The South East Local Enterprise Partnership (SELEP) recently held a webinar to give Major Projects in the South East a chance to update on their progress in creating skills and employment opportunities.
This followed on a year from SELEP’s initial webinar exploring how these projects are creating these opportunities for residents in the South East.
Major Projects—Growth—Opportunity: One Year On took place on Wednesday 8th June and saw projects including the Lower Thames Crossing and Ebbsfleet Garden City return to provide details on future plans for skills and employment.
Thames Freeport, Bradwell B, the Construction Industry Training Board and the UK Health Security Agency also gave updates in the webinar. Speakers included Lara Pool, Ebbsfleet Development Corporation; Celine McGeown, Construction and Industry Training Board (CITB); and Jessica Power, Lower Thames Crossing (National Highways).
Attendees also heard about the emerging action plan of SELEP’s Major Projects Group (MPG) Skills Group, which supports collaborative activity across the area, as well as from the projects directly.
SELEP’s MPG, which was formed in 2020, has prioritised skills and employment as its first substantive area of work. Alongside the MPG Skills subgroup and SELEP’s Skills Advisory Panel, the group recently commissioned a report, undertaken by Mace Group, into the collective skills needs of key major projects in the South East.
Jeremy Kerswell, Chair of SELEP’s Skills Working Group and Principal of Plumpton College, said:
“It is reassuring, and exciting, to see the scale of opportunity being created by these projects in the realms of skills and employment. We will continue to work closely with our Major Projects in the South East to ensure that local communities and residents are offered these fantastic opportunities to learn new skills, seek new career paths, and emerge from their educational journeys into a thriving local job market.”