Skills for Employment funding follows launch of council's Careers Strategy 2020-2025
The councillors' approval this week of an annual injection of £250,000 into Skills for Employment underlines the county council's commitment to giving the people of Warwickshire, of all ages and backgrounds, the best possible career opportunities while providing employers with a conveyor-belt of talent.
Warwickshire County Council this week backed up its new Careers Strategy with further funding with the approval of an annual £250,000 for the Skills for Employment programme.
The funding will enable the programme to build upon its track record of excellent success since its inception five years ago.
It has already awarded £3,000 annual grants totalling more than £500,000 to schools and colleges and more than £1 million to large, innovative projects where business and education have collaborated to achieve a major change.
Most recently, as Skills for Employment continues to goes from strength to strength, £40,000 has been invested in a new My World of Work programme, launched in January. This will provide hundreds of Year 10 pupils from schools across the county with opportunities to work with businesses from several sectors to discover what it’s like to work in a wide range of roles.
The councillors' approval this week of an annual injection of £250,000 into Skills for Employment underlines the county council's commitment to giving the people of Warwickshire, of all ages and backgrounds, the best possible career opportunities while providing employers with a conveyor-belt of talent.
That commitment is enshrined in the recently published Warwickshire County Council's Careers Strategy 2020-2025.
Following the publication of the National Careers Strategy in 2017, it was felt that a more localised and bespoke strategy for Warwickshire was needed to build on the county's already strong economy and high employment-levels.
The strategy, developed with advice from a range of partners and stakeholders from business and education, is comprehensive. It sets out the council's plans to support young people, adults and more vulnerable residents such as those with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities who wish to move into employment.
It is also designed to be flexible and forward-looking, promoting the skills that will power the economy into the future at a time when workplaces are changing as rapidly as the technology which drives it evolves.
Warwickshire County Council Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Education & Learning Cllr Colin Hayfield said: "Businesses often talk to us about skills shortages, the difficulties they face in finding and employing people with the right skill-sets and the negative impact this has on the growth of their business.
"Effective careers and employability advice are critical components of a successful local labour market. The Warwickshire Careers Strategy sets out our ambitions to work with our partners to develop and deliver coherent, effective and locally relevant careers and employability advice and support."
To see the Warwickshire Careers Strategy in full, please click here.