Lincolnshire’s £1.7m drive to fund filling job vacancies

The number of job vacancies in the UK is at all time high, and in Greater Lincolnshire and Rutland there are vacancies across a whole range of different sectors, occupations and salaries.  There are many reasons for this, and today we are launching a call for projects that is designed to test out activities to support filling vacancies.

Vacancies are particularly high in caring roles, driver occupations, machine operatives, the construction sector and a whole range of jobs within the visitor economy and food sector. The demand for labour in these areas is not new, but the combined impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, a desire for better work-life balance, and a reduction in migrant labour from EU has resulted in large increases.

Pat Doody, Chair of the Greater Lincolnshire LEP said: “On behalf of the Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership I am pleased to launch the Greater Lincolnshire Labour Market Support Fund today. It is designed to test out new ways of supporting and growing talent within our area, and we are keen to see innovative proposals that support future economic growth and resilience.”

Any business, training provider or third-sector organisation in Greater Lincolnshire or Rutland is eligible to apply as long as the proposals do not duplicate existing activity and are innovative in new ways of addressing the challenge.

The fund is seeking to strengthen or address Greater Lincolnshire’s immediate labour market challenges. The LEP is keen for the fund to demonstrate direct short-term impact where possible, understanding that the fund is limited in what it can cover.

The closing date is 29^th April 2022 , and the lead officers are Halina Davies halina.davies@lincolnshire.gov.uk and Clare Hughes clare.hughes@lincolnshire.gov.uk.

Known barriers to employment and categories that will be considered for funding are:

• Training, eg for specific occupations such as Large Goods Vehicle Training (LGV) or training that is more flexible than other funds allow
• Labour market attraction schemes, e.g. face-to-face jobs fairs, industry tasters, job related campaigns
• Specialist support for people out of work (over and above what is already available through Government funding and European Social Fund schemes)
• Specialist recruitment and retention support
• Purchase of equipment/capital investment/new technologies, eg to resolve requirement to labour-intensive roles
• Support to fill roles that have been continuously challenging to fill
• Other innovative or collaborative schemes, eg transport schemes, sustainable childcare schemes
• Consideration of the impact of Covid – how do we enable people to return to work ensuring that any mental health needs are addressed?
• Rural dimension is very important – are there technology interventions in social care that could be considered? Care, visitor economy and hospitality sectors are losing large numbers of staff to other sectors; what opportunities are there to rebalance this beyond offering higher salaries?
• Innovative schemes/structured approaches to help address vacancies in the interim, given that automation and planning for the future take time, eg food sector, loss of seasonal EU staff
• Ideas that help address retention of skills in key sectors, eg in the construction and manufacturing sector; many are picking and choosing their jobs in other regions (attraction of larger projects, higher salaries, etc)
• Initiatives such as wheels to work, bespoke demand-responsive transport options, understanding the seclusion of many of our rural communities
• Innovative ideas that might help attract back recently retired individuals, garnering knowledge and expertise

The LEP has laid down a series of rules:

• Wage incentives will not be eligible
• Schemes must not duplicate something already funded or readily available and accessible
• We are seeking schemes that are innovative and/or collaborative
• All projects must address labour shortages in the immediate or short term and focus on solutions that reduce the need for labour or fill job vacancies
• Schemes that will not result in addressing labour shortages by March 2026 will not be considered
• Where the proposal is for a capital asset, or for funds to train your own staff or recruit staff for your own business, match funding will be required
• Schemes that deliver training must result in people moving into job roles that would otherwise not have been filled within 60 days of the end of the intervention
• All project proposals must state clearly how outputs or outcomes will be measured and reported
• There is a maximum of £1.7m available in this scheme
• Scheme proposals can be capital or revenue or a combination of both
• Funding requests should be in excess of £200,000, although consideration will be given to proposals that seek £100,000 if there is a very strong case
• All funds must be spent by 31st December 2024, and outcomes delivered by 2025

Outline business cases will be welcomed from now. The closing date for submissions is 5pm on Friday 29th April.