• Swindon & Wiltshire Education, training and skills
• Wednesday January 31 2024
• Author Name: Peter Davison

West of England Combined Authority secures another £7 million for Skills Bootcamps

Seven million pounds in funding has been secured by the West of England Combined Authority to introduce more hands-on training programmes called Skills Bootcamps and expand a series of successful ones over the next year.

The cash boost – the largest Metro Mayor Dan Norris has secured for his hands-on courses since they started up in 2021 – will allow another 1,300 West of England residents to take part in the free training courses across the region.

Building on the success of current schemes targeting people in sectors like retrofit, welding and HGV driving, the new free flexible courses will be in key mayoral and regional priorities like the early years sector, green transport, health and social care and the creative industries.

More money will also go into the existing Skills Bootcamps so that even more people can benefit from training in areas like technical engineering and construction.

Everyone who completes the training, which will last up to 16 weeks, will be offered an interview with an employer.

Mayor Dan Norris recently visited one of the current hands-on training programmes at City of Bristol College where he met locals gaining new qualifications to work as HGV drivers – with more than 250 trained up in just 12 months, helping tackle a regional (and national) shortage.

Reflecting on the high-level skills people were learning, and the benefits to the West, he said: “This is excellent news for residents. The West of England Mayoral Combined Authority already helps over 10,000 people a year get the skills they need to move into high-quality and well-paid jobs, and this £7 million – the largest skills boost secured so far – means we can now do even more.

“These courses are working. Just look at the national HGV driver shortage impacting locally – we trained up 250 locals in 2023. It just goes to show how, through these courses, we can tackle the labour shortages we face to enable our area to thrive.

“I’m proud to be a Jobs First Mayor and I’m determined to help talented local people get the training they need to access good-quality, well-paid and secure jobs here in the West of England.

“I’d encourage everyone to look at the training on offer!”

The first funding call will open next Monday, February 5 for new Skills Bootcamp categories, with a further call for all other sectors opening in mid-March.

The Mayoral Combined Authority is asking providers and firms interested in getting involved in delivering the latest Skills Bootcamps to visit https://www.westofengland-ca.gov.uk/what-we-do/employment-skills/skills-bootcamps/providers-and-employers/

Skills Bootcamps are funded through the Department of Education’s National Skills Fund. and form part of the Government’s Lifetime Skills Guarantee.