Adult education, skills and employment programmes approved during coronavirus

Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has confirmed the funding for adult education, skills and employment programmes during the coronavirus outbreak.

The £200 million funding for the city-region’s local authorities, colleges, training providers and employment support organisations, covering almost 100 contracts and agreements. Those organisations can now continue to deliver vital skills and employment programmes to residents, supporting community resilience across Greater Manchester’s ten boroughs.

Programmes supported by the scheme range from devolved activity, such as the Adult Education Budget and GM Working Well, to smaller-scale activity and pilots programmes funded entirely or in part by GMCA.

Greater Manchester’s Adult Education Budget, covers £92 million per year of projects that provide education and skills provision for over 70,000 residents each year. GMCA has confirmed it will pay 100% of agreed allocations for grant-funded adult education providers. Additionally, it will make payments to providers with procured contracts until the end of June, but with an intention to provide a level of financial certainty for the remainder of this academic year subject to any further Government guidance.

The funding will enable education providers and their supply chains to adapt to the changes necessary during the coronavirus outbreak and deliver crucial skills training to Greater Manchester residents.Training providers have also been given extra flexibility to respond to new skills demands arising from the pandemic, as people look to retrain or upskill in new areas.

Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, said:

These are unprecedented times, but so much important work is carrying on to help communities across Greater Manchester cope with this outbreak and prepare for the future. By joining up our approach to skills, employment and wellbeing, we can provide financial security to our colleges and providers and help them to address the challenges we’re facing. This is going to be vital to supporting our most vulnerable residents, now and in the weeks and months to come.”

Cllr Sean Fielding, GMCA Lead for Education, Skills, Work and Apprenticeships, said:

I am very pleased that an approach to supporting our work and skills providers in terms of financial stability has been agreed.

“As always, our city-region is pulling together in difficult times. Our colleges, training providers, employment support partners and local authorities have responded quickly to the unfolding situation and many have already done an incredible job of adapting their ways of working to maintain services and support the most vulnerable, and we can’t thank them enough for that commitment.”