People across Yorkshire and the Humber are set to benefit from more skills training including in health care, green construction and artificial intelligence.
From next year, colleges and other training providers across the region will start to offer these opportunities, which have been specifically aligned to the priority sectors identified by local employers in their Local Skills Improvement Plans (LSIPs).
Across the region, employers identified skills including digital, construction and manufacturing as their priorities.
Colleges and universities will receive a share of £200 million to help transform skills training, so that local businesses can continue to tap into the skilled workforce they need to thrive, while helping more people to secure good jobs closer to home.
Innovative projects have been given the go ahead which will support people to gain the skills needed to launch careers in the green sector and support the local economy to grow.
Leeds College of Building has been awarded funding for the development of new specialist hubs for digital skills within the construction industry to meet the demands in the area for diverse skilled workers. This will also include funding for mobile digital hubs across the region with AI technology and VR/AR equipment.
Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said: “This investment is about boosting local industries, building people’s skills and ultimately futureproofing our economy and the career prospects of the next generation.
“Our local skills projects will bring together regional organisations, businesses and education providers to respond to the specific needs of employers, building an increasingly skilled workforce and growing local economies.
“Whether it is green skills, construction, engineering or digital, thousands more people can now gain the skills they need to secure good jobs closer to home.”
As part of the government’s work to support more people to gain the skills they need to secure rewarding careers, the British Chambers of Commerce and other employer representative organisations were commissioned to lead work to publish local skills improvement plans, published in the summer, so the training on offer better meets the current and future skills needs of local areas.
Jane Gratton, Deputy Director of Public Policy at the British Chambers of Commerce, said: “Businesses are crying out for more people with technical skills to fill the great jobs we have today and new ones in the developing green economy.
“It’s vital that everyone can access the training they need locally to grasp these opportunities.
“Business-led LSIPs are setting out the skills needs and opportunities, and this new funding will ensure the right training solutions are put in place.”
The funding will also make sure more people can access Higher Technical Qualifications – that sit between A-levels, T-levels and degrees – to gain in demand skills including digital, health care and engineering as alternative to a traditional three-year degree. HTQs are designed in close collaboration with employers, so they equip students with the skills they need to go onto further study or straight into a good job.
