A new £5 million North East Scotland Investment Zone skills fund has opened, with the first £1.6 million directed specifically towards green energy and digital technology.
The fund is intended to address workforce shortages associated with the North East Scotland Investment Zone and can provide individual grants ranging from small pilot awards of less than £25,000 to strategic projects worth as much as £750,000.
The first funding round is seeking projects able to demonstrate an identifiable workforce problem rather than simply provide additional training already available elsewhere. Applicants are expected to show employer demand, measurable outcomes and evidence that the proposed activity would not proceed at the same scale or pace without the funding.
Businesses, colleges and training providers, charities, social enterprises, public bodies and partnerships can apply. The initial £1.6 million is being concentrated on green-energy and digital-technology skills, two sectors being used as foundations for the wider Investment Zone programme across Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire.
Match funding is not compulsory, although proposals bringing additional employer contributions, external investment or support in kind will receive greater weight when value for money is assessed. Full applications for the first round are due by 30 October, with further rounds expected later.
The eventual measure of the scheme will be more specific than the £5 million headline: which shortages were identified, how many people received training, where they lived, which employers recruited them and whether publicly funded training translated into sustained local employment.
