New research shows vocational qualifications are a route to higher wages. A radical new advisory service, which will combine skills and training advice with practical guidance for people on how to overcome the barriers they face in getting on in life, has been announced by Skills Secretary John Denham. For the first time, the adult advancement and careers service (aacs) will provide a one-stop-shop for those seeking training and help into work but who also face problems in areas like childcare, money matters, housing and disability issues.
 
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30 October 2008
© Learning and Skills Council

In a nutshell is an exciting free online course consisting of five workshops delivered over 10 weeks.

Course participants work with other professionals, community workers and volunteers across the public, private and community sectors, working together towards a shared understanding of the sustainable communities agenda. The course is facilitated by a highly experienced tutor who will provide advice and guidance from start to finish. Discussion forums will help provide feedback and enable the sharing of ideas and experiences.
 
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27 October 2008
© ASC

In the wake of the credit issues facing charities after the well-publicised problems with Iceland’s banks Charity Bank has contacted charity leaders this week to try and step into the breach. Chief Executive Malcolm Hayday wrote to the chief executives of NCVO, ACEVO and the Charity Finance Directors’ Group as well as the Charity Commission on 14 October, to advise that any charities struggling as a result of money locked up in accounts with Icelandic banks, may be able to receive support via a short-term working capital loan. Says Mike Hicks, Head of Lending at Charity Bank: “Any charity that has funds stuck with Icelandic Banks, and is watching its cash-flow slowly drying up, is unlikely to be an attractive proposition to a commercial bank in current market conditions. “We are part of the banking sector but as a charity we also want to be part of the solution. We should be delivering on our mission and offering assistance to those charities feeling the squeeze as a result of market failure.”
 
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27 October 2008
© Charity Bank

The eagerly awaited launch of 4iP in the West Midlands has arrived with regional screen agency Screen WM, Advantage West Midlands and Channel 4 unveiling their £10 million joint investment 4iP fund. In addition, Screen WM also announced a £1.3 million support package. 4iP is a creative pilot fund that aims to re-invent how publicly-valuable content is conceived, funded and delivered on new media platforms. There has been massive excitement and anticipation surrounding 4iP since the announcement earlier this year that a £10 million new digital fund had been secured, with Birmingham set to become one of the first UK commissioning hubs for England and Wales for 4iP. Submissions can be made to 4iP via its website, www.4ip.org.uk and all proposals will be considered as long as they support truly innovative use of digital media and demonstrate genuine public value. 4iP’s editorial focus will be on working with the best talent from around the region both individually and within more established businesses. The new £1.3 million support package, which has been announced today, will be delivered by Screen WM to support digital screen media in the region and will help with 4iP project development, major networking and showcase events, attracting top level commissioners to the region, and innovative cross-sector workshops to help encourage collaborations between regional TV, film, games, arts organisations and digital media companies.
 
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24 October 2008
© Advantage West Midlands

The Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) and the Northwest ERDF Programme have today launched a new Innovation Voucher scheme to help support and grow the Northwest economy. With the support and investment of the new ERDF programme, the NWDA will deliver the £4.1m scheme designed to encourage business to engage proactively with the Northwest knowledge base, including colleges and universities.  The funding consists of £2m ERDF and £2.1 from the NWDA. Businesses need to innovate to remain competitive in the face of current global challenges. This project is a voucher scheme that will work with businesses who do not normally engage with the knowledge base (Further and Higher Education Institutions - FEI & HEI and the wider public sector), with the aim of resolving issues which would increase productivity and/or competitiveness. Many SMEs are not aware of the potential benefits of collaborating with the knowledge base and might not know how to access the expertise that is available to them in the region. The Innovation Vouchers scheme addresses the lack of interaction by intervening to encourage SMEs, to work with the knowledge base by reducing the costs, and by brokering the contact between SMEs and the experts in our region. The voucher, valued at up to £3,000, and support should help to ensure that many SMEs will then continue to work with FEIs and HEIs long into the future. 
 
