Equipping Londoners with the skills they need to succeed in the jobs market will be top of the agenda during a major summit at City Hall today (29 November). Hosted by Deputy Mayor for Business and Enterprise Kit Malthouse, the skills summit brings together 50 further education colleges with key Government agencies to ensure Londoners are being taught the skills that employers need most.
The college heads attending the summit are jointly responsible for a skills budget of over £550m a year. Today they will be joined by representatives from the Mayor’s Office and agencies including London Councils, the Skills Funding Agency and Job Centre Plus. Also on the agenda will be discussing how they can help to meet the Mayor’s targets around apprenticeships. The Mayor has already created over 130,000 apprenticeships and has set a target of reaching 250,000 by the end of the 2016 academic year.
The Mayor of London’s Deputy Mayor for Business and Enterprise, Kit Malthouse, said: “This Skills Summit is a golden opportunity for us all to get our heads together and ensure that we are providing the best skills offer in the country and equipping Londoners with the skills that the employers really need. The jobs market is tough and we need to make sure that we are all spending the money we have in the right places so that Londoners have the best possible future and that the city’s economy continues to thrive.”
One of the key focuses of the London Enterprise Panel, which is led by the Mayor, is ensuring increased opportunities for both young people and jobseekers. During the 2012/13 financial year it is estimated that 60,300 jobs were created and supported in the capital through activity led by the Mayor’s team. A £2.5m investment to support apprenticeships included the use of £1.5m to support 1,000 apprenticeship starts with small businesses that had not employed an apprentice. The remaining £1m is being used to launch a marketing campaign in spring next year, again with the aim of boosting the number of new apprentices in the capital.
Kit Malthouse added: “Creating new jobs and growth is the number one priority for the Mayor and a huge part of that work centers on helping finding employment for young people and particularly apprenticeships. Today’s summit is an important opportunity to work on ensuring our colleges are providing the skills employers require, and our team will continue to work with businesses and colleges, large and small, to ensure we help as many people as possible into the jobs that will bring prosperity to our city.”