Funding bid for Skill Space office complex
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FUNDING is being sought to create a training centre to give Halton residents a better chance of landing one of the ‘ jobs of the future’ at Sci-Tech Daresbury.
Spending supremos are due to meet today to rubber stamp a bid for £1.12m from the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority to pay for the ‘Skill- space’ in one of the three offices to be built in the science and enterprise zone’s £7.6m Project Violet scheme.
Cllr Rob Polhill, Halton Council leader, told the Weekly News the centre will complement a similar facility at the Alstom rail engineering works’ academy and provide training for specific roles and recent good results at Riverside College and showed the area is now ‘motoring’ ahead.
He said at present residents are missing out on jobs at the thriving science park as recruitment draws on pools of university graduates.
A report published ahead of Halton Council’s executive board meeting said organisations which can use the facility will include The University Of Liverpool, the Science And Technology Facilities Council (STFC), further education groups and the private training firms.
Senior councillors could seal their approval for the Skillspace funding and legal arrangements today.
A report published ahead of the meeting said the city region combined authority has asked Halton Council for a full business case for the grant, which would go to the Daresbury joint venture between Halton Borough Council, Langtree and national science agency the STFC.
Cllr Polhill said: “What we’re finding is some of the jobs at Daresbury are quite specific technical jobs and people to university and they’re getting people from outside for those jobs. So we’re hoping some local people can get those jobs.
“It’s good news, we’re starting to motor now.
“We’ve got Alstom (in Widnes) coming up with a skills academy for engineering, and if we get that in Runcorn we’re lifting people’s sights high to fulfil the jobs of the future.”