Around half a million pounds has been pledged to help people across the West of England develop new skills through apprenticeships. Now the Metro Mayor is urging more firms here to ‘keep it local’, by adding to the shared funding pot with their unused apprenticeship levy funds.
To date some £485,000 has been pledged to the ‘Share to Support’ scheme. The money comes from apprentice-levy paying employers passing on their unused levy funds so that more apprenticeships can be created for local people.
Metro Mayor Dan Norris said: “This fund means cash raised locally stays local. It will be put to excellent use here in the West of England, helping equip people across our region with the skills they need.
“This is a good start. Let’s keep it local. Money for West of England apprenticeship training should stay in our region to help people develop new skills, not disappear back up the M4 to central government.
“Together we can boost the number of apprenticeship opportunities for people across our region, and help firms strengthen their workforce.”