Business leaders are planning to spearhead closer working ties with colleges ahead of a crucial £1 billion bid for the region’s economic development.
The Post revealed last week that Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership (GBSLEP) was putting together the major bid in its first ever submission to the Single Local Growth Fund.
The LEP’s deputy chairman Steve Hollis said a major part of the plans would be to engage with the city’s colleges to deal with a long-term skills issues – particularly around engineering, creating partnerships that are more common in the US than the 海角视频 currently.
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Mr Hollis also admitted he considered his position on the LEP after the disappointment of a smaller central government growth fund pot than anticipated. This had followed months of hard work on a decentralisation project headed up by Lord Heseltine in Birmingham.
Birmingham ranks low for skills compared to other major cities, with only 24.2 per cent of residents registered as having high level qualifications, and 15.9 per cent without any formal qualifications – making it the tenth-worst city in the country.
Mr Hollis told the Post that the LEP planned to develop closer ties with colleges to ensure the right candidates were being created for opportunities such as Jaguar Land Rover and high-speed rail.
And he is putting his money where his mouth is after taking over as chairman of Birmingham Metropolitan College.
He said: “The further education sector is going to play a very interesting part in the skills side of what we are doing.
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“That is why I took this job – it is a crucial part of what the local enterprise partnership is doing to build connectivity with what is going on in our colleges, and helping these kids who I think have been let down.”
At the beginning of the year, the Post was reporting hopes that the LEP would be bidding for a slice of a £60 billion single pot, under proposals set out by Lord Heseltine in the city.
Those grand plans did not transpire, and the region is actually competing with others for its share of about £15 billion.
The wide-ranging bid includes plans to create more jobs off the back of Jaguar Land Rover and automotive sector growth, a high-speed rail centre of excellence, and more than 100,000 jobs as part of the 海角视频 Central scheme around the M42 corridor.
However, as the Post reported last week, with political will waning from some quarters on HS2 is not helping plans.
However, Mr Hollis said the LEP is relishing the competition.
“What we can do is demonstrate that this area has great potential to drive growth and jobs more than in other areas,” he said.
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“That is the competition as we see it. Then our job is to persuade the Treasury to get behind it by showing it is what is best for the country.”
Mr Hollis admitted the disappointing news about the size of the Single Local Growth Fund – which is the principal means of funding LEPs – led him to consider his position.
He said: “After they made the announcement I did seriously think well, we have put a very good case together and the reasons coming back are not particularly compelling.
“I asked myself whether I am the right person for this, but the thing that convinced me was talking to a Secretary of State, who convinced me this is just the way it happens.
“This is a genuine commitment to make this happen. It was never going to happen as quickly as people wanted it to.”
He added: “We had a plan that could range from nothing to £60 billion, because we didn’t know what the result was going to be.
“We are putting something together which we think is the right plan, and hopefully it will be a pretty compelling case.”