Businesses 'dismayed' at training funding cut

A campaign has been launched to encourage the government to drop plans to scale back funding for Skills Bootcamps from £4.7m to £1.5m next year.

David Crew, Managing Director of the Somerset Chamber of Commerce, said the proposed reduction to the scheme in Somerset and Dorset "is blocking economic growth and prosperity in Somerset."

Skills Bootcamp graduate Zoe Vearncombe said the news is "disappointing" as her course enabled her to switch careers and save for a house deposit.

A spokesperson from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) said the government is investing more money, and also moving to a budget-led funding model as the demand-led one was unsustainable.

A Skills Bootcamp is a short, intensive training course which is set up to address skills shortages in key sectors.

Somerset Council, the accountable body for the Skills Bootcamp scheme in Somerset and Dorset, has written to the DWP to express "serious concern" about how the new funding allocations have been worked out.

The local authority said its budget for next year has been based on the success of its scheme in 2024, but it now has £13m of funding requests.

David Crew, from the Somerset Chamber of Commerce, said: "The consequences could include fewer opportunities for Somerset residents to retrain or upskill, increased recruitment challenges for local employers, and a weakening of Somerset's economic resilience".

Crew added that the decision could have implications for the nuclear power station being built at Hinkley Point and the construction of the UK's biggest car battery factory on the edge of Bridgwater.

Chris Escott, Managing Director of Berry & Escott Engineering in Bridgwater has ten employees who want to go on a Skills Bootcamp this year.

He said: "If we can't send our employees on these bootcamps, it means that it stifles and puts a stranglehold on the business.

In a statement, a DWP spokesperson said: "We are increasing investment in Skills Bootcamps in the 2026-27 financial year, including the local delivery budget, while also implementing a new budget-led allocation model for local areas to ensure the distribution of funding remains fit for purpose as the programme matures."

The government explained that the previous funding model had become "unsustainable", and said the new one would allow more people and businesses across England to benefit.

Final details about budget allocations are due to be published in May.

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