Government awards funding to colleges across Sussex region for skills training

A consortium of Sussex colleges is to receive more than £7million funding, as part of the Department for Education’s Strategic Development Fund.

A consortium of eight college groups, further education colleges and sixth form colleges across East and West Sussex and Brighton & Hove, led by Chichester College Group (CCG), will be working collaboratively to boost skills training in sustainable industries.

Bexhill College, BHASVIC, College of Richard Collyer, East Sussex College Group, Greater Brighton Metropolitan Group (GB Met), Plumpton College and Vardean College are working with CCG to deliver five projects:

• Alternative Energy & Hydrogen Technologies (led by CCG)
• Land Management Strategies and Practices for Environmental Land Management Schemes (led by Plumpton College, with Brinsbury College)
• Electric Vehicle Training Centres (led by GB Met)
• Decarbonisation Academies in Sussex (led by East Sussex College Group)
• Establishing Carbon Literacy and Sustainability Awareness (led by BHASVIC)

Shelagh Legrave CBE, Chief Executive of the Chichester College Group, said: “This is a fantastic boost for skills training and development across the whole Sussex region.

“Businesses have been struggling to recruit people with the right skills, and while colleges do a fantastic job in skills training, there are some industry gaps where the right equipment or expertise may not be available to deliver the best training.

“Working collaboratively with partners at other colleges across the whole of the Sussex region reflects the need to develop a region-wide approach to improving skills-training and will hugely benefit young people and employers in our local areas.”

Development, writing and submission of the bid was co-ordinated by Dr Tim Strickland, Consultant Chief Executive of FE Sussex, the consortia company of the post-16 colleges in Sussex. He added: “All our member colleges are proud to have been selected to be part of this large scale multi-faceted project, the development of which shows the advantages of working together for the benefit of students and employers.

“It will enable Sussex colleges to place the Green agenda at the heart of today’s teaching and learning and give students and employers the knowledge and skills of tomorrow.”The funding has been awarded by Government for Local Skills Improvement Plans and development fund pilots. It is part of a £65million fund which is being distributed across the country and

The funding will support the curriculum offered by colleges with a focus on long-term skills priorities of local areas.