Member Article

North East training scheme leads the way

Despite the mixed reaction to the Budget announcement in the North East, one regional project has been singled out for praise by the government. Since 2006, Business Link North East and the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) North East have been working together to try to make it easier for companies across the region to identify training needs and contact local learning providers.

Business Link provides the LSC’s Train to Gain skills brokerage service in the North East, the only region in which this arrangement operates. The success of this way of working was endorsed in the 2008 Budget, which stated that ‘schemes like brokerage through Business Link have been welcomed in as much as they simplify the current landscape, and as they better match provision to need’.

Following on from this success, the government used the Budget to back a move to ‘roll-out’ the North East’s approach across the UK.

Alastair MacColl, Chief Executive of Business Link North East, said: “As part of the government’s Business Support Simplification initiative, the North East was hailed as a pioneer in improving access to skills and business support. The work that we are doing was quoted in the original report that informed the Budget. “As the first region to develop this way of working, it is hugely satisfying that our work has received national recognition and I welcome the government’s support for a national roll-out. It has been a successful partnership which has seen North East employers and learners benefit from training delivered in businesses of all sizes and from all sectors.”

Chris Roberts, Regional Director for LSC North East, said: “The unique way in which Train to Gain is delivered in the North East has brought huge benefits for employers and learners. The service is raising the profile of skills development and more and more employers are realising the sound economic sense of investing in the skills of their workers, which is good for business, individuals and the wider economy.”

Alastair also welcomed Government pledges, set out in the Budget, to provide an extra £60 million to bridge the skills gap and £12.5m to encourage more women entrepreneurs. He also supported the government’s aim for small businesses to win 30% of all public sector business in the next five years.

For further information about Business Link visit www.businesslinknortheast.co.uk.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .