BUSINESS NEWS
Swindon & Wiltshire announced as ‘ Careers Hub ’
Swindon & Wiltshire is to become one of 20 ‘ Careers Hubs ’ in England to help transform careers education for young people .
The Swindon & Wiltshire Careers Hub will be made up of 40 local schools and colleges working together with universities , training providers , employers and career professionals to improve careers education .
Careers Hubs are a central part of the Government ’ s Careers Strategy , published in December 2017 . The strategy aims to improve careers education and help prepare young people for the world of work .
The Government asked The Careers & Enterprise Company to scale up a model successfully piloted in the North East by establishing 20 Careers Hubs across the country , allocating £ 5 million over a two-year period to support the Hubs .
The Swindon & Wiltshire
Careers Hub will have access to support and funding to help them meet the eight Gatsby Benchmarks of excellent careers education . This includes :
• A ‘ Hub Lead ’ to help coordinate activity and build networks
• Access to bursaries for individual schools and colleges to train ‘ careers leaders ’
• Central Hub Fund equivalent to around £ 1k per school or college
• Access to funding for schools to support employer encounters
Amanda Burnside , board member of the Swindon & Wiltshire Local Enterprise Partnership and chair of the Skills and Talent Sub-group , said : “ Enabling businesses to have an appropriately skilled and competitive workforce to support growth , innovation and creativity remains an investment priority for the Swindon and Wiltshire
“ The Government asked The Careers & Enterprise Company to scale up a model successfully piloted in the North East ”
Local Enterprise Partnership ( SWLEP ). The Swindon & Wiltshire Careers Hub will build on the good work that is already happening between schools and employers such as The Enterprise Advisor Network , so that together we provide the workforce and skills needed now and in the future for strong economic growth .”
Claudia Harris , Chief Executive of The Careers & Enterprise Company , added : ” We ’ re excited by the potential impact of the Hubs . If employers , schools and colleges can better prepare young people for the world of work , we ’ re not just benefiting the future economy , but improving prospects for thousands of young people .”
The Career Hubs are set to launch across the country in September 2018 .
ADDITIONAL FUNDING SUPPORT PACKAGE FOR SALISBURY & AMESBURY
Following the recent novichok incident affecting Salisbury and Amesbury a further £ 2.8 million has been made available to support the local community .
Baroness Jane Scott , the Leader of Wiltshire Council said : “ I welcome the Prime Minister ’ s announcement regarding the £ 2.8m support package for Sailsbury and Amesbury from the government .
“ Support is urgently needed to assist our local communities and businesses . Since the first incident in March the city of Salisbury has shown its resilience and had started to get back to normal and footfall was slowly increasing . The second incident has inevitably hit hard and everyone is devastated at the tragic death of Dawn Sturgess .
“ We recognise that recovery and the return to normal business will take time . This additional funding of £ 2.8m to support the council is vital . We will continue to allocate the resources needed , both people and funding , to assist the communities and the businesses directly affected by these extraordinary events . Working closely with those impacted we can continue to allocate grants and Business Rate Relief and do all we can to make sure they can sustain this difficult period .” The new support package includes :
• £ 997,000 to support Wiltshire Council ’ s response and recovery costs
• £ 927,000 to provide immediate support to local businesses and to counter their loss of earnings
• £ 870,000 to boost the vital tourism industry in the region , including £ 570,000 for free parking and park-and-ride services in the South Wiltshire area . In addition , the Home Office has approve a further £ 2.5 million in special grant funding to cover extra costs incurred by Wiltshire Police , taking the total provided to the police since March to £ 4.1m .
Wiltshire Council , Swindon & Wiltshire LEP and partner business support organisations are working to help businesses in the area affected by the major incident access advice , support and information including financial assistance , insurance claims and business rates relief . Advisers from The Enterprise Network ( TEN ) and the Growth Hub have been out visiting businesses to ensure they have the right information and support .
Anyone looking for advice or information is urged to call 01225 402 096 or email : support @ swgrowthub . co . uk
BREAKING THE MOULD www . optps . co . uk
4 THE BUSINESS EXCHANGE 2018