Additional £10 million investment in staff skills

A fund aimed at helping employers boost staff skills has been extended for another year with a further £10 million investment.

The Scottish Government’s Flexible Workforce Development Fund was set up in 2017 for employers subject to the UK Government’s Apprenticeship Levy.

The scheme was designed to mitigate the impact of the levy and support the “upskilling and reskilling” of workers by providing firms with funding to allow them to partner with colleges to deliver in-work training. The levy requires all employers in the UK with an annual pay bill over £3 million to contribute at a rate of 0.5% of that bill, with a share of the funds allocated to devolved administrations through the Barnett Formula.

Scottish Ministers said thefundwaspartofarange of support for levy payers.