Scottish Government Employability Grant Award 2025-26 20 05 25
Renfrewshire Council · 20 May 2025
Back to Economy and Regeneration Policy Board — 20 May 2025 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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___________________________________________________________________ To: Economy and Regeneration Policy Board On: 20 May 2025 ___________________________________________________________________ Report by: Chief Executive ___________________________________________________________________ Heading: Scottish Government Employability Grant Award 2025-26 1. Summary 1.1 This report updates Board on the most recent funding allocation from the Scottish Government for employability support in Renfrewshire for the 2025- 26 period. 1.2 A grant award to local authorities is provided under the banner of No-One Left Behind (NOLB) to support all-age employability services and to specifically support disabled people into work and to tackle child poverty. 1.3 Renfrewshire Council is accountable for the resources which are directed and managed through the Renfrewshire Local Employability Partnership. ___________________________________________________________________ 2. Recommendations 2.1 Board members are asked to: (i) Note the acceptance of Scottish Government grant by the Director of Finance awarded for the 2025-26 period for a total of £2,566,526 under the banner of No-One Left Behind. ________________________________________________________________ 3. Background 3.1 Employability plays an essential role in delivering both Scottish and local government’s aims of tackling poverty, promoting inclusion and social justice and creating a fair and prosperous Scotland. It is a key component of the National Strategy for Economic Transformation (NSET), contributing to
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delivering the vision for a strong economy where good, secure and well-paid jobs and growing businesses have driven a significant reduction in poverty and, in particular, child poverty. 3.2 Collectively, Scottish and local government aim to build an employability system that tackles inequalities in Scotland’s labour market by creating a more responsive, joined up and aligned employability system that meets the needs of employers and local labour market and helps people of all ages achieve their potential. 3.3 Many individuals face significant challenges and barriers to obtaining and sustaining work: This includes disabled people, those with long-term health conditions, lone parents, homeless people and those from minority ethnic groups. Barriers are also likely to exist and needing to be overcome for young care leavers, ‘new Scots’ / refugees and those in the justice system, meaning there is still a strong demand for employability support. 3.4 No One Left Behind promotes a strengthened partnership approach where Scottish and local government are working together with public, private and third sector organisations to identify local needs and deliver a mixed economy of provision. 3.5 Local authorities act as lead accountable bodies for funding, with funding being used by Local Employability Partnerships (LEPs) to design and deliver services that meet the needs of people and labour markets in their area. ________________________________________________________________ 4. Employability Award 2025-26 4.1 For the fiscal year 2025–26, the Scottish Government has allocated £104.5 million to employability programs, reflecting an increase from £100.2 million in the previous year. 4.2 The main part of this funding supports "No One Left Behind", a collaborative approach between the Scottish Government and local authorities aimed at providing all-age, person-centred employability support. 4.3 A total budget of £2,566,525 has been allocated for Renfrewshire. The grant is split into the three separate lines. Activity and spend for each must be reported separately. The allocations for each part of the overall grant fund are set out in the table below: (a) All-Age Employability Support (b) Tackling Child Poverty (supporting parental employment) and (c) Specialist Employability Support (for those with a disability or health condition)
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Grant Commitment All-Age Employability Support £1,162,681 Tackling Child Poverty £1,229,771 Specialist Employability Support £174,073 TOTAL £2,566,525 4.4 It is the responsibility of the Grantee (Renfrewshire Council) to ensure that the grant is utilised to deliver the policy and delivery priorities set out in the Grant Offer Letter, and that decisions on the allocation of funding are discussed with the Local Employability Partnership and take into account wider employability investment that exists in the area. 4.5 The Council, on behalf of the Renfrewshire LEP, will submit an Annual Investment Plan (AIP) which sets out proposals for delivery of services and support in 2025-26. The Annual Investment Plan (AIP) must take into account identification of local needs as evidenced by local statistical data and input from stakeholders and service users. The Plan should also include information regarding all core internal funding input for employability support, the level of funding received from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and details of any other sources of funding for employability. 4.6 The Renfrewshire Local Employability Partnership works collaboratively with stakeholders and service users to identify and commission employability support to meet service users' needs and emerging labour market demands. The commissioning process in Renfrewshire was completed in March 2025 for the April 25 to March 26 period and will be highlighted in the AIP. ________________________________________________________________ 5. Conclusion 5.1 A further report to Board will outline the Annual Investment Plan for employability for the year ahead (full funding and targets) and will report on the final outputs and outcomes for the past year. This is currently being prepared. ___________________________________________________________________ Implications of the Report 1. Financial – No immediate implications for Renfrewshire. The grant award is accounted for in current plans for the delivery of employability services. 2. HR & Organisational Development – N/A the grant continues the employment of a number of employability staff at the council.
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3. Community/Council Planning – the funding award comes through Renfrewshire Council for decision by the Renfrewshire Local Employability Partnership, a group reporting to the CPP. All partners on the LEP have been kept up to date on funding delays and are happy with the plans in place. 4. Legal – N/A 5. Property/Assets- N/A 6. Information Technology – N/A 7. Equality & Human Rights- N/A 8. Health & Safety- N/A 9. Procurement – N/A 10. Risk- N/A 11. Privacy Impact- N/A 12. Climate Risk – None 13. Children’s Rights - None 14. COSLA Policy Position – Not Applicable. ___________________________________________________________________ For more information contact: Ruth Cooper, Economic Development Manager ruth.cooper@renfrewshire.gov.uk