01.08.19
Tees Valley Mayor + Combined Authority control £29.5m budget
The Tees Valley Mayor and Combined Authority have officially taken control of an annual devolved budget of around £29.5m to deliver adult education provision across the region.
To mark the event, the Mayor visited Stockton training provider DTN Academy - providers of a comprehensive learning experience for the Telecommunications industry - for an adult training open day.
He was joined by Cllr Bob Cook, the Combined Authority’s Cabinet Lead for Education, Employment and Skills, to meet DTN Academy’s Business and Quality director Roy Fraser, Map Group CEO Mike Carlin, and a number of residents who are looking to access adult training.
Last month, the Mayor and Combined Authority Cabinet agreed to award the funding to 33 providers, including DTN Academy, who will deliver post-19 education and skills across the region for the 2019/2020 academic year from today.
As part of the Government’s devolution agenda, areas with Metro Mayors have been granted control over the post-19 Adult Education Budgets, alongside powers covering delivery, and performance management.
This is the first time Tees Valley will have control of this budget, and it is one of only seven areas in the country with the powers.
Mayor Houchen said: “Thanks to devolution, we are only taking control of this fund from London because our region agreed to a directly-elected Mayor. With this investment, we will ensure learners can gain the skills that local businesses desperately need.
“For decades, some companies took the easy way out and brought in cheap labour to fill demand. Now we have control over post-19 education, we will start investing in home-grown talent by re-training local people to fill our skills gap.
“For the first time ever, we will absolutely make sure that local people are properly trained to fill the jobs being created today and into the future.”
Adult education is a major strand of the ten-year Tees Valley Investment Plan agreed in January. This has seen an additional £55million committed for wider education, employment and skills initiatives, including projects and schemes to tackle unemployment, support apprenticeships, and engage our young people with employers across the region.
PHOTO ABOVE (from front left) Mayor Houchen, Mike Carlin, Cllr Cook and Roy Fraser with trainees