Northern Ireland Apprenticeship Week- Call for Company Events
Manufacturing NI sits on the regional planning committee for Apprenticeship Week which will be held on 6th-10th February 2023. We would like to encourage manufacturers to hosts events or activities to coincide with this week. Some examples include;
* Social media activity highlighting the role of apprenticeships in the organisation w/ role models
* Student competitions
* Job sampling / apprenticeship talks / job fairs
* School site visits / open days
* Meet the parents Q&A

Click here for the 2023 proforma (https://www.manufacturingni.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Blank-Proforma-NIAW-2023-inc.-feedback.docx?mc_cid=7b80d524b5&mc_eid=UNIQID) . Detailed within this form you will see that it will need you to return it to The Department of Economy by COB on Friday 2nd December 2022 at the latest. Your public facing event details will then be listed on NIDirect in preparation for the Department’s Press Release which will launch the NIAW.

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Search begins for new board members for the Labour Relations Agency
The Department for the Economy (DfE) has launched a public appointment competition to recruit four new board members to the board of the Labour Relations Agency (LRA).

The LRA is a non-departmental public body with responsibility for promoting the improvement of employment relations in Northern Ireland. The LRA contributes to organisational effectiveness by providing impartial and independent services for promoting good employment practices and preventing and resolving disputes.

The Department wishes to appeal to people of all ages from a wide range of backgrounds and experience across the community, voluntary, business or public sector, who can bring a wide range of skills and experience to the role. DfE would particularly welcome applications from females, people with a disability, those from minority ethnic communities and young people, as they are currently under-represented on the board. The Department is operating a Guaranteed Interview Scheme in this competition for applicants with a disability.

This competition will be of particular interest to people who wish to develop their skills as part of a board and are willing to learn. Previous experience of serving on a board is not necessary as new appointees will undergo an induction programme, as well as being offered peer support.

The rate of remuneration for the LRA board members is £5,643 per annum, for which they will be required to attend the monthly board meeting and undertake other occasional duties on behalf of the LRA. The board members can claim reasonable travel and subsistence costs while undertaking board duties.For further information or to receive an application pack visit: https://www.economy-ni.gov.uk/lra-members?mc_cid=7b80d524b5&mc_eid=UNIQID

This is an open competition which involves a simple application form and interview. The closing date for receipt of applications is 12 noon (GMT) on 24 November 2022

https://www.manufacturingni.org/invest-ni-launch-ambition-to-grow-programme/?mc_cid=7b80d524b5&mc_eid=UNIQID

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Ambition to Grow
Ambition to Grow is Invest NI's exciting new regionally focused competition aimed at innovative, ambitious businesses is now open for applications.

40 spaces are available and successful applicants will be eligible to apply for funding up to a maximum of £45,000, broken down as follows:
* £5,000 per new job (a minimum of three) created over and above existing employment levels within the business (to a maximum of £30,000).
* £10,000 towards business development activities, where the amount of support provided shall be no more than 50% of the cost eligible activities listed in the application.
* £5,000 on the completion of an export health check and development of an export plan, to the satisfaction of Invest NI.

This initiative has been designed with businesses which are not currently Invest NI client managed customers in mind, and it is anticipated to be extremely beneficial to businesses throughout Northern Ireland.

For more information on the competition please visit the Ambition to Grow webpage (https://www.investni.com/support-for-business/ambition-to-grow?mc_cid=7b80d524b5&mc_eid=UNIQID) .

Closing date for applications is 12 noon on Friday 25 November 2022.

https://www.economy-ni.gov.uk/apprenticeawards2023?mc_cid=256636b6f3&mc_eid=UNIQID&mc_cid=7b80d524b5&mc_eid=UNIQID

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NI Apprenticeship Awards 2023 Launched
Nominations are now being sought for the prestigious NIAA2023.
The NIAA2023 will recognise and showcase excellence and best practice in the participation and delivery of Apprenticeships. Finalists will be selected and invited to a special awards ceremony on Wednesday 29th March 2023.
These awards honour:
* Valued Apprentices who are making a significant contribution to their workplace and have shown a dedication to excel in their professional development and learning;
* Influential partnerships between Employers and Training Providers that support the continuous growth of skills development in Northern Ireland; and,
* For the first year, Mentors who provide an outstanding contribution to the Apprenticeship programmes.

Applications are now open for five award categories:
* Apprentice Award (Levels 2-3);
* Higher Level Apprentice Award (Level 4+);
* Large Employer in partnership with a Training Provider Award (employers with more than 250 employees);
* Small to Medium-sized Enterprise in partnership with a Training Provider Award (employers with less than 250 employees); and,
* Outstanding Mentor Award.

