Consultation launches on social work placement funding

A number of new ways of funding placements for UK social work students have been put forward for consultation by the government.

The Department of Health is seeking views on how the Education Support Grant (ESG) could be structured to make sure it operates within its 28 million pound budget, following several years of overspending.

For example, the ESG could be allocated according to the previous or next year's number of students on placements or according to the amount of students who receive the social work bursary, or alternatively it could be left as it is.

The consultation will also look at how the quality of placements can be improved, such as by giving higher education institutes more flexibility over how the grant is spent, allowing them to reward providers offering high-quality placements or work with others to improve standards.

Care and support minister Norman Lamb said: "In these challenging financial times, we have to make better use of our resources and control every penny we spend to make sure the public's money is used effectively."

The consultation is available online and runs until November 15th 2013.