City Deal for Thames Valley Berkshire Confirmed

Margot Tomkinson-Smith
Communications Manager for Thames Valley Berkshire LEP

City Deal for Thames Valley Berkshire Confirmed

On Monday 28 October 2013, Thames Valley Berkshire LEP welcomed the news that the Thames Valley Berkshire City Region has been successful in its City Deal bid.

The announcement was made by Greg Clark, Minister for Cities, at a special event held at Reading Town Hall, which was attended by Council Leaders and representatives from across Berkshire.

So-called ‘City Deals’ are special arrangements negotiated between Central Government and areas/cities, where they are given the powers and tools they need to drive local economic growth. Reading Borough Council was the lead authority in the region, driving forward the successful City Deal bid on behalf of Thames Valley Berkshire ‘City Region’.

The Thames Valley Berkshire City Deal centres around giving Berkshire’s young people the skills they need to access local job opportunities and helping local businesses to get the workforce they need to support growth. This includes both driving down the skills gap that exists which in some cases can mean young people are not accessing employment opportunities that may be available and working with businesses to increase the range of opportunities available.

A key part of the ‘Deal’ will be developing better pathways into work for young people through agencies working better and more collaboratively underpinned by an innovative new mobile web platform ‘ElevateMe’ that has been funded by O2 and developed with young people themselves.

Steve Lamb, Chair for Thames Valley Berkshire LEP added, “The Thames Valley Berkshire City Deal is a positive and exciting opportunity, not just for the local area, but also the sub region as it enhances ability to compete on a global level. It offers an unprecedented shift in control from Whitehall over the way in which our skills system works, so that we can make sure we have a highly skilled workforce which corresponds with business needs in Thames Valley Berkshire, for future growth and economic success.”

via Announcement from Thames Valley Berkshire LEP | LinkedIn.

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