Real help for business
The Government recognise that these are difficult times for employers. In response, the LSC are focusing on providing real help to ensure that businesses and individuals get the support they need to help them survive the recession and make the most of the new opportunities the upturn will bring. We are working to create opportunities and flexibilities to help support businesses re-skill and up-skill their staff. In these challenging times, businesses need to keep a tight rein on costs. Yet it is vital that employers continue to invest in skills. Past research shows that businesses that do not train their workforce are 2.5 times more likely to fail than those that do.

Train more, gain more
Train to Gain offers impartial, independent skills advice at no cost to your business. It’s an investment in the future of your business and your people. The advice comes from a skills broker, training provider or college working with you on a dedicated, one-to-one basis. They’ll help you find the right solution to re-skill and up-skill that can boost your business. A number of changes have been made to Train to Gain to respond better to employer demands by increasing the flexibility of the service and enabling more businesses to access training to help improve productivity. The new flexibilities will help business weather the economic storm and ensure you are in a better shape to respond when the upturn comes.

All businesses now have access to:

• Quality-assured, impartial and independent advice from skills brokers. This can help businesses who want:
– Help to identify skills needs at all levels of their business so that they can make the right, informed choices as part of a wider business needs analysis.
– To identify and source high quality, vocational skills training, including Apprenticeships, delivered at a time and place to suit them, from a wide range of high quality colleges and training providers.

• Full funding for:
– Basic skills support at all levels.
– First full Level 2 qualifications (equivalent to 5 GCSEs).
– First Level 3 (equivalent to 2 A-levels) for 19-25 year olds and for people without a first Level 2.
– Some first Level 4 for 19-25 year olds who do not already have a Level 3.
– Some funding for people who already have qualifications at Level 2 and 3 and would like to take another.

• Shared investment between the employer and Government for:
– English for Speakers of Other Languages qualifications at all levels.
– Level 3 qualifications in certain sector specific areas.
– Apprenticeships. For 16-18 year olds, full training costs are covered for employers. For higher age groups, employers    pay part of the cost.

Train to Gain is part of the Solutions for Business portfolio. Solutions for Business is a streamlined portfolio of government funded support products accessible via Business Link. New enhancements to support small and medium sized private sector businesses or employees in the third sector organisations have also been introduced to:

• Improve business management skills through bite sized courses in essential subjects to increase productivity.
• Fund leadership and management training and development, such as coaching and mentoring or working towards a    qualification.
• Improve overall skills level of staff through fully funded Level 2 qualifications and subsidised Level 3 qualifications,    regardless of whether the employee already has a qualification at this level.
• Businesses with less than 50 employees can also receive a contribution to wage costs to cover the cost of time off to    train.

If the worst should happen and you have to let people go, real help is available for you to support them and give them the best chance of getting another job. From April 2009 newly redundant individuals and those under notice of redundancy will be able to access fully funded support for a range of skills activity that aids progression into sustainable employment – this will be a fully customised offer of 2-8 weeks duration that is not restricted to units or qualifications. Once the individual re-enters employment then they will be able to access the Train to Gain offer.
Individuals who re-enter work through this route will be able to access fully funded repeat level 2s and partially funded repeat level 3s irrespective of the size of the employer they join.

Contact us for more information

More information on Train to Gain funding