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£3 million hub secured for apprenticeships and training in Hampshire and Surrey
PRESS RELEASE
Apprenticeships and skills training opportunities for jobseekers in Hampshire and Surrey will be given a welcome boost following the announcement of £3 million in new funding from Hampshire County Council and the European Social Fund (ESF)
Councillor Roz Chadd, Hampshire County Council’s Executive Member for Education and Skills, welcomed the announcement, commenting: “This is fantastic news. The funding will help us to work with the Enterprise M3 Local Enterprise Partnership to develop the Apprenticeship and Skills Hub, complementing the model operating successfully in the south of the county.
Helping young people to develop core and employability skills to access better jobs in our future economy is a key element within our Employment and Skills Action Plan, developed in response to COVID-19. Additional funding, such as this from the European Social Fund, enables us to provide training linked to meeting skills gaps and apprenticeship opportunities in the local job market. In this way, we can target help to those facing the biggest barriers to employment.”
Hampshire County Council successfully bid for the £3 million project to deliver the Apprenticeship and Skills Hub, tendered by the Enterprise M3 Local Enterprise Partnership (EM3 LEP). Over the next three years, this Hub will provide at least 360 small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and other apprenticeship levy-paying employers, with an impartial service to source apprenticeships and develop their workforce to both improve productivity and reduce the skills shortage.
Dr Jamie Mackay, EM3 Skills Strategy Manager said: “The EM3 Skills and Apprenticeship Hub builds on a need, identified through research in our Revive and Renew Action Plan, to match employers with people looking to re-skill or start a new apprenticeship. The scheme recognises the urgent need to make it easier for workers to re-skill in areas where there is an identified skills gap and help them back to work as soon as possible.”
Local businesses in Hampshire and Surrey can access support and request more information by contacting Hampshire County Council’s Skills and Participation Service. Email: skills.participation@hants.gov.uk.
As part of Hampshire’s Employment and Skills Action Plan, the County Council has set out a commitment to work with employers, schools, colleges, training providers and universities to promote apprenticeships as a route to developing new skills, securing, and sustaining employment, and improving business performance.
The partnership established for, and supporting, this project comprises:
• Hampshire County Council’s Skills and Participation Service
• Association of Learning Providers Hampshire & Isle of Wight (ALPHI)
• Association of Learning Providers Surrey (ALPS)
• Surrey Chamber of Commerce
• Federation of Small Business
• University of Winchester
• University of Surrey
• EM3 Growth Hub
• Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council
• Rushmoor Borough Council
• Surrey Employment & Skills Board
ALPS Partnership Ltd, PO Box 521 Fleet GU51 9GZ
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