all of you and your personal assistants. Course start and end dates You must return any money you have not spent as outlined in your application to Skills for Care by the 31 March 2018. You must tell us when the course is likely to start and finish so we know when you will be sending us a copy of your certificate to show the course has finished. We will get in touch with you to ask you to send in the certificates to show the course has been completed. 17
Individual employer funding 2017 18 Cost of the training This is the total cost of the training course including any Value Added Tax, which is also called VAT. Value Added Tax This is a tax that has to be paid on some goods and services. When you send your application form to us you must also send us a quote or an invoice from the person or group who will be giving the training. The quote or invoice must show these details of the training course. What subjects are being taught and what people will be learning. Where the training course will be held. When the training course will be held. How much the training course will cost. 18
How to ask for a grant Travel costs If you have to pay for travel to get to and from the training course you can ask for money to pay for this. This includes bus or train tickets, taxi fares or, if you travel by car, the number of miles, at 45p each mile. You should book travel as far in advance as you can to get the best price. Train tickets must be standard class. You must send us a quote, invoice or receipts. For mileage you must tell us where the journey will start and end, the number of miles you will travel and how many times you will need to make the journey. 19
Individual employer funding 2017 18 Costs of a temporary personal assistant You can ask for money to pay for the cost of a temporary personal assistant while your regular personal assistant is taking part on a training course. You can only get this money for these 2 reasons. You need someone to help you while your personal assistant is on a training course during their normal working hours. You need extra help and support to go to a training course. You cannot ask for extra money to pay your personal assistant to attend training. When you send us your application form, you must also send us a quote, invoice or copy of a payslip showing the temporary personal assistant s hourly rate. 20
How to ask for a grant The total cost This is the total cost of each training course including these 3 things. The cost of the training. Any travel costs. The costs of any temporary personal assistant. You must add up all of the costs for each of the training courses and put a total cost on your application form. This will be the full amount of money you need from us. 21
Individual employer funding 2017 18 Sending in your application form You can send your application form to us by email or by post. All application forms must be filled in and sent to us before 28 February 2018. Applications submitted by training providers will not be accepted. Funding is given on a first come first served basis and employers should not wait until the end of the year before sending an application. Important It will take about 4 weeks between sending in the application form and being told that the money has been sent to your bank account. If we have any problems dealing with your application form, for example, if there is missing proof or missing information, it will take longer to deal with your application. You will have to wait longer to find out if you can have the money. 22
How to ask for a grant You should not book or pay for any training courses until you have heard from us that you are going to get the money. If you have any questions If you have any questions you can get in touch with us. Email funding@skillsforcare.org.uk Telephone 0113 241 1275 23
Individual employer funding 2017 18 The grant terms These are the terms under which an individual employer funding grant will be awarded. Grants awarded under an agreement between the Department of Health (DH) and Skills for Care. These terms and conditions in this section are quite complicated and lengthy, but we have to make sure that you (as someone who may be given a grant) know about them. Please note that some of the terms contained in this section may not apply to you as an individual employer. If there is anything that you do not understand, you should call 0113 241 1275 or email funding@skillsforcare.org.uk. STANDARD CONDITIONS BASIS ON WHICH GRANTS MADE UNDER SECTION 67 ARE AWARDED FOR YOU TO NOTE AND OBSERVE Payment of the grant shall be subject to you complying with the terms and conditions and to such further conditions and requirements that the DH and/or Skills for Care may from time to time specify. These shall include information about progress against plan. The grant shall only be used to fund training to help employers and their personal assistants (PAs) to develop their skills and knowledge in accordance with the conditions set out here and in the grant application form. Skills for Care will not be responsible for the activities of any person, organisation or company engaged by the individual employer as a result of this arrangement, nor will Skills for 24
How to ask for a grant Care be responsible for any costs incurred by the individual employer in terminating the engagement of the aforementioned persons, organisations or companies. Any underspend is to be reported upon and returned to Skills for Care. If this is the case you must liaise with your contact. You must also provide Skills for Care or the DH with all reasonable assistance and co-operation in relation to any ad-hoc information requests made by Skills for Care or DH in relation to the project. If applicable, you must send a copy of these conditions and your application to your payroll department as the income and expenditure for this grant must be recorded separately in their financial records so that the accounting requirements are fulfilled. Compliance with UK Law In carrying out the activity, you and anyone acting on your behalf must comply with the law for the time being in force in the UK. Your attention is drawn in particular to the need to avoid committing any act of unlawful discrimination, harassment or victimisation prohibited by the Equality Act 2010 in providing goods, facilities or services to the public or carrying out public functions. For further information, please refer to What equality law means for your voluntary and community sector organisation on the Equality and Human Rights Commission s website at www.equalityhumanrights.com/uploaded_files/equalityact/ service_providers_guide_voluntary_and_community_sector. pdf. 25
Individual employer funding 2017 18 Your attention is also drawn to your obligations under the Data Protection Act 1998 and the Human Rights Act 1998. It is agreed that statutory and other constraints on the exchange of information will be fully respected, including the requirements of the Data Protection Act 1998, the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the Human Rights Act 1998. You should also note that any liability incurred under health and safety legislation, or liability for redundancy or unfair dismissal under employment legislation, will be the responsibility of your organisation (if your organisation is an occupier of premises or an employer) and not that of Skills for Care. If there is any doubt over any of the above mentioned matters, you should seek legal advice. You are reminded of your duty to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of all your employees as prescribed by the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. This duty extends to include in particular: the provision and maintenance of systems of work that are, so far as is reasonably practicable, safe and without risks to health the provision of such information, instruction, training and supervision as is necessary to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety at work of your employees so far as is reasonably practicable as regards any place of work under your control, the maintenance of it in a condition that is safe and without risks to health and the provision and maintenance of means of access to and egress from it that are safe and without such risks 26
