Devon County Council hosts Skills Bootcamps
Local authorities fund Skills Bootcamps in HGV Driving to help get local people into work and support regional employers to secure the drivers they need
Insite (formerly HGVC), a leading HGV driver training specialist, is helping Devon County Council train 58 local people to become HGV drivers via locally run and funded Skills Bootcamps in HGV Driving.
The HGV Skills Bootcamps are flexible courses of up to 16 weeks, helping people build sector-specific skills. While centralised Department for Education (DfE) funding for the HGV Skills Bootcamps scheme ceases at the end of 2025, the UK is still facing a chronic shortage of HGV drivers. In response, local authorities have been able to access devolved funding via the DfE, to run local Skills Bootcamps and help support an ongoing pipeline of much-needed HGV drivers.
Devon County Council is supporting 58 places on its local Skills Bootcamps to help local people get into work and secure higher-paid careers. The Skills Bootcamps will also help employers across the region to find the HGV drivers they need to keep their businesses growing and support the local economy. For organisations with fewer than 250 employees, Skills Bootcamps are 90% funded, with employers paying the remaining 10% of the course cost. For larger employers, Skills Bootcamps are 70% funded.
James Clifford, CEO of Insite, said: “Skills Bootcamps in HGV Driving have been crucial in helping remove the financial barrier that can deter entry into this profession for new drivers, and have played a pivotal role in tackling the UK’s chronic shortage of HGV drivers.
“When it became clear that centralised funding for the scheme would not continue beyond 2025, there were serious concerns about the impact this would have on the UKs ability to maintain a sustainable pipeline of HGV drivers. And with recent announcements regarding government investment in major housebuilding and infrastructure projects, this pipeline has never been more important. Fortunately, many local authorities – including Devon County Council - have been able to access devolved DfE funding to continue the valuable Skills Bootcamps model at a local level.”
Insite has been one of the leading providers of Skills Bootcamps in HGV Driving since the launch of the scheme by the DfE in 2021 – and the largest provider of HGV Skills Bootcamps for businesses. In June this year, the firm undertook a major rebrand and expansion of its training offering - becoming the UK’s leading logistics training partner. Insite now provides fully managed training across three main sectors:
- HGV training: Insite’s HGV driver training programmes help businesses increase capacity, retain staff and reduce training costs. Insite also offers training on the Amazon Career Choice programme - tailored training for Amazon employees considering a career as an HGV driver.
- Warehouse training: including Forklift Driver Training; Introduction to Warehousing; and First Aid courses.
- Construction training: Insite offers CPCS & NPORS accredited plant training to ensure safe and effective operations on all construction sites.
For more information, or to enquire about securing a place on Skills Bootcamps in HGV Driving, contact: info@insite.training
