Greater Lincolnshire has launched 21 new Skills Bootcamps, adding to its free training programme for adults aged over 19 across the region.

The government-funded courses, delivered in partnership with the Greater Lincolnshire Combined County Authority, span sectors including advanced welding, butchery, species identification, digital skills and AI, and are designed to match local employer demand. The programme also spans agriculture and horticulture, construction and engineering, manufacturing, health and social care, leadership and management, and transport and logistics.

Details of the expanded programme, confirmed by the council, show courses run for a minimum of 60 hours and are delivered online, face-to-face or through blended learning by specialist providers listed on the 2Aspire platform.

The Greater Lincolnshire Combined County Authority, formed in 2025 under a £720 million devolution deal agreed with government, has secured a further £20 million specifically to expand adult skills programmes including Skills Bootcamps. Lincolnshire County Council, one of three constituent authorities in the combined authority alongside North and North East Lincolnshire councils, administers the Skills Bootcamps programme locally through its Employment and Skills team.

The structural driver behind the expansion is Greater Lincolnshire's newly devolved skills budget, which gives local leaders direct control over training investment for the first time, rather than routing funding decisions through central government departments.

Jenny Riordan, employment and skills manager at Lincolnshire County Council, said Skills Bootcamps have "been a huge success across Greater Lincolnshire, with over 3,000 people upskilled since 2022," and that the 21 new courses reflect "the changing needs of our businesses."

Steven Odling, who enrolled on an HGV Driver Training bootcamp after redundancy, said the programme "made such a difference," describing his move from "the shock and insecurity that comes with redundancy to a safe, steady job."

For the sector, the expanded Skills Bootcamps programme confirms that devolved combined authorities are using newly won skills budgets to build employer-responsive training pipelines faster than centrally administered schemes previously allowed.

Source: lincolnshire.gov.uk