£3m science labs unveiled at college
THE new state-of-the-art £3m science labs at the City of Liverpool College have been officially opened as a drive to recruit lab technicians of the future was also launched.
Cllr Nick Small, Liverpool City Council’s cabinet member for education, employment and skills at Liverpool City Council, unveiled the laboratories at the Clarence Street campus.
The opening was attended by members of the Liverpool City Region Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and All About STEM, an organisation which promotes science, technology, engineering and maths in schools, businesses and communities, the University of Liverpool, Mersey Maritime and employers from the STEM sector.
The attendees took a tour of the new facility and discussed how The City of Liverpool College is working with the STEM industry to close the skills gap in the city region.
Cllr Small said: “STEM skills are vital for Liverpool City Region.
“Many of the future jobs projected to be created in Liverpool over the years to come will demand high levels of skills in science, maths, engineering and technology.
“The College’s new STEM labs will help residents from across the whole City Region gain the right skills for those jobs.
“Young people will benefit, as will adults who want to upskill or change careers. This investment shows what we can achieve when the government devolves more decision making on skills locally.”
The labs were funded with £3m from the £232m Growth Deal secured by Liverpool City Region Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and through proving employer links.
In 2014 the Liverpool City Region LEP secured a total of £232m of Local Growth Fund from Government.
The funding will help to grow the economy and create new jobs in the Liverpool City Region and includes a ring-fenced £41m allocation for skills funding.
In the last 10 years, STEM jobs have grown three times faster than any other sector and it is predicted there will be 500,000 new STEM jobs in the UK in the next five years.
