Decision details

Proposed decision

That the Cabinet Member for Economic Development agree that KCC deliver a Department for Education-funded Skills Bootcamps Programme for Kent & Medway subject to approval by DfE

Reason for the decision:

KCC has been invited by the Department for Education (DfE) to submit a funding application for a Kent & Medway Skills Bootcamps programme for 2025-26. Skills Bootcamps are intensive, Level 3-5 flexible training courses of up to 16 weeks which equip adults with technical skills that enable them to access new or enhanced employment opportunities and enable local businesses to tackle skills gaps.

Background:

Skills Bootcamps were initially tested in Autumn 2020 by the DfE and have extended across England and across an increasing range of vocational sectors. Kent & Medway is currently one of the only areas in the UK without an active skills bootcamps programme.

The recently submitted Skills Bootcamps application focuses on the following industry sectors with known skills gaps in Kent & Medway: Creative, Agri-food, Construction, Retail, Health & Social Care, Early Years & School.

Other options considered but discarded :

Not run a local Skills Bootcamps Programme in Kent & Medway. This would miss an opportunity to support known needs of local businesses and local people seeking employment or career development opportunities and leave Kent & Medway behind other areas successfully running bootcamps programmes such as Hampshire.

How the proposed decision supports Strategic Priorities:

The bid adheres to Securing Kent’s Future’s requirement for full cost recovery.

The bid supports ambitions in the Kent & Medway Economic Framework and Framing Kent’s Future to support people into work, develop the local workforce and ensure that employers have access to people with the right skills.

As Cabinet Member for Economic Development, I agree (subject to receiving confirmation of funding from the DfE) to: 

(i)         APPROVE the acceptance of the National Skills Fund Grant, subject to final review and consideration of detailed terms and conditions from the Department of Education, for delivery of the Skills Bootcamps Programme for Kent & Medway.

(ii)        DELEGATE authority to the Director of  Growth and Communities after consultation with the Cabinet Member for Economic Development, to review and agree to the required terms and conditions to enter into the necessary grant arrangements.

(iii)      DELEGATE authority to the Director of Growth and Communities to take other necessary actions, including but not limited to entering into contracts or other legal agreements, as required to implement the decision to deliver a Skills Bootcamp Programme for Kent and Medway.