WDC Employability Grants Programme 2024-25

Third, public, private and further/higher education sector organisations are all eligible to apply.

If you are applying as a partnership, the lead partner should apply, and detail partners involved. The lead partner would be responsible for the overall management and delivery of the project including budget management and monitoring and reporting requirements.

Tackling child poverty is one of several overarching priorities and fair, sustainable work is central to improving the lives of families. These factors, combined with a recognition that many of those further away from jobs will now face additional challenges in the labour market has introduced further impetus.

Both Scottish and Local Government are committed to the shared ambition of No One Left Behind, to deliver a Scottish approach to employability that focuses on the needs of the individual first and foremost. A person-centred approach that is more flexible and responsive to the changing labour market, tackles inequalities and grows Scotland's economy is needed now more than ever to shape a collective economic and wellbeing response.

What type of bids are we looking for?

Projects must deliver activity that is in line with UK, Scottish and Local Government ambitions, the No One Left Behind approach and UK Shared prosperity vision.

West Dunbartonshire Council anticipates supporting a range of projects. 

As 100% of the funding available through UKSPF and No One Left Behind is revenue funding and only available in August 2024 to March 2025, projects should be exclusively revenue based. Projects that focus on capital activity will not be supported.

Priorities:

Stages 1-5 provision focussed on Parents

Main focus of this round of commissioning is to support unemployed parents move towards and into work and to support low income employed parents to progress in the workplace.  The following priority family groups are most at risk of experiencing poverty and should be targeted, however support for parents would not just be limited to these groups. 

• Lone Parent families Families with a young mother (aged under 25 years)
• Minority ethnic families
• Larger families (3 or more children)
• Families with a Disabled Adult or Child
• Families where the youngest child is under 1 year

Bids are welcome to support parents across the stages of the employability pathway. 

Stage 4 and Stage 5 provision – Employment Hubs for those with barriers to employment

Stage 4 of the employability pipeline should include development of job matching/intensive job search support, the development of transferable skills; and presentation of skills. People attending the Hubs could access the following services:

• Intensive Job searching support
• CV development
• Interview Prep – including personal presentation, group interviews, mock interviews
• Employer Engagement and job matching activity
• Application forms, cover letters
• Work Placements
• Better off calculations
• In work support for those requiring continued support to sustain employment

Proposals around employability and training should be aware of the current labour market in West Dunbartonshire and ensure that proposed activity is complementary to potential opportunities.

Proposals are sought that recognise the challenges and take into account the need for economic renewal, the cost of living crisis and supporting identified groups.

This guidance document and the associated grant application form outlines the West Dunbartonshire Strategic Employability Group intentions, principles and priorities to be met through the new West Dunbartonshire Employability Grant Programme supporting employability and skills provision in 2024-25.

The Grant Guidance will help inform your application.

• Grant Guidance
• WD SEG Data Challenges and Themes 2023-24
• NOLB - Local Government Partnerships - Best Practice Guide 2024-25
• UKSPF Outcomes/Outputs

To find out more about this round of Employability Grant Funding in West Dunbartonshire, the type of applications we are looking for and how to apply, please come along to our online Information Session on the MS Teams platform.

Date of Information Session:

Wednesday 10 July 2024, 11.00am - 12.00pm

Attendees can access the information session using the online link below:

• Employability Grant 2024-25 Information Session
• Information Slides

The closing date for applications is Noon Friday 26th July 2024. 

Bids must be submitted using the appropriate application form below:

• Employability Grant Application Form - Stage 4 and Stage 5 Support
• Employability Grant Application Form - Parental support

Bids must be submitted to West Dunbartonshire Council using this email address: WDC_NOLB_Grants@west-dunbarton.gov.uk 

Bids submitted in any other format will not be accepted.

West Dunbartonshire Council Employability Grant Award is a competitive process and West Dunbartonshire Council will not enter into discussions with bidders.

We try to ensure that all the required information is provided in the grant guidance. However, below you will find some questions that have been asked that may not be covered within the grant guidance document, with associated answers: