£25 million of additional support is available for businesses to take the lead in improving training for new and current employees.
Skills and Enterprise Minister, Matthew Hancock, has pledged to support businesses in the automotive sector supply chain with £20 million to fund training. In addition to this, further successful bidders for the Employer Ownership Pilot (EOP) fund have been announced. Three companies have received £5.2 million between them and will combine this government funding with their own money to invest in the training they need and fund schemes in their area.
Speaking at a UK Commission for Employment and Skills Investment Showcase event, the Minister announced the successful bidders in the next phase of EOP funding as well as unveiling what previous winners have chosen to invest their funding on.
Businesses can submit their proposals to access funding and address skills shortages from 6 May 2014 and the offer will be open for 12 weeks.
Skills and Enterprise Minister Matthew Hancock said:
“Our goal is to bring employment and education closer together, to deliver the skills employers need. This straightforward, flexible employer ownership fund will allow employers in the supply chain to develop their skills so they can take advantage of significant growth opportunities in the sector. By having a highly-skilled workforce, companies will be able to grow and meet the imminent and longer-term needs of automotive manufacturing companies.”
The Minister also went on to announce successes from the last year’s successful EOP bidders. National Grid, Everton Football Club, Rogers Restorations and Costain have pledged to create a total of 5000 Traineeships, which will be funded by EOP.
Matthew Hancock this week welcomed a trainee to his own office as part of the new Parliamentary Traineeship Scheme. Yusuf Khan will complete a 12 week Traineeship where he will gain work experience and work towards qualifications to help give him the right skills to gain future employment.
Traineeships were created in August 2013 to help young people gain the skills and vital experience they need to get an Apprenticeship or other job. They comprise work preparation training, maths and English training and work experience with an employer.