College help at hand for unemployed people across the North West 

A total of 37 colleges in the North West are to get extra Government funding to train people unemployed for more than six months to help them back into work, Skills Secretary John Denham announced today.  The North West colleges have been given a share of £83 million to offer high-quality training places to the long-term unemployed, with 75,000 being provided nationally. In the current economic climate this group find it harder as more people compete for jobs. This help is in addition to the existing support on offer in colleges to people who are unemployed.  Courses will be matched to the local job market, from retail to hospitality, right up to vocational training at the equivalent of A-level standard. People accessing the courses will also be able to continue their training once they get a job, ensuring that they get a range of skills which will help them secure sustainable employment.

The North West colleges have been given a share of £83 million to offer high-quality training places to the long-term unemployed, with 75,000 being provided nationally. In the current economic climate this group find it harder as more people compete for jobs. This help is in addition to the existing support on offer in colleges to people who are unemployed.

Courses will be matched to the local job market, from retail to hospitality, right up to vocational training at the equivalent of A-level standard. People accessing the courses will also be able to continue their training once they get a job, ensuring that they get a range of skills which will help them secure sustainable employment.

Participating colleges across Cheshire are: 

• Macclesfield College
• Mid-Cheshire College
• Reaseheath College
• South Cheshire College
• Warrington Collegiate
• West Cheshire College.

The investment combined with £100 million announced in October 2008 to help those facing redundancy means that new support will help more than 100,000 people nationally to get real help to learn new skills to help them get, and keep, jobs.

Beverley Hughes, Regional Minister for the North West, said:
"I'm pleased that 37 of our colleges will benefit from the investment - more than any other region. This money will help thousands of people across the North West beat the recession and get back into work by learning new skills.
We want to make sure that people who have been out of work for a long period of time are given new opportunities for training. We need to make it as easy as possible for them to find new jobs.  I hope people in the North West will consider taking advantage of this scheme by applying to study at a college. Job seekers need to make themselves as attractive as possible to potential employers as the economy recovers."

Skills Secretary John Denham said:
"We will not stand by and leave people abandoned on the dole with no support. Our primary aim is to keep the time people spend out of work to a minimum while making the return to work a stepping stone to a more skilled future. I would encourage people across the North West to take advantage of these training opportunities.  "In these tough times we must do all we can to help people back into work and prepare for the upturn when it comes. We know that people whose skills are most up to date find it easier to find a job, and businesses with well-trained staff are better placed to survive the recession and take advantage of new opportunities.  We are currently refocusing the whole skills system, making it more flexible and able to adapt to meet the changing needs of people and businesses across the North West."

The extra support also means that for the first time Further Education colleges will be paid to get people back into work as part of moves to make the £5 billion, spent annually on adult skills and training, work harder for those suffering as a result of the recession.

While the Government cannot guarantee existing jobs in any economic climate, the new measures will help people get the skills and qualifications that will boost their prospects of getting a new job.  The package aims to give people confidence that, if they lose their jobs, there will be real help available to improve their skills or gain new ones, so that they are fit for the jobs of the future.  It will ensure that a period of unemployment can be an opportunity for people to gain the skills they will need to get on in work in the future, and take advantage of likely expansion areas as the economy improves. 

Notes to Editors:
1. The Government has already announced £158 million in additional skills funding to help those affected by redundancy, boosting the provision of shorter training programmes focused on preparing for job-entry. Building on that, this additional targeted activity for people at the six-month gateway will broaden the support available, bringing the total number of new training places to over 100,000. To find out more go to: http://www.dius.gov.uk/news_and_speeches/press_releases/unemployed

2. Through the Learning and Skills Council, the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) has invited colleges and training providers to put forward proposals for offering the additional places, on the conditions described above, up to an initial total of 75,000 new places. Additional funding of £83 million will be allocated for those places. DIUS will be looking particularly to work with colleges and training providers that are already successfully working with employers, and who demonstrate the greatest flexibility and responsiveness in helping participants boost their prospects of sustainable employment. To find out more go to http://www.dius.gov.uk/news_and_speeches/press_releases/back_to_work

For further information contact: David Harris, Information Officer
Tel: 0161 952 4546
Email: david.harris@coi.gsi.gov.uk

ISSUED ON BEHALF OF THE DEPARTMENT FOR INNOVATION, UNIVERSITIES AND SKILLS BY COI NEWS AND PR NORTH WEST

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