GPMU national officer Chris Harding said the funding, which begins this April, recognised the unions commitment to boosting members skill levels.

The award places the union at the centre of the skills agenda and GPMU members will benefit enormously from this nationally co-ordinated project, said Harding.

Although the finer details of how the money which will be matched in kind by the union will be spent are not known, it will be used to target four areas: skills for life including basic literacy, expanding the unions network of learning centres, increasing the number of learning representatives from 250 to 1,000; and giving access to workforce development programmes with NVQs and modern apprenticeships.

The funding represents a change in the way that the ULF funds such projects. The ULF took a decision about 12 months ago that there had to be a national strategy, said Harding.

National Agreement negotiations between the union and the BPIF began last week and will continue today (19 February).

Story by John Davies