UPDATE DECEMBER 2022: PLEASE SEE ACCESSING FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES SECTION BELOW FOR IMPORTANT INFORMATION / DEADLINE REGARDING CORE UKSPF PEOPLE AND SKILLS FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
INTERVENTIONS SELECTED FOR GREATER MANCHESTER (funding only available from April 2024)
E33 – Intensive and wrap-around one-to-one employment support for economically inactive people to move closer to mainstream provision and employment; including specialist life and basic skills (digital, English, maths, English for speakers of other languages) where not already provided locally.
£11m of the Greater Manchester UKSPF allocation from April 2024 to March 2025
E34 – Skills courses for people unable to access training through support above or adult education budget – including basic skills (digital, English, Multiply maths, English for speakers of other languages), life skills and career skills – plus financial support for learners to attend and complete qualifications.
£4.4m of the Greater Manchester UKSPF allocation from April 2024 to March 2025
E37 – Tailored support for people outside of mainstream provision, helping them into employment by addressing barriers to their accessing education and training.
£6.6m of the Greater Manchester UKSPF allocation from April 2024 to March 2025
PLAN FOR IMPLEMENTATION
As per the UKSPF prospectus, funding for People and Skills interventions starts in April 2024. The implementation plan for these is therefore being developed after those for the other investment priorities.
As part of this work, GMCA intends to conduct wide engagement with stakeholders from early 2023. This will help us to understand the challenges and opportunities for this investment priority, and ensure that commissioning is evidence-led, avoids duplication, and adds significant value for residents.
Future engagement activity will be shared via The Chest (external website), so organisations should make sure that they are registered and that their notifications are set up to receive emails regarding relevant opportunities. Updates will also be sent via the UKSPF mailing list (external website).
GMCA is unable to extend any ESF-funded contracts where it is not the contracting authority as we are not a party to these original contracts.
ACCESSING FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
GMCA’s Education, Work and Skills Flexible Procurement System (FPS) is now reopen for applications on The Chest.
The FPS has been created to allow for easier and quicker commissioning activity, whilst creating opportunities for a wider range of suppliers to bid for GMCA commissioned education, work and skills activity.
As such, it is anticipated that the FPS will be used as part of the commissioning process for the People and Skills investment priority of the Core UK Shared Prosperity Fund.
As it is unlikely that the FPS will open again for applications before the start of Core UKSPF People and Skills commissioning activity, if your organisation is interested in bidding as a lead provider for any future UKSPF People and Skills opportunities please ensure that you apply / reapply to the FPS via The Chest before the deadline of Monday 27th February 2023 at 12noon.
Please note that submitting an application is not a guarantee of admission onto the FPS. Also, admission to the FPS does not guarantee funding but gives providers the opportunity to bid on pots of funding that they are eligible for.
More information on the FPS, including details of future application workshops, can be found on the Flexible Procurement System (FPS) page of the GMCA website.
Presentations, recordings and FAQs from all previous events will be able to be accessed in the new year by registering for the FPS opportunity on The Chest.
For any questions on the FPS, please email EWSframework@greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk. Please note that the UKSPF Team cannot answer any queries regarding the FPS.
OTHER GMCA FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
- Multiply is a new government-funded national programme to help adults aged 19+ who do not already have a Level 2 in Maths / Numeracy (or equivalent) to improve their numeracy skills. Funding for Multiply runs from 2022-23 to 2024-25. More information on Multiply implementation in Greater Manchester can be found on the dedicated GM Multiply webpage.
- As we move into the next academic year of Adult Education Budget (AEB) funding in 2023-24, we will be looking to develop how this can enhance the Multiply scheme to provide a full essential life skills offer, i.e. not just maths, to include English and ICT skills and complement the existing AEB funded GM ESOL Advice Service.
VCSE ORGANISATIONS
We recognise the critical importance of VCSE organisations in delivering employment and skills support to GM residents, especially those who are the most vulnerable and disadvantaged. We are therefore working with the sector to gather up-to-date evidence and data on which cohorts of people are and are not being supported so that we can make informed commissioning decisions based on the current landscape.
It's also the reason why we are keen to engage with VCSE organisations to help deliver key activity and provision as part of the Education, Skills and Work funding opportunities above, as it is clear that this sector is best placed to reach out to residents who could benefit from additional support.
RESIDENT REFERRALS
If you are an organisation looking to signpost residents for employment and skills support, there are a number of other ESF- and non ESF-funded employment and skills programmes that are currently still taking referrals for many different groups of people. Visit the Work and Skills page of the GMCA website or Employ GM (external website) for more details.
FIND OUT MORE
If you have any queries, please email ukspf@greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk
MAILING LIST
Sign up to the mailing list (external website) to be kept up-to-date with all the latest core UKSPF and Multiply news and events.
