Britain gains £2.76 billion boost for employment and training

Britain gains £2.76 billion boost for employment and training

Keywords Unemployment, Training, Subsidies, United Kingdom

Job and training initiatives in the UK will benefit from £2.76 billion from the European Social Fund over the next seven years. The Community Support Framework concerns Objective 3 of the Structural Funds, dealing with education,training and employment. It consists of the following areas: active policies to tackle unemployment (£691 million); social inclusion and equal opportunities (£718 million); lifelong learning (£718 million);entrepreneurship and adaptability (£375 million); and improved access to learning and employment for women (£188 million).

The overall budget for the programme is £6.141 billion, of which£2.764 billion will come from the EU, £3.005 billion from the UK public sector and £372 million from other sources. It will also have a stronger regional focus, implemented by three operational programmes – one each for Wales, Scotland and England. Objective 3 in the UK covers the whole country except Objective 1 areas (Northern Ireland, Cornwall, Highlands and Islands, Merseyside, South Yorkshire and West Wales and the Valleys). In these cases, European Social Fund support will form part of individual Objective 1 programmes.