A new £2,375,000 Skills Innovation Fund has been launched to support skills development in the York and North Yorkshire region
The fund, which is part of the Mayoral Investment Fund, will operate over a two-year period, from April 2025 to March 2027.
The Skills Innovation Fund aims to address skills gaps and mismatches in the region. According to Mayor David Skaith, the fund will ensure that young people and people across the region are equipped with the skills that local industries need.
The Mayor noted that there is a challenge in the region where many young people are leaving to find opportunities elsewhere. The fund seeks to align training courses with the needs of key industries to ensure that people can build careers in the region.
The Skills Innovation Fund has several key objectives, including:
- Increasing the number of tutors trained in industry-related skills.
- Engaging more adult learners, particularly those who are disengaged or in need of upskilling and reskilling, in training within priority sectors.
- Improving teaching facilities.
- Developing new flexible courses that are bitesize, modular or outreach-based.
- Enhancing the capacity and collaboration of skills providers in York and North Yorkshire.
- Building a strong network of industry-relevant training facilities and tutors across the region.
- Developing bridging provision to other skills programmes.
The mayor hopes that training providers will find flexible ways of delivering skills training to local people.
The fund will prioritise the alignment of training with key growth sectors. These include agriculture, creative industries, digital infrastructure, rail, and construction.
The fund will also focus on the core sectors of construction, health and social care, and the visitor economy.
Emerging growth sectors that will be targeted include Engineering Biology, Agri-Tech, Health and Life Science, Rail, Manufacturing, Clean Energy, Creative and Digital, and Maritime.
According to Mayor Skaith, the region has a unique opportunity in the area of offshore wind due to the amount of space and coastline available.
The fund will provide grants ranging from £100,000 to £1,000,000. The funding is split into £950,000 for capital projects and £1,425,000 for revenue projects, though there is some flexibility to meet demand. Capital projects may include upgrading facilities with cutting-edge technology and implementing innovative teaching methods. The fund will not accept applications for capital funding only. Revenue funding can be used to support the delivery of new courses, staff salaries and training, and to develop new learning provisions. Although match funding is not mandatory, applicants who can demonstrate additional contributions will be viewed favourably.
Applications are welcome from a range of skills providers including:
- Further Education (FE) and Higher Education (HE) Sector Organisations.
- Local Authority Skills Providers.
- Independent Training Providers.
- Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) Sector Skills providers.
Applications can be submitted by individual organisations, partnerships, or consortium. Partnerships and consortium must identify a lead applicant to manage the application process and distribute funds.
The application window is open from 5th February to 5th March 2025. Applicants must complete an application form and submit any additional documents by the deadline. Projects are expected to commence between April and May 2025.
More information about the fund and how to apply can be found on the York and North Yorkshire Mayoral Investment Fund webpage at https://yorknorthyorks-ca.gov.uk/project/skills-innovation-fund/
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