Engagement on a Career Map for Social Care Workers in Wales

IntroductionSocial Care Wales is issuing this invitation as part of its support work for the Social Care Fair Work Forum. The Forum is a body established by the Welsh Government as a social partnership and includes membership from trade unions, employers, Social Care Wales, and the Welsh Government.Social Care Wales is the regulator of the social care workforce in Wales. That means we register practitioners, set standards of practice and make sure workers are fit to practise. We are also responsible for developing and improving the workforce, improving services, and supporting people to use research and data. We are funded by the Welsh Government.What is required / ‘The Requirements’The Social Care Fair Work Forum seeks to improve the working arrangements for social care workers in Wales, so that they meet the definition and characteristics of Fair Work set out in the report of the Fair Work Commission in 2019.Definition: Fair work is where workers are fairly rewarded, heard and represented, secure and able to progress in a healthy, inclusive environment where rights are respected.Characteristics within the definition: Fair reward; employee voice and collective representation; security and flexibility; opportunity for access, growth and progression; safe, healthy and inclusive working environment, legal rights respected and given substantive effect.:As part of its work to meet this ambition, the Forum has agreed to develop a ‘pay and progression framework’ for the social care workforce in Wales. This would aim to set out a series of levels, or bands, within the workforce that would include a range of information including expected competencies, tasks and, ultimately, pay levels.Work has been ongoing to develop this concept and to begin to map out the elements that would be required.The Framework will be limited, in its initial phase, to direct care workers in social care. Social workers will not be included at this stage (although separate work is underway relating to pay scales for social work harmonisation elsewhere).The Framework will consist of four elements:1. an overarching description of the framework,2. a career map that illustrates the opportunities for progression in social care (and related sectors),3. a set of example role profiles for jobs within the sector and,4. a scale of anticipated pay rates (bands) for each levelThis invitation to tender is primarily concerned with the first of these elements, although depending on progress it might look to incorporate elements of 2 and 3 as the work continues.The Forum has developed, through a subgroup, an initial framework description that now needs to be refined and tested with the social care sector prior to formal consultation alongside other proposals in early 2023. Advice has also been received from a specially established HR Expert Group that has been drawn from all parts of the sector.It is anticipated that the framework description will be based around five bands, aligned with the qualification framework established by Social Care Wales. This is equivalent to NVQ levels 2, 3, 4 and 5, alongside a band that recognises those roles that are for new starters in the sector, or where specific competencies are at a lower level.There will be no distinction in the broad description between children and adult social care.The initial view is that this description will include several elements:- Title – a common form of words such ‘senior social care worker’- Competencies – general expectations of a worker at this band, related to the qualification framework already established.- Brief description of role – a two or three sentence form of words- General role profile – a longer description of the type of requirements for the role- Example roles that fall into the band - for illustration- Registration – whether it requires registration with Social Care Wales- Typical tasks – examples of the work undertaken at this bandPlease see specification for more information