Buckinghamshire Skills For Growth – £1.3M to Improve opportunities to provide placements, work experience and higher-level #apprenticeships within SMEs

Call to run a project that improves the opportunities to provide placements, work experience and higher-level apprenticeships within SMEs and micro businesses in Buckinghamshire.

Through this call the Buckinghamshire LEP are seeking applications which help deliver Buckinghamshire’s strategies and plans that promote the development of a highly skilled, adaptive and resilient workforce.

Applications are particularly welcome which have a focus on sectors of the economy that are strategically important to the region, notably:

• Digital Health
• Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering
• Creative Industries
• Space Propulsion

As well as these strategically important and enabling sectors, upskilling the workforce through the offer of learning and development opportunities is vital across the whole of the regions’ economy and this call therefore has specifically been designed to generate interest and applications across all sectors that will augment both the skillsets of individual employees and support business productivity and growth.

This call seeks proposals that improve the opportunities to provide placements, work experience and higher-level apprenticeships within SMEs and micro businesses, and build the capacity and infrastructure of SMEs and micro businesses. These activities should create opportunities in Buckinghamshire and encourage life-long learning and training programmes, particularly to support individuals back into the workforce or to provide career choice and flexibility.

For more information, download the Call Specification.

Location

The project must cover the Buckinghamshire Thames Valley LEP Area.

Value

Approximately £1,300,000 of ESF is available.

Deadlines

Full application deadline: 29/10/2019

Completion date

Projects must be completed no later than 3 years and 6 months after the proposed project start date, however the ESF Managing Authority reserves the right to vary the maximum duration in exceptional circumstances. All ESF Projects must be completed by 31st December 2023. Project costs cannot be incurred beyond this date.

Full Application Submission

To apply for funding under this call you will need to complete and submit your Full Application via the ECLAIMS IT System.
Full Applications submitted in the ECLAIMS IT System after the call closing date shown above and on the call specification will not be appraised.

If you do not already have access to the ECLAIMS IT system, please request an ‘ECLAIMS External Access Form’ by emailing [email protected]

You will need to request an External Access Form for each person in your organisation who requires access.

It is your responsibility to ensure you request and activate your ECLAIMS access in sufficient time. We strongly advise that you obtain and activate your ECLAIMS access at least 2 weeks prior to the advertised call closure date, if not sooner.

You are also advised to read the details in the call specification in order to produce an application that complies with the requirements and meets the needs set out in the ESF Operational Programme. All this information, the related guidance and the European Social Fund Operational Programme can be found from our homepage.The published ESF Online Full Application Guidance also provides step-by-step advice on how to complete your Full Application using the ECLAIMS IT system. ESF Online Full Application Guidance.

Technical Support

If you encounter any technical difficulties completing or submitting your Full Application via the ECLAIMS IT system, please send an email to[email protected]

The technical support operating hours are Monday to Friday, from 8am to 6pm and it is your responsibility to ensure you seek and technical advice in sufficient time to complete and submit your Full Application before the published call closure date.

The Managing Authority reserves the right to reject applications which are incomplete or not submitted in a timely and compliant way.

Contact details

If you have any questions about the Call Specification or ESF Online Full Application Guidance, please contact [email protected]. This address should not be used to request technical support.

Published 13 August 2019