Employability Grants Programme 2023/24
We are welcoming grant applications from organisations delivering employability opportunities in Stirling that promote the aims and outcomes of Stirling's Employability Delivery plan. These funds align with No One Left Behind, Child Poverty Parent Employability Support and Multiply. Further details on these funds can be found in appendix 1 and 2 and can be referenced in your application.
The Employability Grants Programme is a key component of the Stirling’s strategy and plays an essential role in delivering the Scottish Government’s aims of tackling poverty, promoting inclusion and social justice and creating a fair and prosperous Scotland. The grant programme is being led locally by the Stirling Local Employability Partnership (LEP) which is a formal partnership between local government, Skills
Development Scotland (SDS), Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), NHS Forth Valley, Forth Valley College, third sector representatives and other partners. The programme is being administered by the local Third Sector Interface, Stirlingshire Voluntary Enterprise (SVE).
We would like to fund organisations that can meet our grant aims:
NOLB/Child Poverty
- Increasing employment for adults and young people across Stirling communities with supported targeted at those most in need.
- Increasing the income through employment for low-income families.
Multiply
- Build the number skills of local people increasing participant’s capacity to use numeracy in everyday life situations.
Your application can be aligned to one funding pot or kept open to give the funding panel flexibility.
Organisations can submit more than one application.
Local performance indicators
The performance indicators are directly from Stirling's Employability Delivery Plan and will form part of the quantitative data requirements.
NOLB/Child Poverty
- Number of participants engaged (detailing no. of those from priority areas/priority groups).
- Number of participants progressing along the employability pipeline.
- Number of participants gaining a job outcome.
- Number of employers engaged.
- Numbers of participants accessing accredited learning/training.
Multiply
- Number of adults achieving maths qualifications up to and including Level 2 or equivalent.
- Number of adults participating in maths qualifications and courses up to an including Level 2 or equivalent.
Specifically, we are looking for projects that target the priority groups, communities and areas of Stirling’s local Employability Delivery Plan as outlined below:
Priority Groups
- 16–19-year-olds/school leavers without a positive destination.
- Jobless care experienced young people (16- 26).
- Those involved in the criminal justice system (all age).
- Unemployed people with physical or learning disability able and wishing to progress/return to work (all age).
- Low income employed parents with physical or learning disability or with children with a physical or learning difficulty (all age).
- Unemployed people with health conditions wishing to progress/return to work including those in recovery from addictions (all age).
- Long term unemployed residents (all age).
- Unemployed residents residing in 5% most deprived data zones (SIMD2020) (all age).
- Unemployed Black and minority ethnic residents including refugees (all age).
- Unemployed people in homeless /temporary accommodation (all age).
- Unemployed/low-income parents (all age).
- Lone parents.
- Parents with 3 or more children.
- Parents whose youngest child is under the age of one.
- Ethnic minority parents.
- Parents with a disability (or with a child who has a disability).
- Young parents under the age of 25.
Priority Communities:
Unemployment affects people across all areas of Stirling, however there are communities more impacted than others. Whilst provision is open to the priority groups above regardless of where they stay and including rural communities, there is also a need for provision targeting our communities experiencing the most deprivation in Stirling and these are:
- Raploch.
- Cornton.
- Mercat Cross and City Centre.
- Bannockburn and Hillpark.
- St.Ninians.
- Cowie.
- Plean.
- Fallin.
The panel would be particularly interested in projects or programmes which work with the priority areas as outlined below:
- Programmes for those with Additional Support Needs.
- Rural employability provision.
- Support to the recovery community.
- Support to those engaged with criminal justice services.
- Young people.
- Activity targeting those 25+ who are experiencing long term unemployment.
Who can apply?
Funded organisations do not need to have employability as their sole focus, but their application does have to clearly outline how the project or organisation supports people/communities on their employability journey.
This fund is open to all public, private and third sector organisations delivering within the Stirling Council area.
We would expect applicants to become members of Stirling’s Local Employability Providers Forum.
What can be funded?
The fund will support the following costs related to your project
| We will fund | We cannot fund |
| Staff costs to facilitate the project, including the direct administration and management of the project. | Capital costs above £1000. |
| Recruitment costs for staffing. | Any goods/services you buy or order before we confirm our grant. |
| Staff and volunteer expenses and transport costs. | Routine repair and maintenance costs. |
| Transport/travel costs of participants. | Electricity generation and feed-in tariff payment. |
| The delivery of accredited training, industry recognised certification and Vocational Qualifications. | Contingency costs, loans, endowments or interest. |
| Equipment. | Political or religious campaigning. |
| Training allowances towards support for participants whilst undertaking the employability project. | One off event. |
| Hall hire. | Profit-making/fundraising activities. |
| Any other programme costs that include direct additional organisational costs that are incurred through the delivery of this | VAT you can reclaim. |
| project. | |
| Statutory activities. | |
| General organisation overheads that cannot be considered additional and direct to the delivery of the project. | |
| Any employment costs arising from the Grantees legal obligations to its employees for example parental leave, sick leave, redundancy. | |
| Insurance costs that are not a directly incurred premium related to the delivery of the project. | |
| Overseas travel. | |
| Alcohol. |
Grant pots available
No One Left Behind (all age employability) - £250,000
Child Poverty Parental Employability Support - £290,000
Multiply - £138,821
Fund Award Levels
Grants will be confirmed at the end of September 2023 and allocated as soon as possible after receipt of the signed Terms and Conditions and must be spent by the 31st of March 2024.
