From today, individuals and businesses in Wales will benefit from
an almost six-fold increase in the amount of subsidy available
for accredited training opportunities.
With the Welsh Government increasing its investment in the
Flexible Skills Programme from £1.3m a year to over £7.5m,
support will be in place for employees to take advantage of
thousands of individual places on upskilling or re-skilling
training courses.
The expansion aligns with the First Minister's commitment to
create a future Wales driven by jobs and green growth and follows
increasing demand from Welsh employers for support to develop
employees' skills in response to changing industries and new
technologies. There will be a particular focus on supporting key
sectors and needed skills such as: Engineering and Manufacturing;
Digital/Cyber; green skills; and leadership and management.
Any employer can apply for the grant which is designed to help
businesses quickly respond to skills gaps with the Welsh
Government paying 50% of business training costs (up to £50,000
per business per year).
The expanded scheme was launched today on the first day of
Learning at Work week [Monday, May 12] at IQ Endosopes
(IQE), a pioneering medical device startup that has seen
first-hand what a difference the funding can make.
IQE is about to place its first device onto the UK market – an
affordable, sterile, and sustainable endoscope solution that will
enable rapid early diagnosis to help reduce patient waiting
times and help people live longer and healthier lives. The
Flexible Skills Programme has enabled it to support over 170
individual technical or leadership and management training
opportunities for its staff over the past two years.
Gemma Banks, HR Manager at IQE said:
“Being a small company it can sometimes be hard to attract
certain levels of experience and talent within the business, but
we've been able to offer people additional training which has
then meant we've covered a real skills gap and real need within
the business at a pre-emptive time before it's become a problem.”
Shaun O'Connell, an Engineering technician at IQE, recently
completed CoSHH, ISH and Control of Hazardous Substances training
through the programme and said:
“The training has provided me with numerous opportunities to grow
within my role and I'm now managing all the hazardous substances
we use and ensuring the lab safety handbook is consistently up to
date. It's made the lab much safer and a more effective place to
work.”
Skills Minister said:
“Having supported over 8,000 training interventions in the last
two years, I am excited about the impact a greatly expanded
Flexible Skills Programme could have in the future.
“The programme's success is down to our ambitious Welsh
businesses investing in themselves to up skill their workforce.
We are determined to do all we can to support their ambition and
develop the skills needed for future success.
“As we prepare to host a major international investment summit in
Wales later this year, the expanded scheme also strengthens our
offer for companies looking to invest here.”
Notes to editors
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