A £5.7m Government funding boost will help around 1,200 young people not in education, employment or training (NEET) into apprenticeships across the Liverpool City Region.
The Department for Work and Pensions money, subject to approval at this month's Combined Authority meeting, will expand the region's apprenticeship brokerage service. The service has channelled more than £20m of unused Apprenticeship Levy from employers including Liverpool Football Club, the BBC and Amazon into 2,800 apprenticeship starts at over 600 small and medium-sized businesses.
The funding will also create a new Local Apprenticeship Service and a UCAS-style clearing system, delivered through the award-winning Be More platform, to support young people who narrowly miss out on roles. More than 74,000 apprenticeships have been created across the region since 2017.
Cllr Marion Atkinson, Leader of Sefton Council and the Combined Authority's Cabinet Member for Skills and Employment, said: ‘Too many talented young people are missing out on opportunities, while businesses are struggling to find the skilled workers they need. This funding will help us bridge that gap.’
The region is among the first in England to join the new Mayoral Strategic Authority Apprenticeship Brokerage programme, securing £5,763,110 to support delivery until March 2029. The programme is expected to launch in 2027.