There will be two levels of award:
Organisation Grant - Up to £20,000.
Partnership Grant - Up to £35,000.
Monitoring and Evaluation
If you are successful in your application, you will be responsible for monitoring and reporting on how the grant money has been used and the impact it has had. You will be asked to provide both qualitative (descriptive) and quantitative (numerical) data.
In addition, projects will need to collect and provide equalities monitoring data. This means recording information related to equality and diversity to ensure fairness and inclusivity in the project's implementation and impact.
How to Apply?
Applications for the fund open on 11th August 2023 with a deadline of 12 noon on the 25th of August 2023
The preferred method of applications is via our online system and you will be asked to upload your due diligence documentation which are:
a. A copy of your governing document;
b. A copy of your organisations last signed accounts;
c. A copy of your organisations latest bank statement*.
*We need evidence that the bank account is in the name of organisation and require a bank statement from the last month that shows the name and address of the organisation and the account number and sort code you have supplied for the payment of grant. If one page of your bank statement contains all of the above information, please only send that page or ensure any personal details in transaction lists are redacted.
If you are unable to apply online, a fillable PDF version can be requested from SVE. You should submit it along with the documents noted above by the deadline date to info@sventerprise.org.uk
The shortlisting process will be taking place between the week commencing 4th September 2023 with successful applicants notified by 15th September 2023 and expected expenditure on their projects to commence from 25th September 2023.
NB: Please note that these dates are subject to change, and if there are any additional steps or considerations in the project, adjustments may be made to the timeline.
As part of the application process, you will be asked what stage of the employability pipeline your project contributes towards. You can view the employability pipeline here.
As part of the funding process, we ask all applicants to adhere to the Fair Work Framework which can be accessed here.
Support
If you have any questions or would like to discuss your application prior to submission please contact Tracy Duff by telephone 01786 430000 or email tracyduff@sventerprise.org.uk
Appendix 1- Employability and Community Planning
The National Strategy for Economic Transformation (NSET) sets out a clear vision for a strong economy where good, secure and well-paid jobs and growing businesses will drive a reduction in poverty and, in particular child poverty.
The LEP are a subgroup of the Community Planning Partnership (CPP). The CPP produced the local outcome improvement plan for Stirling, The Stirling Plan 2017-2027 which outlines a 10-year vision. The Employability Delivery Plan 2022-25 launched as part of a review on the Stirling Plan outlines locally agreed outcomes and performance indicators which will contribute to the wider national objectives of the No One Left Behind approach in Scotland.
The LEP is designed to support a strategic coordinated approach to the delivery of employability services across Stirling. The LEP is supported by two subgroups; the Employers Engagement Forum (EEF) and the newly established Providers Forum to have the widest representation possible of agencies across Stirling delivering employability interventions.
Appendix 2-No One Left Behind
No One Left Behind (NOLB) is the Scottish Government’s approach to placing people at the centre of the design and delivery of employability services and transforming employment support in Scotland. The approach to delivery is based on partnership, local flexibility and person-centred services and it focuses on the needs of the individual and builds on their strengths, giving them the right support to help to improve their life chances.
Scottish Government is keen to fund support for:
- Individuals who reside in Scotland.
- People from school leaving age up to 67 years who are experiencing barriers to employment.
- Young people over the age of 15 years who are within 6 months of the school leaving date and who are identified as being at risk of not moving on to a positive destination.
National objectives/expected outcomes of the grants programme
To reduce levels of child poverty by supporting parents from the priority family groups to increase their income from employment.
- To reduce inequality in the labour market by supporting those further from the labour market to increase their income from employment.
- To maximise the role that employability plays in delivering national and local aims of talking poverty, promoting inclusion and social justice and creating a fair and prosperous Scotland.
National target/milestones:
- The number of individuals engaging with employability support and training, broken down into age groups, parental status and by protected characteristics.
- The progression of individuals towards education, training or employment.
- The number of individuals taking part in employment opportunities supported by employability funding.
- The number of individuals achieving sustainable outcomes.
- The number of parents achieving in-work progression.
