Press Release      << Back

£900k training boost for people working in rural East Midlands businesses

15/05/2009

A new scheme is set to provide £900,000 for farmers, horticulturalists, foresters and people working in land management to help them develop their skills.

 Funded through the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) which is managed in the region by East Midlands Development Agency (emda), the initiative aims to encourage land-based businesses to apply for funding to invest in the training and development of themselves and their workforce. 

Lantra, the Government’s Skills Council for the environmental and land-based sector, has been appointed to manage the ‘LandSkills East Midlands’ programme on emda’s behalf, which is set to run until December 2011.

Speaking about the scheme, Andrew Morgan, Skills and Communities Director at emda, said: “Our research tells us there are around 12,000 land based businesses in the East Midlands, but that many find it difficult to identify the right vocational training for their employees.  Through this project we will provide funding to enable farmers, foresters and horticulturalists to access training specific to their particular sector.  Employers, employees and training providers will have the opportunity to work together to develop bespoke training to meet their needs and fill gaps in existing provision.”

Over the coming months, Lantra will work with a wide network of partners, including training groups, industry bodies, veterinary specialists and the private sector, to prioritise the skills needs of land-based businesses in the region.  Applicants will usually be required to contribute around 30% of the training costs, with LandSkills East Midlands awarding up to 70%.   

Lantra’s Programme Manager, Richard Loynes, commented:  “Our coordination of the programme across the region will ensure that many rural businesses are able to access the full range of the training offer, irrespective of their geographical location.  We are particularly keen to invest in courses that help rural employees improve in areas such as ICT, supply chain efficiency and environmental management.”

 RDPE is jointly funded by the European Union (EU) and Department for the Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra). emda has approximately £60m available for projects in the region until 2013.  The purpose of RDPE grants is to stimulate the rural economy of the East Midlands and provide more opportunities and an improved quality of life for rural people in the region.

Andrew Morgan added:  “In the current climate, it is more important than ever that we encourage small rural businesses to develop their employees.  This will play a vital part in ensuring their survival in these challenging times, helping to improve productivity, efficiency and future competitiveness.”

For more information and to download an application form, visit www.lantra.co.uk/LandSkillsEastMidlands

ENDS

For further information on this press release, please contact Clare Baker (emda Media & PR Manager) on 0115 988 8583 or clarebaker@emd.org.uk

About RDPE

Full details on the regional delivery of RDPE can be found at www.emda.org.uk/rdpe

About LandSkills East Midlands

The LandSkills East Midlands project will target rural employees seeking financial support for staff training in the following areas:
• management skills
• business skills
• practical and technical livestock, crop and non-food crop husbandry skills
• Forestry management
• ICT and the use of other new technologies specific to agriculture/forestry
• animal health and welfare
• food processing
• benchmarking
• supply chain efficiency
• climate change adaptation and mitigation
• waste management, water use, diffuse pollution, energy efficiency
• renewable energy production and utilisation
• environmental management
• training to support adding-value to food or forestry products.

It is also anticipated that 56% of the LandSkills project funding will go towards helping the livestock sector meet new challenges relating to animal health and welfare, nutrient management and competitiveness.  Livestock is viewed as a specific Defra priority for the RDPE programme, and emda has been tasked with investing a total of £12m out of the overall £60m RDPE budget in this sector.

About emda

East Midlands Development Agency (emda) is one of nine Regional Development Agencies in England, set up in 1999 to bring a regional focus to economic development.

Ten years on, independent evaluation shows emda has:
• Had a significant impact on the region’s economy
• Generated economic benefits that substantially outweigh its overall costs
• Put back over £9 of economic output (or GVA) into the regional economy for every £1 it spends
• Produced more than £1 billion in economic benefits per year
• A wider impact on people, places and businesses in the East Midlands that cannot be captured by figures alone.

emda is committed to supporting the region through the current downturn and has put in place a range of measures to provide real help during these challenging times. 

Over the long term, emda’s aim is to deliver the 2006 Regional Economic Strategy (RES) by working in partnership with public, private and voluntary organisations.  The RES highlights the themes of productivity, sustainability and equality and sets out key priorities until 2020 to ensure the vision for ‘a flourishing region’ can be achieved. 

For more details visit www.emda.org.uk

About Lantra

Lantra, the Sector Skills Council for the environmental and land-based sector, is licensed by the UK Government to drive forward the new skills, training and business development agenda for the sector.

Lantra represents 17 industries and 1.5 million workers and volunteers in agricultural crops, agricultural livestock, animal care, animal technology, aquaculture, environmental conservation, equine, farriery, fencing, fisheries management, floristry, game and wildlife management, land-based engineering, landscape, production horticulture, trees, timber and veterinary nursing. 

Lantra is part of the Skills for Business network comprising Sector Skills Councils (SSCs) which are independent UK wide organisations developed by groups of influential employers in sectors of economic significance.  SSCs give responsibility to employers to provide leadership for strategic targeted action to meet their sector skills and business needs.

For more information see www.lantra.co.uk