The first phase of the National Retraining Scheme, the Get Help to Retrain online service, has been rolled out to three additional areas from today.

The TUC General Secretary, Frances O’Grady, welcomed the further rollout of the service to Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority, Leeds City Region and the Heart of the South West. The online service is already available in the West Midlands, the North East and Liverpool City Region.

Union learning reps have already played a key role in supporting workers to access and test out the online service and this user testing process is facilitating continual improvements and the introduction of new features in advance of the online service being made available nationwide next year.

Frances said: 

All workers should have the chance to retrain and improve their skills. And this will be key as the labour market undergoes the transformation of new technology and automation in the coming years.

The launch of this new phase of the National Retraining Scheme and its collaborative approach is good news. It will help to open up retraining to many more working people - preparing them for the jobs of the future.

Union learning reps will play a crucial role in supporting workers to access advice and retraining opportunities available through the scheme. The challenge for the National Retraining Partnership is to develop a national programme that invests in the potential of all workers, delivering the skills we need for the growth sectors of the future.