Cabinet, on 19 October 2022, approved the council’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) investment plan and resolved to: 

Delegate authority to the Executive Director (Development) to take the necessary decisions and actions to oversee the UKSPF investment plan, including implementing and administering the scheme and the resulting projects in accordance with the requirements and priorities of the prospectus and fund.

To award £60,000 of revenue grant funding to OxLEP Skills to deliver ‘No Limits 3’ through working with SOFEA and Aspire Oxfordshire. OxLEP Skills will enter into a Grant Agreement with Oxford City Council and will receive the grant funding as Recipient and provide the quarterly performance reporting and evaluation. The project will support the delivery of outputs and outcomes supporting the council’s UKSPF investment plan under interventions: 'E33: Supporting people into employment and training; E39: Green Skills.

The funding has been allocated from an overall UKSPF revenue budget of £723,007 for 2024/25.

The funding will pay for 1 FTE experienced triage worker from Aspire to continue working in the district to support people experiencing reduced structural barriers into employment and into skills provision and signposting them to relevant training and Green Skills opportunities.

The Council recognises that a complex range of structural and personal factors can inhibit engagement with training and employment opportunities and that this is particularly true in certain communities and geographies.

OxLEP and its delivery organisations have strong relationships in those target communities and geographies and have relevant and specific expertise to engage with the ‘hardest to reach’. The grant supports the delivery of UKSPF outputs and outcomes and supports the shared aim of Supporting People into Employment & Training and Green Skills.

To commission support packages through a national employment & skills provider.  This was rejected due to the need for support to be relationship based and locally embedded. 

To commission support packages through other local employment & skills providers – the grant was advertised openly to all local partners via the Oxford City Council website and then the successful delivery organisation was selected due to the unique focus on its established pathways to support the hardest to reach in target communities and geographies through specific expertise and tailored support.

Decision taken by Tom Bridgman, Executive Director (Development) in consultation with Carolyn Ploszynski, Head of Regeneration and Economy; NigelKennedy, Head of Financial Services; Emma Jackman, Head of Law and Govenance; and Councillor Alex Hollingsworth, Cabinet Member for Business, Culture and An Inclusive Economy.