All nominees for the Apprentice and Higher Level Apprentice Awards must have been on the ApprenticeshipsNI or Higher Level Apprenticeship Programme in 2022.
Completed nomination forms must be returned before 12:00 noon on Friday 18th November 2022 to: niaa.2023@economy-ni.gov.uk (mailto:niaa.2023@economy-ni.gov.uk)
Full details on application criteria for each of the awards, and how to apply, are available on the Department’s website at:
https://www.economy-ni.gov.uk/apprenticeshipawards2023?mc_cid=7b80d524b5&mc_eid=UNIQID

(https://www.economy-ni.gov.uk/apprenticeshipawards2023?mc_cid=256636b6f3&mc_eid=UNIQID&mc_cid=7b80d524b5&mc_eid=UNIQID)

https://www.tickettailor.com/events/londonderrychamberofcommerce/786714/?mc_cid=7b80d524b5&mc_eid=UNIQID

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2022 North West Annual Future of Energy Conference
Thursday 17th November
Everglades Hotel, Derry

This full day conference is jointly hosted by the Chambers of Commerce in Londonderry and Letterkenny, kindly supported by the North West Regional Development Group, and will focus on the opportunities for investment, growth, innovation and job creation and also address the challenges to businesses of rising energy costs.

This event aims to
* Encourage cross border collaboration in the energy sector to the benefit of the whole North West city region
* Provide a platform for knowledge transfer and sharing to support economic growth of the North West region
* Support business growth and innovation in the energy sector
* Support NW businesses to meet sustainability goals in the move to net zero

BUY TICKETS HERE
(https://www.tickettailor.com/events/londonderrychamberofcommerce/786714/?mc_cid=7b80d524b5&mc_eid=UNIQID)Direct

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One Family Payment changes       printable version

03 Jul 2014: posted by the editor - Ireland

Today, 3 July, over 5,000 lone parent families lose their entitlement to One Family Payment but throughout the year a total of 9,000 families will lose entitlement. By July 2015, almost 60,000 families will lose One Family Payment when their youngest child turns seven.  SPARK (Single Parent Acting for the Rights of Kids) call out the promise made by Minister Burton on 18th April 2012 not to proceed with these 'reforms' unless there was "system of safe, affordable and accessible child care in place, similar to what is found in the Scandinavian countries to whose systems of social protection we aspire. That is why I am undertaking tonight that I will only proceed with the measures to reduce the upper age limit to seven years in the event that I get a credible and bankable commitment on the delivery of such a system of childcare by the time of this year's budget. If this is not forthcoming, the measure will not proceed".  There have been 800 after school childcare places provided (ASCC ) for all low income families and this is nowhere near the requirement needed to assist the 60,000 effected families. Minister Burton has cited the fact that lone parent families are the poorest group in Society as the reason for reform, however, the changes being introduced have a drastic financial impact on working lone parents and no financial impact on non working lone parents. We completely disagree that cutting working lone parents income is a way to improve the outcome for children in lone parent families. There has been no additional training or employment supports being provided for lone parents, there is no childcare so we can avail of jobs bridge and we are actively hampered by our exclusion to the Jobs plus grant available to other job seekers. Without an affordable childcare system in place, many working lone parents will not be able to sustain these financial losses and will be forced out of the workforce. The Department of Social Protection has said that recipients affected can transfer to either Jobseekers payment, Carer's Allowance or Family Income Supplement payment to supplement any losses incurred. These all represent a huge financial loss and we totally reject Minister Burton's claims that this is to improve outcomes for our families. We call on Minister Burton to explain how she can proceed with these cuts to working lone parents, while ignoring her promise to provide an affordable childcare system. We ask if she becomes Labour Leader will she continue to ignore her promise. Below please find details from Dept of Social Protection of financial impact on loss of One Family Payment. The weekly loss is shown in red and please note that as a result of changes t the Income Disregard, all working lone parents have already lost €27 per week or €1,404 per year since Minister Burton took over this portfolio. Transferring to: Job Seekers Allowance Earnings OFP JA Total OFP Income (Earnings + OFP) Total JA Income (Earnings + JA) Total Income Entitlement Loss €0.00 €217.80 €217.80 €217.80 €217.80 €0.00 €100.00 €217.80 €193.80 €317.80 €293.80 €24.00 €200.00 €170.30 €133.80 €370.30 €333.80 €36.50 €300.00 €120.30 €73.80 €420.30 €373.80 €46.50     Family Income Supplement   Net Earnings OFP FIS Total OFP Income (Earnings + OFP + FIS) Total Income Entitlement Loss Payment with OFP €300.00 €120.30 €51.42 €471.72   Payment without OFP and with FIS re-rated €300.00 €0.00 €123.60 €423.60 €48.12       Carers Allowance     OFP CA Total Income Total Income Entitlement Loss Payment with OFP €217.80 €102.00 (half-rate) €319.80   Payment without OFP €0.00 €233.80 (full-rate + QCI) €233.80 €86.00             Tags: One Family Payment, OFP, SPARK

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