The National Employer Training Programme

The National Employer Training Programme (NETP) is part of the Government's White Paper "Getting on in Business, Getting on at Work" (2005), intended to help to raise national skills levels by delivering free, flexible training for vocational qualifications to Level 2 (five GCSEs).

The programme will be rolled out from April 2006 and will be led by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC), working with the Sector Skills Development Agency (SSDA), Regional Development Agencies and other partners.

The service will be delivered through a Generalist Brokerage Service (managed by the RDA and delivered through Business Links) and the Specialist Skills Brokerage service (managed by the LSC). The Generalist Brokerage Service will work with employers to identify business and skills development needs, divided into three parts - Information, Diagnostics and Brokerage - and will then link with the Skills Brokerage Service, managed by the LSC.

From 1 April 2006 Train2gain will become the national brand for the Specialist Skills Brokerage Service. Train2gain initially started in West Yorkshire as one of the Employer Training Pilots, supported by West Yorkshire LSC, which tested the offer to employers of a range of financial incentives and support designed to encourage them to release staff to take Skills for Life (including literacy and numeracy) and NVQ Level 2 training, delivered flexibly at a time and place to suit their needs.

A briefing for providers can be found on the LSC website

The Train2gain website is expected to go live very shortly - details will also be available via the LSC website.