| David Lammy announces Skills boost for 2012 Games, with an additional £5 million for new skills for Londoners. |
| Thursday, 04 October 2007 |
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A multi-million pound investment package to improve skills and training opportunities for Londoners in four key sectors related to the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games was announced today by Skills Minister David Lammy MP.
The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) will spend an additional £5 million across London this year to expand vocational training in four key areas: Sport, Customer Service, Audio-Visual and Construction Skills.
Demand for skilled workers in these four sectors is forecast to increase in the run-up to 2012 and beyond. The extra money will be spent to meet the increased demand from employers for sector skills.
The LSC is working with partners on the London Employment Skills Taskforce (LEST) action plan which will maximise the employment and skill opportunities brought about by London hosting the 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.
As a result of this investment, thousands more Londoners will be equipped with the skills they need to succeed. In 2007-08, the £5 million will be spent on:
SPORT
Delivering 50 new Advanced Apprenticeships in Sporting Excellence –in swimming and tennis coaching to help prepare the capital’s elite athletes for competition.
Delivering 188 new sports and leisure Apprenticeships to increase the number of sports coaches in London in the lead up to the Games.
Providing bursaries for 400 future sports coaches.
CONSTRUCTION
Providing training for people on incapacity and health benefit to enable them to become employed construction trade A1 assessors - a key demand arising from the 2012 Games.
Preparing local residents for construction Apprenticeships at Kings Cross station which will be a major transport hub for the 2012 Games.
CUSTOMER SERVICES
Increasing the numbers of apprentices trained in customer service skills by delivering 200 new Apprenticeships in customer service/ hospitality.
AUDIO-VISUAL
Increasing the number and quality of work-based learning programmes on offer in the
audio-visual industry.
The LSC is also investing £1 million on the Pre-Volunteer Programme, a joint initiative with the London Development Agency (LDA) to encourage workless and socially excluded individuals in London to gain new skills, lifting their aspirations and creating new career choices.
This programme is providing unemployed people with skills in public safety, interpersonal skills, customer service and volunteering, and is a stepping stone to further training or permanent work. Graduates from the scheme will also have the opportunity to be interviewed for the London 2012 Volunteering Programme that will be launched in 2010.
The Minister announced the funding on a visit to the Building Crafts College (BCC) next to the Olympic Park site in Stratford, East London. The college provides young people and unemployed adults with training in specialist construction skills.
Skills Minister David Lammy said:
"London 2012 is a once in a lifetime opportunity for individuals, employers and all of us. Working with the Mayor, we are determined to assist employers in meeting their skills needs to build and deliver the Games and their legacy.
“As Skills Minister I want to ensure that we use the Games to motivate people into work or training and help them compete for London 2012 opportunities and good jobs beyond 2012.
"Working in partnership the LSC can meet the challenges for London and the country. We must get more people into skilled jobs in construction, customer services and hospitality, media and communications - and help the coaches and athletes too. This £5 million package of measures will help reach out to Londoners and give them the skills they need to benefit from the Games"
David Hughes, the LSC’s London Regional Director said:
“Our aim is to use London 2012 as an opportunity to raise skills levels and aspirations across London. This is about providing the right training in the right skills so that we can match the right people to the right jobs. It’s also about ensuring that education provides the skills businesses want.
"Last, but not least, we want to work with local communities to ensure that people who are out of work or at a disadvantage can gain new skills as a result of the increased investment the London 2012 Games bring”.
The Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, said:
“As London will be the focus of the world leading up to the 2012 Games, it is up to us all to continue working together to offer a first class welcome to everyone –a welcome they will never forget.
“This additional funding will boost the overarching programme to give Londoners the skills they need so they too can benefit from the 2012 Games, alongside the £15 million investment already committed through the London Development Agency.”
Sebastian Coe, Chair of the London 2012 Organising Committee, said:
“London 2012 has always been about much more than sport –we want to use the transformational power of the Games to be a catalyst for good. This investment is another tangible example of how the Games can change lives.”
The Olympic Delivery Authorities (ODA’s) Director of Construction Howard Shiplee said:
“This welcome investment will help London 2012 achieve a sustainable skills and employment legacy.”
The skills investment will be focused on work-based learning and Apprenticeships in order to ensure people have practical skills for use in the workplace so that business has the people they need to succeed. Lord Leitch’s review predicted the need to double the number of Apprenticeships on offer from 250,000 to 500,000 by 2020.
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