In a bid to help drive UK business growth, the government has launched a £50 million skills fund. The Growth and Innovation Fund (GIF) has guaranteed this funding up to 2013, with the aim of tackling the skills shortages that, as Business Secretary Vince Cable put it, ‘hold companies back.’
Under the plans, the money invested by the government will be matched by investment from employers, taking the potential total annual investment in skills to £100 million per year.
The funding will be available for training to boost innovation, to set up new professional standards and to set up new or develop existing National Skills Academies. It will be delivered jointly by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES) and the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) and bids have already been invited from employer organisations such as Sector Skills Councils, professional bodies and trade associations.
Questions remain over the delivery level benefits of such funding schemes, although much of this will depend on the final programmes agreed for funding through the GIF.
For more information and to view the GIF prospectus visit www.ukces.org.uk/gif
