Improving Skills and Employment
Meeting demand and ensuring our workforce has the right skills
so they can be employed locally is essential. Working towards a
cleaner, safer, more prosperous borough continues to be the
council’s vision, as set out it in its new Corporate Strategy
2008-2011and the council has a vital community leadership role to
play to improve the skills and employment opportunities for
residents.
New developments, inward investment and regeneration all point
to new and better job opportunities for residents and for
businesses looking to relocate or expand across our borough in the
future. We’ve already seen evidence of this as hundreds of jobs
were created by the two new retail parks, with new employers and
investors such as Laura Ashley, Next, Aldi and Hobbycraft.
“We will ensure that the economic success of the borough is
shared by all sections of the community. One of the ways we will
achieve this is to help people gain the skills to take advantage of
job opportunities in the area through our Skills and Employability
Partnership,” says Joy Okwuadigbo, Head of Regeneration at Havant
Borough Council.
Havant Skills and Employability
Partnership
The Havant Skills and Employability
Partnership is a public, private and voluntary partnership that
involves a dynamic set of educators and business people who are
working together to make a difference in Havant. Sue Love, Human
Resource Director at Wyeth International (Havant) is chair of the
partnership and says, “As a major employer in the borough we are
certainly happy to be involved with this very local
initiative.”
Havant has one of the lowest skills bases coupled with the
highest proportion of residents with no qualifications, in
Hampshire and the partnership wants to :
- reduce the numbers of young people (16-19 years) who are not in
employment, education or training (NEET)
- increase the number of apprenticeships
- increase engagement with adult learning programmes
- raise skill levels and increase employability
- support inward investment and help match skills of residents to
the needs of employers
- remove the barriers to training and employment.
There are many partners involved in driving forward the aim of
improving skills and employment prospects across the borough and
further information on how to access opportunities can be found in
the newly launched Havant Skills and Employability Newsletter which
you can view by using this link>>
Wheatsheaf Trust success!
Working to help those young people of the borough who are not in
employment, education or training (NEET), the Trust, with support
from partnership member, Jobsite, has already helped one young man
find permanent employment.
REAcT is a project run by the Trust in agreement with Havant
Borough Council as part of the Havant Skills and Employability
Partnership. In January 2008 a young man from Warren Park, very
keen to find employment, was referred by Connexions to the
Employment Access Centre in Park Road South.
He lacked the skills he needed to get into the construction
trade. The Wheatsheaf Trust was running the Real Opportunities Now
(funded by the Learning & Skills Council) – “Get a Taste of
Construction” Course in Southampton. Paying for his travel to
Southampton over a 2 week period, he started the course in February
which covered painting and decorating, carpentry and brickwork.
Excelling in painting and decorating and showing a real talent and
eye for detail which his marks reflected, he was a positive team
member.
The REAcT programme covered confidence building and core
practice for his Construction Skills Certification Scheme Card
(CSCS) and if he passed three practice tests in a row (which he
did) the Wheatsheaf Trust would pay for him to take his
CSCS
card.
Fast forward to April 2008, he has now gone into full time
employment. Working as a trainee signmaker for Havant Signs and
Plastics he has also been rewarded for his commitment and hard
work, with 5 driving lessons, paid for by the Trust!
To visit the external websites of members of the Partnership use
the links below.