The Mayor of London Boris Johnson has today confirmed a £65 million injection in the capital’s colleges and further education facilities to ensure Londoners are best placed to compete for jobs in the city.
It follows a funding pot of £55m last year in a host of new campuses technology hubs and workshops – taking the total investment available for 22 colleges in London to £120m.
The £65m has been agreed for seven of those projects to be delivered over the next four years as part of the London Enterprise Panel’s Further Education Capital Investment Fund, launched by the Mayor following a successful bid for Growth Deal funding from Government in January last year. The majority of the fund has been allocated, with a small amount to be allocated for projects later in the year.
In this latest round of confirmed funding, a £22.5m grant has been approved for Lambeth College to create a new campus, training hotel, homes, new jobs and construction skills centre at the heart of the Vauxhall Nine Elms regeneration area.
The Ada National College of Digital Skills will also receive £18m to complete a move to Tottenham Hale in September this year. The project, which continues a major regeneration push led by the Mayor and Haringey Council, will create a new state of the art college building to support its students into highly skilled digital jobs with higher level apprenticeships.
The funding programme is designed to upgrade and modernise London’s colleges and further education services to ensure they are fit for purpose and put students in pole position for the 860,000 new jobs to be delivered in the capital over the next 20 years.
The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson MP, said: “As a global city attracting the very best talent, it’s only right Londoners have world-class facilities to ensure they are prepared to compete for the thousands of new jobs being created in business, tech, media and construction. I am pleased to be able to support our colleges as they prepare the next generation who will further London’s position as the best big city in the world.”
Work on the Ada National Digital Skills Centre will now begin apace with in a temporary hub being created while the new state of the art building is being built, which is expected to open by September 2018.
Sir Rodney Aldridge OBE, Chair of Ada, the National College for Digital Skills, said: “I am delighted to receive this funding which will allow us to develop the hub campus and build a state-of-the-art centre for our students, the community and London more broadly.
“This will help realise the College""s mission of offering students a high-quality provision for post-16 education in computing-related subjects as well as ensuring they will be ready for the modern workplace and will start to address the digital skills gap for industry.
“The College will provide young people from the across the capital, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds, with new opportunities and an education that will help them realise their dreams of pursing successful digital careers.”
Cllr Joe Goldberg, Haringey Council’s Cabinet Member for Economic Development, Social Inclusion and Sustainability, said: “The decision by Ada National College for Digital Skills choosing to open its new centre for digital skills in Tottenham is a massive boost for Haringey. With 147,000 high paid digital jobs unfilled every year the Ada National College for Digital Skills will give young people in Haringey the chance to learn high level digital skills including coding and secure well paid jobs. This will give opportunities to the next generation to fulfil their potential and ensure Haringey becomes the centre for digital skills in London.”
Richmond upon Thames College has received £30m of investment in two rounds of funding, which will transform its campus to develop local and national employer links and facilitate a real-life learning environment. The college’s plans also include a centre to assist the development of specialisms including new technologies for low carbon and electrical vehicle testing, medical sciences, advances engineering technologies and new construction skills.
Robin Ghurbhurun, Principal and Chief Executive of Richmond upon Thames College, said: “Richmond upon Thames College is delighted to have secured this significant investment from the Mayor. Our approach to partnership working with key stakeholders, in particular the London Enterprise Panel, will deliver a truly exceptional learning and skills experience at the heart of Twickenham capable of building futures and maintaining London’s status as the global city for business, learning and life.”
Waltham Forest College is also set to receive £3.5m towards their project to create a series of construction workshops for students specialising in electrical and plumbing work.
Peter Doble, Director of Finance at Waltham Forest College, said: “The Waltham Forest College STEM Centre project creates an Engineering, Science & Technology Centre accommodating state-of-the-art industry standard workshops to provide training in engineering, automotive technologies, digital skills, applied science and manufacturing.
“City Hall funding has allowed the College to develop this project which will inspire our learners seeking entry into practical engineering careers. The facility will be employer-facing providing an innovation hub where local businesses can develop ideas and support local people into STEM-related apprenticeships, high level qualifications and employment.”
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