How to ask for a grant the provision and maintenance of a working environment for your employees that is, so far as is reasonably practicable, safe, without risks to health, and adequate as regards facilities and arrangements for their welfare at work. Transparency Skills for Care will provide information concerning this grant for the cabinet Office Government Grant Information System (GGIS). From 1 April 2016, the Cabinet Office maintain a live database of all grants given across Government. The information is available to those awarding Government grants to make grants more effective and efficient and reduce fraud and error. Skills for Care would have to consider any Freedom of Information request for information contained on the GGIS system. Skills for Care and the DH have a zero tolerance approach towards fraud and fraudulent behaviour and will fully cooperate with investigation into such events, whether led by Skills for Care or the DH. Skills for Care and/ or the DH, may, at any time during the term of this arrangement and up to five years after the end of the training, arrange for additional audits, on-the-spot checks and/ or inspections to be carried out. These may be carried out by DH or Skills for Care, or any of its duly authorised representatives. You must provide any representative of Skills for Care and the DH s Anti-Fraud Unit (AFU) with access to any records relating to this grant, including access to individuals or any information Skills for Care and the AFU deem relevant to a fraud investigation, as soon as possible and in any event within 14 days of the request. 27
Individual employer funding 2017 18 Where information is requested by Skills for Care and the AFU (as part of an investigation), you cannot request any remuneration or benefits for any labour associated with fulfilling that request. Training providers You must ensure that any training provider is providing value for money for the training that is being delivered. You must also ensure that there are no conflicts of interest when buying training, for example, where a training provider may be a relative of an individual employer. If you have any queries in relation to training providers please contact us. Copies of relevant documentation may be requested by Skills for Care. Department of Health/ NHS Logos Organisations that carry out your training, will not be able to use the DH or NHS logos on any material that is produced through a grant from the Department. MONITORING GRANT ACTIVITY ACTION FOR YOU TO TAKE You must submit confirmation that you have spent the grant that you have claimed by 30 April following the award of the grant in the previous DH s/skills for Care s financial year (1 April 31 March). You will be required to supply certificates for each of the courses specific to your training that Skills for Care has funded. Certificates should be sent to funding@skillsforcare.org.uk. 28
How to ask for a grant Evaluation arrangements Your Skills for Care Contact may arrange to speak with you to discuss progress of this grant with you. In receiving this grant you agree to co-operate with the reasonable requests of evaluators appointed by Skills for Care. This may include requests to share monitoring information and evidence submissions. This is in line with our commitment to evaluation and review, to continually improve the services we offer employers. You may be required as part of this grant to participate in an evaluation of the Workforce Development Fund 2017/18. This may include completing an on-line survey and complying with all other reasonable requests for information as and when required by us. Further information regarding this will be communicated to you in due course. AGREEMENT TO THE CONDITIONS OF THE AWARD By applying for funding you confirm that that you, or the person with lawful authority, have read and understood the application and this section. 29
Individual employer funding 2017 18 The declaration on the application form There is a declaration section on the application form which you must read. If you understand what has been written and you agree with it, you must tick the box, sign and print your name and write today s date. You must only tick the box if the following 6 sentences are true. You agree to everything that has been written about the rules for getting a grant and you want to ask for the money. You have read and understand the rules and you accept those rules. You understand that if you do not keep to the conditions in this guidance document and the application form, this could mean that Skills for Care can tell you to give the grant back. You declare that the information you have given on the application form is true and complete. You understand what we will do with your information when we follow the Data Protection Act. You give Skills for Care permission to get information and updates about your training from the training provider listed in this application. 30
About Skills for Care How to ask for a grant We are a group that listens to and works closely with thousands of social care employers, people who need care and support, carers and other people who can affect, or are affected by, our group. We help people get the skills they need to do their job properly. We also help people to get better skills. Our aim is to make sure that the people who work in adult social care, and also the people who employ them, have the skills and qualifications they need to give high quality care and support. We want more people to employ personal assistants and use training courses for themselves and their personal assistants. The grant will help you and any personal assistants to have the right skills and qualifications so you can live independently and have more choice and control. Live independently This means people having choice and control over the care and support services they need to live their lives the way they want to. 31
Individual employer funding 2017 18 Word list Court appointed deputy This is a person who is appointed by the Court of Protection to make decisions for someone who cannot do so on their own...12 Employ This is when you pay someone to work for you....5 Employer This is a person or company that pays other people to do work for them...14 Live independently This means people having choice and control over the care and support services they need to live their lives the way they want to...31 Personal assistant This is someone who helps a disabled person to do things like getting washed, bathed and dressed...5 Personal budget This tells a disabled person how much money they can spend on their care and support services. It also shows how it was worked out... 32
How to ask for a grant Power of attorney This is a written document when one person appoints another person to act on their behalf....12 Value Added Tax This is a tax that has to be paid on some goods and services...18 33
Skills for Care West Gate 6 Grace Street Leeds LS1 2RP Web address www.skillsforcare.org.uk Telephone Information Team 0113 241 1275 Switchboard 0113 245 1716 Email funding@skillsforcare.org.uk Copyright Skills for Care 2017 Published by Skills for Care June 2017