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27 October 2008
© NWDA

The Government today announced plans to create a new Third Sector skills body which will identify and address skills gaps and shortages for charities, voluntary groups, social enterprises and other third sector organisations. It will pull together the work of the sector skills councils to open up learning opportunities for third sector paid and voluntary staff. It will ensure the sector’s needs are properly considered in the design development of National Occupational Standards, the design Apprenticeship Frameworks and Sector Qualification Strategies. The Office of the Third Sector (OTS) and the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) will jointly fund the new skills body with £2.5 million over the next three years. It will be independent and directed by a board representing the sector’s employers. To help the new body become established, Skills for Justice will act as an incubator.
 
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21 October 2008
© Office of the Third Sector

Mayor of London Boris Johnson announced today that he and his team are developing an Economic Recovery Action Plan designed to support Londoners and businesses through the predicted economic hardship ahead. Over the past few weeks, as the effects of the economic downturn have unfolded and concerns for the economy have grown, the Mayor and his Policy Director Anthony Browne have been consulting extensively with a range of business groups, small companies, finance houses and leading multinationals on measures that will help support the economy and Londoners, as well as preparing the capital for future economic upturn. The Mayor has already confirmed several steps he is taking to support London, which include: Refocusing the London Development Agency’s £400m budget towards promoting jobs, skills and economic growth; Investing £600m in training to give Londoners the skills they need to find and stay in work; Pushing ahead with over 50 major infrastructure projects, such as upgrades to the tube and Crossrail, to ensure that London remains globally competitive.

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27 October 2008
© Mayor of London

Representatives from Higher Education and Industry met today as part of a Government plan to increase future ICT enrolments. ICT has been identified as an area of particular economic significance in Northern Ireland. This is in recognition of the fact that as well as being a sizeable industry in its own right, it also underpins many other sectors such as financial services and healthcare. This event, organised by the Department for Employment and Learning, and held at the Stormont Hotel, is an important deliverable of the recently launched ICT Future Skills Action Plan. Employment and Learning Minister, Sir Reg Empey, welcomed the workshop and said: “It is important that the Higher Education sector works with industry to ensure that employers’ skills needs are met. In order to grow and develop, our software companies need an ever increasing number of highly skilled graduates in key disciplines, such as computer science and software engineering, yet university enrolments in these subjects are falling and drop out rates are high. We must do our utmost to overcome these issues if we are to benefit from an improved flow of skilled workers in future years.”
 
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21 October 2008
© Northern Ireland Executive

A £2m programme to share knowledge and good practice in revitalising market towns has been launched by Action for Market Towns (AMT). The Towns Alive initiative will run over five years, supported by £1m from the Big Lottery Fund. Aimed primarily at AMT’s 400 members, it will help build skills within market town partnerships to help them tackle key pressures affecting their futures. A market towns academy will develop and run training programmes to boost the business skills of market town partnerships. One of the first pilot courses planned will focus on leadership skills. ‘Those partnerships which have been successful have been those with good heads,’ said Chris Wade, chief executive of AMT. It’s about developing their business skills so they can get on and secure their future.’ A market towns ‘knowledge hub’ will collate and coordinate research and policy studies affecting market towns to bring greater weight and influence to national and regional policy. One of the first campaigns will be on the issue of community-led planning. A ‘towns-for-towns’ programme will use peer-to-peer learning to help towns share knowledge and good practice.

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8 October 2008
© NewStart

A National Skills Academy for IT, announced today and due to open in 2009, will bring together an unprecedented, sector-wide collaboration of employers, educators and stakeholders to meet the skills needs of the IT workforce. Information technology (IT) skills are critical to the growth of the UK economy. There are currently over a million IT professionals in the UK, with 141,000 new recruits needed every year. The IT industry is predicted to grow at five times the rate of the workforce as a whole and recent research suggests that optimising the ICT capabilities of the UK economy is worth as much as £35 billion a year. Karen Price, Chief Executive of e-skills UK said: “e-skills UK is delighted to be working with employers across the sector to get the skills academy off the ground. It offers a unique opportunity for employers to take collective responsibility for the skills and accreditation of the IT workforce, with innovative development programmes and qualifications that are valued by the sector. I believe this will play a major role in helping the UK become a world leader in IT in the coming years.”

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8 October 2008
© e skills UK