Member Article

Business Secretary boosts South East skills and jobs

The Business Secretary, Vince Cable, has released £550m of Further Education Capital Investment and £310m for the Regional Growth Fund, to improve skills and jobs across the country.

Dr Cable visited one of the largest employer engaging colleges in the South East, Eastleigh College in Southampton on Thursday.

He announced the Government schemes, which will aim to improve employability on the South Coast, while investments will be targeted at under-developed colleges to improve their facilities and provide students with better training and skills.

Businesses in the local area will benefit from an improved workforce, and colleges will improve efficiency and save money with funding offered through the Skills Funding Agency.

Dr Cable said: “Southampton is facing some serious challenges. The Ford van closure was undoubtedly a big blow. But there are some real strengths in the region including the universities and colleges.

“Eastleigh College plays an important role in the region and its economy. It is heavily involved in the Ford Multi Agency Task Force in Southampton and its’ strong relationship with local business will help produce the highly skilled people the economy needs.

“The quality of further education facilities should match the aspiration of the sector which is why the Government is stepping up capital spending, over the next two years £550 million is being invested in transforming colleges across the country, providing thousands of students with much better facilities.”

The Regional Growth Fund, which has already awarded Southampton City Council with £5.3m to support its “Platform for Prosperity”, aims to stimulate private sector investment across the UK.

Dr Cable added: “The Regional Growth Fund is […] having a beneficial effect in communities across the country. The additional £310 million of funding will help us support more projects and create more jobs.

“This reflects the success of the fund and the positive impact it is having on jobs - whether it is small SMEs such as Cobra Precision Engineering or larger infrastructure projects.

“The work of Solent LEP, Southampton Council and other stakeholders is crucial in linking up the public and private sectors to boost economic growth.”

Eastleigh College’s chief executive, Tony Lau Walker, said: “The south coast has benefited from a number of different Regional Growth Fund projects and programmes.

“The Solent LEP has been awarded £2m from the Regional Growth Fund to roll out the second phase of the successful Bridging the Gap Funding programme to Southampton and the Isle of Wight.

“The scheme is a partnership between Solent LEP, Southampton City Council and the local newspaper, The Daily Echo, to award grant funding to SMEs and startup businesses on a competitive basis. The programme is expected to create or safeguard 200 jobs over the next three years.”

Doug Morrison, Solent LEP Chairman, said: “We are finding that locally, we are able to administer funding extremely quickly and efficiently, and the first two funding recipients from Bridging the Gap announced by Dr Cable today highlight this.

“Of course this investment comes at a challenging time for the Solent economy; and the work we are doing with Eastleigh College on the Ford task force and the investment we have been able to secure for schemes like phase 2 of Bridging the Gap and Platform Road in Southampton will help our economy come through this difficult period.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Miranda Dobson .