South London councils sign Skills Pledge.

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Representatives from South London authorities Croydon, Kingston and Merton, have signed the Skills Pledge in a bid to invest in training their staff, at an event in London’s Millbank Tower, attended by Skills Minister David Lammy and Learning Skills Council’s Area Director, Vic Grimes.

The main aim of the Skills Pledge, a voluntary public commitment lead by a company or organisation, is to equip all its employees with the necessary work based trainings to develop their basic numeracy and literacy skills so that they can contribute towards the success and holistic development of the company in future. The employees can also work towards a full Level 2 qualification equivalent to five GCSEs A* to C.

LSC and the local authorities also settled upon a joint working agreement, which was launched back in September 2007. According to the agreement, a Train to Gain Account Manager will be assigned to each of the Local Authorities. The Account Manager is currently working with the Human Resources and Learning Development departments at the Local authority to identify skills needs within the organisation and to source training solutions.

Skills Minister David Lammy said: “It is crucial that government and employers join forces to provide people with the skills needed to improve their future job prospects and make sure that London remains a world class economic leader.”

Before the agreement is actually implemented across the organisation, it is being piloted in selected departments, ranging from schools to waste management. A steering group has been formed to give Local Authorities the much needed chance to share best practise in delivering the Skills Pledge across their organisations.

Vic Grimes, LSC Area Director for London South, believes that the demand for unskilled jobs is dwindling. It’s the responsibility of local authorities to endow their staffs with the necessary skills to make them more productive.

Sue Higgins, Sutton’s Strategic Director for Resources and the council’s Skills Champion, explained: “Since we signed up to the Skills Pledge last year, employees in waste management have successfully completed the first training course.”

Rinku Chatterjee