Partner Article

Employer Ownership Pilot receives £165m Government investment

Vocational training schemes at 34 leading business will receive £165m of joint-investment from the Government and the participating companies.

Firms such as Siemens, Sembcorp and Nissan will benefit from the Employer Ownership Pilot (EOP) after winning bids to create training programmes which will grow the UK’s workforce.

Innovative projects to train employees within both businesses and their supply chains will enable firms to build on the skills of their workforce.

The first round of winners of the Employer Ownership Pilot also include Arla Foods UK and BAE systems.

Manchester Airport has plans to create an academy for school leavers, while Nissan will design 14 training programmes to address the demand for skills in the automotive industry.

Skills Minister, Matthew Hancock, said: “Britain must have the skills Britain’s employers need. By giving businesses the chance to shape and set their own training agenda, we’re giving them the power to enrich their workforce with the skills needed for their future success.”

The EOP will support business ambitions to expand, as the first round of investment hopes to pay for 11,000 apprenticeships, with 4400 aimed at 16 to 18-year olds, 27, 000 full time training schemes, and 49,000 other opportunities for training or learning.

Vince Cable announced EOP plans in Tuesday morning’s Industrial Strategy. The Business Secretary said: “On a recent fact-finding trip to Germany I saw first hand how forward-thinking companies were enjoying the benefits of training their supply chain companies, so I am particularly excited that we have received a number of bids to do the same in the UK.

“The breadth and scope of these projects show how central skills are to our long-term competitiveness, across all sectors and in all corners of the country. I am delighted that these employers have taken this challenge.”

Investment into the EOP will come to a total of £250m over two years, with a second round of bids to be launched in October.

Senior Vice President Regional HR of Sembcorp Industries, George Ritchie said: “We are delighted to have been chosen as one of the employer-led projects given the opportunity to design our own innovative framework reflecting the way our industrial partners want their apprentice training delivered.”

John Cridland, CBI Director-General, said: “The first successful applications for the employer ownership pilot highlight the potential of this new scheme.

“Businesses are best placed to understand their own training needs, so putting funding into the hands of employers is the right thing to do. Employer ownership will also help nurture strong training networks in local areas and supply chains, encouraging more employers to get involved.

“Business already invests around £49 billion every year in worker training programmes, and the pilots will enable them to offer more innovative and relevant training for their workforces.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Miranda Dobson .