A TOTAL of £22million has been invested by the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) to help 10,000 learners aspiring to work in engineering and manufacturing.
They have been helped learn the skills to work in the region’s sector since 2019.
WMCA Chair and Mayor of the West Midlands Andy Street revealed the scale of support during a keynote speech to more than 60 businesses at the Enterprise Forum at Make UK’s Technology Centre in Aston.
The Forum, organised to look at how skills and education are the key to the Government’s levelling-up strategy, also provided an important opportunity for businesses to explore how they could work more closely with the WMCA to improve local people’s education and skills.
The Mayor has responsibility for the allocation of the region’s £165million Adult Education Budget (AEB) and oversees the WMCA’s work with businesses in shaping training programmes.
The advanced manufacturing and engineering (AME) sector is worth more than £16billion to the region – around 15 per cent of its total economy – providing around 200,000 jobs.
There are currently around 7,000 job vacancies with the AME sector which has been hit particularly hard by the pandemic and other economic factors.
WMCA has therefore prioritised this further investment to support residents to improve their employment prospects and to provide a talent pipeline for local businesses.
The WMCA Apprenticeship Levy Scheme has also secured £45million of funding to support 3,806 people into apprenticeships at 1,444 small to medium enterprises (SMEs) across the region.
Mr Street said: “It is a remarkable milestone worthy of celebration and – by ensuring we have a skilled workforce in what is a highly specialised sector – we’re boosting our growth prospects in the months and years ahead.”
Coun George Duggins, the WMCA’s portfolio holder for productivity and skills and leader of Coventry City Council, is encouraging manufacturing businesses to work with the WMCA to further strengthen partnership working, particularly on curriculum development and on linking our training to skills demand.
“This includes supporting more young people into apprenticeships through businesses getting involved in our Apprenticeship Levy Scheme and opening up more opportunities for residents to access on-the-job training and other live opportunities.”
The Enterprise Forum – enterprise-forum.co.uk is an independent and not-for-profit organisation formed in 1997.
It has been providing a forum for front-bench politicians to engage with businesses, including SMEs and FTSE 100 companies, trade, assocations and charities.
E-mail the team at [email protected] for more information.
