News and features

Tue, 10 Mar 2009

East of England gets new scheme for skills development

New initiative puts focus on skills training for rural businesses in the East of England region.

The East of England Development Agency (EEDA) has announced details of a new initiative to boost skills training in the region.

Under the Rural Development Programme for England, a new partnership known as Landskills East has been set up to provide the area's rural businesses with improved access to training and more opportunities for workplace development.

Employers in the region will benefit from an investment of £4.5 million in vocational training for workers and higher level development for managers and business owners.

According to the EEDA, the programme has been specifically designed to reflect the training needs of businesses in the six counties of eastern England - Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk.

"The importance of skills and training cannot be overestimated, especially in the current economic climate," said EEDA chairman Richard Ellis.

"Investment in skills, along with maintaining a focus on the region's key economic sectors of research and development and innovation, will help ensure the East of England is best-placed to capitalise on the upturn when it comes."

Easton College in Norfolk will work alongside Lantra, the Sector Skills Council for the environmental and land-based industries, to oversee the provision of vocational training under Landskills East.

College principal David Lawrence added: "Easton College will be developing a partnership with a range of delivery partners across the region to enable a flexible range of courses where the need is identified."

According to the EEDA, the East of England contains over 430,000 businesses and its economy is worth more than £109.9 billion a year.

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