National plan sets out roadmap to improve training for Personal Assistant Employers and PAs

A new national plan has set out what needs to happen in Scotland to improve access to training for people who employ Personal Assistants.  

The plan is about the training employers want to give to their PAs as well as the training they might want to access themselves, to support them to be a good employer.  

The plan, Personal Assistant National Training Framework – a resource for Employers and PAs, is the culmination of a year’s work to understand the current situation around training for PA Employers and PAs. The research involved speaking with a wide range of people who employ PAs to understand what difficulties they had in accessing training, and what training they wanted to be able to provide to their PAs.  

The plan sets out a blueprint for the next few years, identifying pieces of work that will enable PA Employers to have the knowledge and confidence to carry out their training role, and will mean PA Employers and PAs can access relevant training. 

The overall aim of the plan is not to make training mandatory for Personal Assistants, or to force Employers to provide certain training. It recognises that every Employer is different and will want to choose what is most appropriate for them when it comes to training their PAs.  

The actions recommended in the plan aim to give PA Employers practical resources to help them in their role, and include: 

• Developing a training directory to help Employers find training for their PAs 
• Creating standards for training to help Employers and PAs judge whether the training that is available is going to be good quality and relevant   
• Enabling organisations which already support PA Employers to provide more support and training, to more people 
• Exploring options for a formal, optional PA qualification. 

The plan recommends these pieces of work are taken forward in future, and are dependent on appropriate funding being provided. 

In the meantime, the project team behind the plan are now working on two priorities as a first step to improving the situation for PA Employers and PAs.  

Working in collaboration with PA Employers, they are developing: 

• two new online training modules, Understanding the Role of the PA and Healthy Working Relationships 
• an employer resource pack that will help employers identify their PAs’ training needs and give helpful advice and guidance on arranging training. 

It is hoped these much-needed resources will be launched by summer 2024.  

You can read the summary of the plan here: Personal Assistant National Training Framework Summary

And you can read the full plan here: Personal Assistant National Training Framework for Employers 2024

The plan has been published by Self Directed Support Scotland as part of our work with the Personal Assistant Programme Board. The Programme Board aims to further recognise and support the PA workforce in Scotland, and by extension the people who employ PAs. It has several areas of focus including Training, Recruitment, Data and Wellbeing. 

Find out more about the Personal Assistant Programme Board: https://www.sdsscotland.org.uk/pa-programme-board/