Councillors vote to increase funding to help residents into jobs

Residents looking for work here have received a timely boost with the news that Haringey Council and the Greater London Authority (GLA) are to jointly bolster a project to help them get better skills and qualifications for the job market, thereby enhancing their employability and career prospects overall.

The local authority and the GLA jointly commission the North London Partnership Consortium (NLPC) to deliver Level Three (L3) provision to unemployed, and lower paid, residents and support them into work – or better paid work – in the following key sectors:

• Childcare
• Construction
• Engineering
• Health and Social Care

Demand for this service has understandably increased significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic and, while the team have exceeded all expectations and performance targets in providing assistance, help and support to the additional uptake, the council and GLA will now be match-funding the project with an extra £67,428 each – taking the overall commitment to £517,428.

Cllr Julie Davies, Haringey Council’s Cabinet Member for Employment, Skills and Corporate Services, said of this additional grant funding agreement for the Haringey Higher Level Skills (HHLS) project:

We have been helping residents improve their skills to find work or better jobs. The project has gone very well, so we are extending it and putting in extra funding. I’d like to thank the GLA for recognising and back our success. This is great news for local residents and businesses.

Most opportunities for Good Work in London* (*work that provides at minimum the London Living Wage, with opportunities for progression) require residents to have higher level skills – those at L3 and above – to access them.

Delivering L3 courses to unemployed residents in the specific growth sectors identified in the Good Economy Recovery Action Plan, the HHLS project also supports in-work progression by providing to already-in-work residents with lower-level skills the same L3 opportunities.

The project has a focus on recruiting participants with disabilities or health conditions, those from BAME groups, aged under 25 or 50 & over and lone parents too and will therefore serve to promote equality of opportunity.