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Skills Enhancement Fund

 

The Skills Enhancement Fund is a £50m resource aimed at engaging employers in Yorkshire and Humber to invest in skills development and therefore increase the skills base in the region

The Skills Enhancement Fund is intended to respond to economic and business needs and address skills needs in the region. It will do this by supporting employers in Yorkshire and Humber to improve their workforce's skills and providing resources, through a flexibly administered Fund. The Skills Enhancement Fund is co-financed by the Skills Funding Agency through the European Social Fund and funded by Yorkshire Forward.

The Fund is available up to March 2012. There are 3 routes into the funding:

  • Single Business Application
  • Provider Route
  • Commissioned Activity / Framework Route

 

Single Business Application Overview

The 'Single Business Application route' is designed to be responsive to individual businesses.

Companies meeting eligibility criteria are invited to apply for funding to support the cost of training and staff development. The Single Business route operates on the principle that successful applicants will pay the full cost of the training to the relevant training provider and claim the relevant proportion of training costs from the Fund once all approved training has been completed.

Up to 50% of the training costs can be provided by The Skills Enhancement Fund where their eligibility criteria is met.

For further information and to make an application visit: www.enhancementfund.co.uk

To access funding through the other two routes you will need to work with a local training provider, additionally Skills for Care has commissioned support from the Enhancement Fund for the following qualifications:

 

Current funding opportunities

Funding towards QCF Units for social care employers in Yorkshire and the Humber</DEFANGHTML_SPAN><DEFANGHTML_SPAN>
</DEFANGHTML_SPAN><DEFANGHTML_SPAN>The Skills Enhancement Fund currently has funding (via Framework ETS0099) that can support 50% of the cost of Qualification and Credit Framework (QCF) Units from the Diploma in Health and Social Care at level 2 and 3. Funding is available to support up to 4 different Units from the Health and Social Care Diplomas and so could be used to deliver QCF Awards.

Examples of these QCF Awards are: L2 and L3 Award in Awareness of Dementia; L2 and L3 Award in Supporting Individuals with Learning Disabilities; L3 Award in Supporting Activities Provision in Social Care.

Training Providers must apply to the enhancement fund by 14 November 2011. Contact Nicola Hudson on nicolahu@calderdale.ac.uk, or visit www.enhancementfund.co.uk.</DEFANGHTML_SPAN>

<DEFANGHTML_SPAN>Training Providers offering these 50% funded QCF Units should then encourage social care employers to claim back money towards the cost of the employer contribution through the Skills for Care Workforce Development Fund (WDF) Partnerships, as the QCF units are achieved. Visit www.skillsforcare.org.uk/wdf for details of WDF Partnerships</DEFANGHTML_SPAN>.

For more information please contact rachael.ross@skillsforcare.org.uk.

 

Social Care 'Framework' for other QCF qualifications

Skills for Care has agreed with the Skills Enhancement Fund a Social Care Framework to support a range of training opportunities for social care employers in Yorkshire and the Humber. The Skills Enhancement Fund approve local Training Providers to deliver the qualifications as listed below.

Employers are expected to contribute 50% of the cost of this training, but employers can use Skills for Care's Workforce Development Funds (WDF) to offset this 50% contribution, where units of the qualifications listed below are on the WDF 'acceptable units' list. Visit the Workforce Development Fund section of the website to find out how to access Workforce Development Funds - skills for care funding

 

Qualifications funded are:

  • Diploma in Health and Social Care (Adults) level 2 (that replaced the NVQ from January 2011)
  • Diploma in Health and Social Care (Adults) level 3 (that replaced the NVQ from January 2011)
  • Certificate in Dementia Care Level 2
  • Certificate in Dementia Care Level 3
  • Certificate in Activity Provision in Social Care Level 3
  • Award in Assisting and Moving Individuals for Social Care Settings Level 2
  • Award in Inducting Others in the Assisting and Moving of Individuals in Social Care Settings Level 3
  • Certificate in Community Mental Health Work Level 3
  • Certificate in Independent Advocacy Level 3
  • Diploma in Commissioning, Procurement and Contracting Level 3
  • Diploma in Commissioning, Procurement and Contracting Level 5

The fund is also currently supporting Assessor and Verifier qualifications delivered by approved training providers.

For further information, please contact Rachael Ross at Skills for Care, on mobile 07815 429170, email rachael.ross@skillsforcare.org.uk, or visit the Skills Enhancement Fund website: www.enhancementfund.co.uk

 

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