This Technical Note provides an update on a new Employability Grants Programme which will launched shortly.
For financial year 2022/23 the Scottish Government is transferring funding previously allocated to Skills Development Scotland and the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations to Scotland’s 32 Local Employability Partnerships via local councils. This is in addition to funds already allocated to councils through No One Left Behind and the Young Persons Guarantee. The Scottish Government has indicated that provision should be focused on those who have barriers to employment in line with the Scottish Governments No One Left Behind employability strategy.
The East Dunbartonshire Local Employability Partnership has been working on approaches to allocate this funding to best meet the needs of local people and employers in relation to supporting employability skills and supporting local people access jobs.
The approach in East Dunbartonshire Council will be for the Council to administer a new Employability grants programme with a view to new provision starting in April 2022. The grants programme application and guidance will be advertised through social media and the council’s web site and any eligible organisation can apply. The Local Employability Partnership will set up an assessment panel to score applications and award grants.
All 32 Scottish Councils are also working with Scotland Excel to develop a national commissioning framework which can augment local grants programmes if required.
It is estimated that the grants programme will allocate around £0.6 million for 22/23 although the final amount is still to be confirmed by the Scottish Government.