Pictured above: (left to right) Richard Carr, Wolverhampton
City Council chief executive; John Hammond, Jobcentre Plus district
manager; Paul Sheehan, Walsall Borough Council chief executive;
Mike Bell, Black Country LSC area director; Sarah Middleton, Black
Country Consortium chief executive; John Polychronakis, Dudley
Borough Council chief executive; John Sutton, Sandwell Borough
Council head of economic regeneration and skills; Peter Mathews,
Black Country Chamber of Commerce president.
Helping people who are unemployed or facing the prospect of
redundancy to access new skills and job opportunities is at the
heart of a joint commitment to be made by public bodies and
business representatives in the Black Country this week.
Representatives of Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton
councils, the Black Country Consortium, Chamber of Commerce,
Jobcentre Plus, and Learning and Skills Council will each sign the
Black Country Worklessness Protocol - a framework detailing how
partners aim to work together to increase employment, boost the
economy and support communities hard-hit by the economic
downturn.
The over-arching aim of the Protocol is to set out working
arrangements that will deliver a highly integrated and streamlined
approach to raising skills levels and employment opportunities,
with a key focus on providing flexible, tailored support for people
who have been made redundant or are facing that prospect.
The Protocol is designed to serve a number of key strategic
objectives for the Black Country, including:
• At least 100,000 more people with qualifications and
60,000 educated to degree level or higher by 2031;
• Creation of 160,000 new jobs (a net increase of 94,000),
with particular focus on finance and business services and
logistics;
• 63,000 more Black Country people in employment by 2031
(80 per cent of working age population);
Peter Mathews CMG, President of Black Country Chamber of
Commerce, said: "Skills are a key factor for the future
prosperity of the Black Country. The launch of this Protocol is a
great boost to those who are concerned and worried and who need to
learn other skills, as we progress through difficult times.
"They are now going to be given this opportunity and, as
President of the Chamber of Commerce, I can say with confidence
that this initiative has the backing of business within our
region."
Mike Bell, Area Director of Black Country Learning and Skills
Council, said: "A year ago, we launched the Black Country
Employment and Skills Board, bringing together public and private
sector employers in a shared mission to remove all obstacles to
skills acquisition and sustainable employment.
"The Black Country Worklessness Protocol is another important
step in the ongoing development of integrated, flexible systems
that will deliver the skills development and employment
opportunities needed by both long-term unemployed people and those
who have recently been made redundant or who are facing that
prospect in the near future."
John Hammond, District Manager of Jobcentre Plus, said: "We
realise it is a challenging time but by working together in this
way we can ensure that individual customers and employers get the
right support. This support includes a £2,500 recruitment and
training subsidy when a business takes on someone who has been
unemployed for six months."