Social Contract

Unlock the door to a brighter future for Oxfordshire with OxLEP Skills' Social Contract programme.

This £1.7 million initiative is set to boost the area's skills and drive economic growth. With a focus on supporting local businesses, OxLEP Skills aims to help companies tap into their apprenticeship levy and bring new talent into the workforce through training and assessment.

Funding for the Social Contract Programme was secured by OxLEP through the government’s Contain Outbreak Management Fund, via Oxfordshire County Council. 

Make a positive impact on Oxfordshire's economy by using OxLEP's support to bring your company's apprenticeship levy to life.

Join us in unlocking the door to discovering talent, driving growth and a better future for Oxfordshire.

Find out more on levy transfers and how they work

By retaining levy payments locally, it will support vital skills growth across Oxfordshire and help employers develop talent pipelines and retain key skills within the county.

The programme's Apprenticeship Advisors can offer free support and guidance regarding the Social Contract and are pleased to work with Oxfordshire-based businesses in a variety of ways. 

This includes support with:

• Helping businesses to unlock their Apprenticeship Levy
• Enabling businesses to pledge unused Levy to SMEs across Oxfordshire
• Understanding local labour market information, skill shortages and talent pipelines

The programme can also support businesses by signposting them to:

• Relevant Apprenticeship grants
• Suitable training providers
• Other opportunities across OxLEP's extensive business support programme 

Oxfordshire Apprenticeship Grant Scheme

As part of the programme, OxLEP Skills and OxLEP Business have teamed-up to deliver the Oxfordshire Apprenticeship Grant Scheme.

It is anticipated that the majority of the Oxfordshire Apprenticeship Grants will be in the range of £1,000 to £1,500, however under certain circumstances grants of up to £3,000 are available. 

Please note: This grant scheme is currently paused for activity, but please do continue to liaise with OxLEP Business for the latest details.

Find out more on the Oxfordshire Apprenticeship Grant Scheme

Contact our team to find out more on the scheme

OxGROW Virtual Mentoring Platform

Our OxGROW virtual mentoring platform introduces experienced business volunteers to individuals looking for support to find a job or change career, to help them with areas such as developing resilience, CV writing and preparing for interviews.

Download information about being a mentor

Visit OxGROW

Further areas of the Social Contract programme include:

• Supporting young people who have experienced education disturbance and/or unemployment as a result of the pandemic
• Improving social mobility for minority ethnic communities in Oxfordshire
• Helping to create better opportunities for those furthest from the labour market. This includes; clinically extremely vulnerable (CEV) people and/or those affected by the digital divide, food poverty or other socio-economic disparity or deprivation
• Those over the age of 50 in Oxfordshire, affected by labour market challenges or looking to begin a new career path in another sector

We encourage all businesses interested in our Social Contract programme to register their interest with OxLEP Skills by completing our Business Support Tool, which takes around 7 minutes.

Complete the Business Support Tool