A £4.5 million increase in Government funding for apprenticeships and trainees in the engineering construction sector will mean that opportunities for young people to train for skilled jobs could double to 1,200 by 2011, Secretary of State for Business, Lord Mandelson said recently.

Making its initial response to the Gibson Review of Engineering Construction, a study of productivity and skills in the sector, the Government has committed to:

•  Earmarking £4.5 million of funding for more trainees and apprenticeships in the sector.
   
• Working with the Engineering Construction Industry Training Board to ensure that the industry’s training levy is fairly applied to all firms working in the industry, including non UK firms.

Lord Mandelson also welcomed the creation of a new cross-industry body set up to promote change in the sector to be chaired by Ian Marchant, chief executive of Scottish & Southern Energy.

Lord Mandelson said:

“The engineering construction sector employs up to sixty thousand people in the UK. This new investment means that more home grown workers will be provided with the skills and experience needed for them to take the work opportunities that designing, building and maintaining the wave of new investment the country needs in power stations and energy infrastructure.

“I am delighted that someone of the calibre of Ian Marchant has agreed to take on this important role. His experience is highly relevant, and he is extremely well placed to take the work of the Forum forward.”

New chair of the forum Ian Marchant said:

"The UK's engineering construction industry needs more people with more skills and better productivity if it is to play a full part in the transformation of the UK's power stations, oil refineries and chemical plant that we will see over the next two decades.  One of the key risks to the overhaul of the country's asset base is that it lacks the engineers to do the work.  Over the next 18 months, I expect the new Forum to set out a practical and comprehensive plan to turn this risk into an opportunity for the UK to improve skills, create jobs and provide work for a growing number of successful engineering construction companies."

Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Ed Miliband said:

“There’s a big challenge ahead to build the energy infrastructure we need for the long term, in particular the massive expansion of low carbon sources needed to play our full part in the global fight against climate change.  A deal in Copenhagen will be vital in sending a strong signal, but it’s down to Government, industry and employees to work together to nurture the high tech skills needed to make it a reality”

The Department of Energy and Climate Change is to publish its 2050 Vision document in spring 2010, an important guide for the energy sector in the move to the low carbon future. This will respond to the report’s recommendation that the government should provide further information and signals to the energy sector to help companies produce long term investment strategies. Government will also continue to work to ensure that the right conditions are present to allow industry to take investment decisions to deliver a low carbon, secure energy supply.

Mark Gibson, a former Director General at the Department for Business, was tasked in February this year by Lord Mandelson to review productivity and skills within the construction engineering sector. The results of his report were presented to Ministers on 1 Dec 2009.

Source: Central Office of Information

Young people will have the opportunity to take up one of 2,000 sports jobs such as coaching football, swimming and tennis under the Government’s Future Job Funding (FJF) scheme. 7,500 sports jobs are expected to be created, bringing the total number of jobs that will be created through FJF so far to almost 55,000.

The new sports sector jobs will be created across England by the National Skills Academy for Sports, offering young people the opportunity to gain skills in coaching, leadership and sport development. They will also encourage wider community involvement in health and fitness including gymnastics, swimming and boxing.

Up to 200 sports coaching jobs are being created through the Football League Trust meaning all 72 clubs will have the chance to give youngsters in their community the opportunity to work for them.

Further jobs are also being announced this round in horticulture, renewable energy, construction and the NHS.

Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Yvette Cooper said:

“We’re determined to do everything we can to help young people get their first job despite the recession. Never again must we see a generation lost to work. That’s why it’s so important that sports clubs across the country have now signed up to do their bit to give thousands of young people a kick start in their careers.

“So far our innovative Future Jobs Fund has provided the money to create almost 55,000 jobs for young people and those in the hardest hit communities.

"We know things will be tougher for some time and unemployment is likely to keep increasing for a while even once the economy is growing. But that’s why we’re so determined to keep increasing support so that young people can get the jobs and training they need."

Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport Ben Bradshaw said:

"Today’s announcement is a big boost for community sport, giving it a share of £1bn Government investment. In partnership with the National Skills Academy for Sport and the Football League Trust, it will create exciting new opportunities for young, unemployed people.

"These jobs will help to create a new generation of talented sports coaches, administrators and community health workers – exactly the people who will help us deliver a lasting legacy from the London Olympics by getting two million more people more active by 2012."

Dame Kelly Holmes, founder of Dame Kelly Holmes Legacy Trust said:

“As founder of the Dame Kelly Holmes Trust, a charity that inspires young people to find and fulfil their potential in life, we warmly welcome Yvette Cooper’s commitment to creating more jobs for young people in this far reaching initiative.

"These jobs will provide real opportunities for the unemployed, who currently have few prospects in life, to gain employment in an area in which they have a real affinity and which motivates them to succeed. We look forward to working with the National Skills Academy who have brought together a range of organisations from sport and the charitable sector who will now make a real difference to the futures of young people."

The Future Jobs Fund will provide funding for 150,000 jobs at least 100,000 for young people and 50,000 for unemployment hotspots. So far the fund, worth about £1bn, has approved bids to create up to 55,000 jobs.

The Prime Minister announced that young people could, from now on, apply for jobs under the fund after being unemployed for 10 months rather than 12 meaning they will get the skills and experience they need even sooner.

Source: Department for Work And Pensions