County gets boost for digital skills

Lancashire is just one of four areas of the UK to have secured £261,000 of investment from the government’s £1m Digital Skills Innovation Fund (DSIF).

The funding, from the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), is specifically aimed at helping people underrepresented in the workforce gain more digital skills and boost their employability.

The programme will be driven by a range of grass roots initiatives including digital skills ‘boot camps’, special events, workshops and courses.

Advisers will also sign-post people interested in developing more digital skills to training programmes already available in the county.

Some of the new projects Lancashire is aiming to roll-out over the next 12 months include an IT Infrastructure training project which will help disadvantaged people into digital jobs and a digital marketing course for the unemployed and under-represented social groups which will lead to accredited qualifications sought by employers.

Last April Lancashire was the first area in the UK to announce the formation of a Local Digital Skills Partnership, a pioneering government scheme which helps to identify gaps in digital skills provision and encourages the private and public sectors to work together to address them.

Since then the network of private and public sector partners has grown to more than 60 organisations – including large employers, SMEs, education providers and employment support agencies – while Google is on track to meet its target of training 1,000 Lancashire small businesses via its Google Garage programme.

Kerry Harrison, Lancashire’s digital skills partnership coordinator, said: “This funding will give Lancashire’s rapidly growing digital skills programme a massive boost and it will help us embed more training and support into communities who may otherwise struggle to access such provision.”

Dr Michele Lawty-Jones, director of the Lancashire Skills and Employment Hub, adds: “The DISF award is testament to the extensive work we have already undertaken in Lancashire to deliver inclusive growth through improving the county’s digital skills base.

“Through other initiatives, such as the Digital Skills Partnership, Digital Lancashire and our Lancashire Adviser Network, we are also working very closely with the private sector to promote and showcase the incredible benefits and career opportunities which digital skills can bring to all Lancastrians.”

The LEP has also invested significantly in digital, technical and vocational skills provision through many of the county’s universities and colleges over the last few years.

This includes more than £50m in Local Growth Deal funding provided for new facilities at Edge Hill University, Myerscough College, Nelson and Colne College, the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan), Accrington and Rossendale College and Lancaster University.

Partnerships are part of an on-going strategy

Local Digital Skills Partnerships are part of an on-going strategy by the government to ensure the UK develops a world-leading digital economy.

Cheshire and Warrington was revealed as the choice for one of three new partnerships earlier this month, alongside the South East and Cornwall and Isles of Scilly.

Its Local Enterprise Partnership’s employers, skills and education board – which includes representatives from Cirrus, Bentley Motors, Jungheinrich, Network Rail and the Daresbury Laboratory – has identified digital skills as a key priority.

Christine Gaskell, who chairs the Cheshire and Warrington LEP and is a member of the National Digital Skills Partnership Board, says the new partnership will “turbo-boost” the digital skills activity that is already underway in the area.
She explains: “Digital transformation is central to the future of our sub-regional economy and can secure sustainable growth.”

Gaskell says the decision also shows the potential of the area to increase its digitally-focused economy and increase productivity.

And she adds: “Having the right digital skills offers fantastic opportunities for schoolchildren and adults when choosing a role.”

The Cheshire and Warrington Digital Skills Partnership will ensure training programmes are designed to provide employers and individuals with digital skills they need.

Margot James, the minister for digital, says: “I am determined to help people get good jobs and local businesses find people with the skills they need to grow and boost the economy.

“The new Cheshire and Warrington Local Digital Skills Partnership will help achieve this.”

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