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More service users and informal carers are involved in workforce development in the voluntary, independent and private (VIP) sector, according to a recent report. 

Local authorities are spending more money on training in the VIP sector, according to the Local Government Social Care Workforce Development Expenditure report.

It said that £54m would be spent on training in the VIP sector, the fourth rise since 2004.

The report, published by workforce development body Learn to Care, also highlighted a major problem for councils – releasing staff to be trained in the VIP sector. The pressures of workloads, and staff shortages meant that many councils found it difficult to find the time to take staff out of frontline work to be trained.

Skills for Care Chief Executive Andrea Rowe (pictured right) said that the spending on training “shows we are definitely moving in the right direction”.  But that “capacity remains an issue for the voluntary, independent and private sector.”

She also praised the involvement of service users and informal carers in consultation on workforce issues saying that the doubling of the numbers involved was a great achievement in only 12 months.