£7 million awarded to help Greater Manchester residents get back into work and meet skills shortages

The Department for Education (DfE) has awarded Greater Manchester £7 million to provide training to help city-region residents secure job interviews and meet skills shortages.

Training will be delivered as part of Greater Manchester’s Skills Bootcamps – part of the Government’s Lifetime Skills Guarantee – which helps people to get onto the career ladder, transition back into work after a break or access progression opportunities. The bootcamps of up to 16 weeks will support people aged 19 and over from priority groups to re-enter the workplace, while also helping employers meet skills needs.

The scheme follows a successful pilot programme, which began in 2018, that enabled 53% of learners on a DCMS-backed Digital Skills Bootcamp programme secure employment. The DfE is now scaling up the scheme to offer training across a broader range of fields where employers have identified skills shortages; funding for Greater Manchester will offer training until 2023 for careers in construction, manufacturing, digital and the green economy, among others.

Cllr Eamonn O’Brien, Greater Manchester’s lead for Education, Work, Skills, Apprenticeships and Digital said:

“It’s fantastic that our success rolling out the previous Digital Workforce Fund has led to Skills Bootcamps being scaled up on a national level. This demonstrates how Greater Manchester is committed and forward-thinking when it comes to offering a skills system that is fit for purpose, ensuring local people have access to new opportunities while businesses can benefit from a high-quality talent pool.

“We have ambitions to offer long-term support and remain committed to better joining up to the post-19 skills system so people who live and work here have access to better opportunities and businesses can benefit from a high-quality, local talent pool to support economic growth.

“We look forward to working with the Department of Education on an ongoing basis in order to support as many local people as we possibly can.”

Priority groups encouraged to access the support include:

• low paid and unemployed/not in work
• veterans
• ex-offenders
• women
• ethnic minorities
• over 50s
• those returning work after a break/maternity leave
• people living with a health condition/disability

Four new training providers have joined the programme that will each deliver Digital Skills Bootcamps, supporting our ambition to position Greater Manchester as the key place for businesses seeking a digitally-skilled workforce to invest in outside of London. The successful providers are: IN4 Group, Generation, Netcom Training and Back2Work Group. Each provider will offer a variety of training between Levels 3 and 5, which have been co-designed with employers to ensure suitability.

GMCA is now looking for a consortia of employers and training providers with innovative ideas to upskill the green economy, manufacturing and construction sectors to bid for its latest commission opportunities.