Background/purpose of the Grant. The Kickstart Scheme is designed to improve employability and the chances of sustained employment for those at risk of long term unemployment in the 16-24-year-old age group. It provides grant funding to employers to support the creation of new jobs that would not otherwise exist. The Kickstart Scheme funding will support employers to provide six months of work for young people. It will be regular, paid work which will help young people to develop transferrable skills (such as team work) and demonstrate to future employers that they have a track record of being a reliable employee with an up-to-date reference.
Background/purpose of the Grant. 1.1. Trees and woodland in urban areas offer benefits for local economies, nature, local environments, and people. Urban trees cool air, reduce pollution, and improve health and wellbeing. But the availability of urban green space and urban trees varies across England, meaning these benefits are not felt equally across the country. The Urban Tree Challenge Fund (UTCF) is a key government offer to level up access to nature across the country, planting trees in socially deprived urban areas with low canopy cover, in proximity to healthcare and educational facilities.
Background/purpose of the Grant. 1.1. High Speed Two (HS2) Limited is the company responsible for developing and constructing the UK’s new high speed rail network. It has started construction work on Phase One of the railway, from London to the West Midlands, including a major ecology programme. Phase One will be completed by 2026, accompanied by a ‘green corridor’ of connected wildlife habitats running alongside the railway. To support HS2’s ecology programme, the HS2 Woodland Fund is a grant scheme aimed at helping landowners to restore Plantations on Ancient Woodland Sites (PAWS) at 100% of standard costs.
Background/purpose of the Grant. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) is delivering a £7.4 million pilot scheme to subsidise the cost of AI skills training for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Professional Business Services sector. £6.4 million of grant funding is available. Through this pilot programme, eligible businesses can apply for funding for up to 50% of the cost of AI skills training and other AI upskilling activities. This refers to training which supports employees to develop their technical skills and/or understanding of AI to be able to develop, deploy, or use AI in their role. Evidence shows that a lack of AI skills in businesses is hindering AI adoption, in part due to low investment in AI upskilling by UK businesses. This is particularly true in smaller companies. The Flexible AI Upskilling Fund pilot scheme aims to increase AI adoption and productivity by incentivising greater employer-led investment in skills and training. Specifically, the pilot has the following objectives: To stimulate employer investment in AI training To address AI skills gaps in the UK workforce limiting AI adoption To measure the impact of AI upskilling on business productivity and outcomes Aims and objectives of the Funded Activities Through this pilot programme, eligible businesses can apply for funding for up to 50% of the cost of AI skills training and other AI upskilling activities. This refers to training which supports employees to develop their technical skills and/or understanding of AI to be able to develop, deploy, or use AI in their role. Funded Activities
Background/purpose of the Grant. 1.1. In March 2022, BEIS published a consultation examining the challenges and opportunities to develop a national capability in Cyber-Physical Infrastructure (CPI). Consultation responses strongly endorsed the CPI agenda outlined and many organisations described how they are already developing and connecting cyber- physical systems.
Background/purpose of the Grant. The South Centre (SC) has received support from the UK Xxxxxxx Fund that has enabled the Centre to scale up its work on antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The project grant was extended in 2020 and ended in June 2021. The project contributes to raising the awareness and to develop the capacity of policymakers and civil society groups (CSOs) of low and middle - income countries (LMICs) to take actions to tackle the growing crisis of AMR. The South Centre seeks continued support from the UK for a three-year period to advance its work in support of LMICs and CSOs, with increased focus on tackling AMR through a One Health approach, and the use of surveillance and other data on AMR to support evidence-based actions.
Background/purpose of the Grant. 1.1 The UK has challenging goals for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In transport, the electrification of vehicles will have a key role, but the aviation sector currently has few alternatives to using liquid fossil fuels. Biofuels derived from wastes and residues, fuels made from renewable or nuclear electricity and waste-based fossil fuels could deliver significant GHG savings. However, other than commercially mature hydrotreating routes using segregated waste oils and fats, these conversion routes are yet to be commercialised and face high upfront capital costs and investment barriers which are challenging to overcome without government intervention. In the UK, DfT have encouraged the deployment of waste/residue-derived biofuels and renewable fuels of non-biological origin through double counting under the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO), and inclusion of aviation fuels within the RTFO ‘development fuels’ sub-target. DfT have also provided previous grant funding to industry projects via the £25 million Advanced Biofuel Demonstration Competition (ABDC), the £20 million Future Fuels for Flight and Freight Competition (F4C), the £15 million Green Fuels, Green Skies (GFGS) Competition and the £165 million Advanced Fuels Fund. Whilst these demand-side and supply-side policy approaches have been successful at helping build innovative biofuel demonstration projects and designing a number of SAF projects, there is still an ongoing need to support the development of the emerging UK sustainable aviation fuel sector as it scales up to commercial production. In the Jet Zero Strategy, the government committed to establishing a UK Clearing House to enable fuel testing and qualification for SAF. The Clearing House is intended to help reduce uncertainty, cost, and time barriers to SAF development which in turn will broaden the scope of fuels eligible for the future UK SAF mandate without sacrificing safety. In March 2023, the University of Sheffield was appointed as the delivery partner for the Clearing House to help set up and run the Clearing House function, supported by Xxxxxxx. The Clearing House will act as a central hub to advise fuel producers, coordinate testing, liaise with key stakeholders and manage applications for grant support. DfT will offer SAF Testing Grants to allocate up to £5.35 million of grant funding towards the cost of testing for pre-screening, and testing to progress a fuel towards qualification against ASTM D7566. In suppor...
Background/purpose of the Grant
