PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
(27 November 2024)

Skills Bootcamps remain an important offer in the skills landscape, and in the longer term the department intends to fund Skills Bootcamps through funding Mayoral Combined Authorities (MCAs) and local areas directly. MCAs and the Greater London Authority have the flexibility to use up to 50% of their grants to test Skills Bootcamps in additional sectors. As of the 2024/25 financial year, two trailblazer areas, the West Midlands Combined Authority and Greater Manchester Combined Authority can use 100% of their grants to this effect.

More broadly, the department is introducing Skills England to develop a coherent picture of our national and regional skills needs and to shape the technical education needed to meet that demand. Our levy-funded growth and skills offer will deliver greater flexibility for learners and employers, aligned with the government’s industrial strategy, creating routes into good, skilled jobs in growing industries and helping to address skills shortages.

As a first step, this will include shorter duration and foundation apprenticeships in targeted sectors, helping more people learn new high-quality skills at work, fuelling innovation in businesses across the country, and providing high-quality entry pathways for young people. Skills England is currently engaging with employers over this autumn on how these apprenticeships can support them to develop their workforces and fill skills gaps. We will receive their findings in the new year which will help to inform our offer, and we will set out more detail on the offer in due course.