Prospectus (round one)
Our current economic situation requires creative responses led by employers to drive growth. The
Employer Ownership of Skills pilot offers all employers direct access to public investment; up to
£250 million over two years to design and deliver their own training solutions. This prospectus
invites proposals from employers for the first phase of the pilot, covering up to £50 million.
It asks employers to set out how they would use public investment, alongside their own, to
improve the skills of their current and future workforce. In return for greater flexibility in the design
and delivery of publicly funded training, employers need to tell us how the pilot will increase the
impact of investment in workforce development.
Skills are essential for our future prosperity. In Skills for Sustainable Growth, the Government set out a clear approach for a skills system that responds to employer and individual need; one that secures value for public funds while minimising bureaucratic central planning and regulatory control.
To help achieve this goal the UK Commission for Employment and Skills set out a vision for giving greater responsibility and ownership to employers (PDF, 7.4 Mb) for developing the skills needed for growth. The Government wants to start to make this vision a reality. This prospectus invites employers to come forward with radical proposals that test the full potential of employer ownership.
The overall aim of the pilot is to find more effective and sustainable ways to improve skills in the workforce and to use these improved skills to drive up productivity and growth.
We are looking for proposals from employers that support the following key objectives:
- Increase the impact of work readiness, workforce development and Apprenticeships activity
- Employers are better able to secure the training they need by having the influence they require over quality and content and can shape training provision to meet their needs
- Collaboration amongst employers to address cross-sector or supply chain skills challenges is increased
- Employer leadership, commitment and investment in skills is increased, including the involvement of employers who do not have a track record of investing in skills.
For employers, the pilot offers greater flexibility to improve programme design, to deliver training and employment opportunities that have real value in the labour market, and to demonstrate how accountability for public funds can be made as simple as possible. It promotes employee engagement and collaboration between employers to create training and employment opportunities that achieve joint goals.
The prospectus invites employers to work with employees, trade unions, colleges and training providers, and other partners to develop proposals that set out how they will invest in skills to drive enterprise, jobs and growth within a sector, supply chain or locality. It does not define the skills that employers need to develop. Nor does it specify the levels of public money available for each individual type of training. It is an open invitation to employers to put forward proposals for co-investment in skills and training that will have a real impact on their employees, business and the sector at large.
We want this approach to better align public and private investment in training and workforce development to growth. This will be achieved by employers telling us where and how Government and business can co-invest most intelligently to maximise opportunities for employers and people.
We want employers to seize this opportunity and work together to come up with radical proposals to develop the skills the workforce needs to support industry growth.
Please click here to view the Prospectus (PDF, 544 Kb)
