Mayor's plan to help 400,000 more Londoners get the skills they need

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, today launched major new measures to ensure Londoners can get the skills they need to get into good work. This includes key changes to London’s Adult Education Budget (AEB) and £2m investment which will coordinate skills, careers and employment support and ensure that thousands of Londoners have a secure route into employment and out of poverty.

An additional 400,000 Londoners will be able to access funded training opportunities without having to prove they receive state benefits and the removal of the three-year residency requirement for Londoners on certain immigration schemes will allow Londoners to access support from their first day in the capital.

The £2.06m No Wrong Door programme will join up local skills and employment provision, ensuring Londoners can get the right support at the right time to move into good work, no matter their starting point.

£1.38m of this funding is being invested in Integration Hubs across the capital, which will directly support the Londoners who need it most: in particular refugees, women, disabled Londoners, Londoners over 50 and young Londoners.

Today the Mayor visited Ingeus, Central London Forward’s Integration Hub, which is coordinating services to ensure that disabled Londoners, refugees and people seeking asylum can access the right support when they need it. During the visit Sadiq joined an employability support session for Afghan refugees who are joining the Work and Health programme.

The Mayor met Raihana Zaher and Mansoor Salihi. Mansoor attended the programme as a resettled refugee from Afghanistan in 2021 and has now joined Ingeus as a case worker. Raihana is passionate about supporting people to improve their lives and is working for Ingeus to help refugees from Afghanistan who have moved to London as part of the UK’s resettlement scheme.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan said: “Many Londoners are struggling as the cost of living continues to rise. There are huge inequalities in the labour market and not enough Londoners have the skills they need to get into good jobs or progress and earn more in their current roles.

“It was brilliant to meet some of the Afghan refugees at Ingeus today and I’m glad we can offer such a wide range of fully funded courses and training to people in various stages of their adult education journey.

Cllr Carole Williams, Cabinet Member for Employment, Human Resources and Equalities at Hackney Council, said: “London’s economy is strong, but too many of our residents struggle to access the opportunities available in their city.”

Raihana Zaher, Employment Support Caseworker at Ingeus said: “I’ve been working at Ingeus since March 2022 and it’s been great to provide support to newly settled Afghan refugees. I’ve been working with this cohort for around three months now and I’ve already seen them progress. This course is a lifeline to so many people and I’m proud to be part of such a great programme.”