City Deal will benefit young people in Reading.

City Deal for Thames Valley Berkshire Confirmed

28/10/2013
Reading Borough Council Press Release

READING Borough Council has today (Oct 28) welcomed the news that the Thames Valley Berkshire City Region has been successful in its City Deal bid.

The announcement was made earlier today by Greg Clark, Minister for Cities, at a special event held at Reading Town Hall which was attended by Council Leaders and representatives from across Berkshire.

So-called ‘City Deals’ are special arrangements negotiated between Central Government and areas / cities, where they are given the powers and tools they need to drive local economic growth. Reading Borough Council was the lead authority in the region, driving forward the successful City Deal bid on behalf of Thames Valley Berkshire ‘City Region’.

Signatories are Reading Borough Council, Bracknell Forest Council, Slough Borough Council, West Berkshire Council, The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, Wokingham Borough Council and Thames Valley Berkshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP).

The Thames Valley Berkshire City Deal centres around giving Berkshire’s young people the skills they need to access local job opportunities and helping local businesses to get the workforce they need to support growth. This includes both driving down the skills gap that exists which in some cases can mean young people are not accessing employment opportunities that may be available and working with businesses to increase the range of opportunities available.

A key part of the ‘Deal’ will be developing better pathways into work for young people through agencies working better and more collaboratively underpinned by an innovative new mobile web platform ‘ElevateMe’ that has been funded by O2 and developed with young people themselves.

In addition, subject to a successful bid into the Wave 2 Business Growth Fund, the City Deal bid will see Government commit to provide investment for a Thames Valley Berkshire Business Growth Hub bringing coherence to the local business landscape, raising awareness and improving the efficiency and effectiveness of local and national business support schemes. The Hub will create a more positive and responsive environment in which companies can more easily find the help they need to thrive in Thames Valley Berkshire.

The Berkshire City Deal aims include:


• Achieve a 50% reduction in youth unemployment within 3 years
• Secure £1.5 million of private sector investment to support employment and providing young people with the skills they need
• Generate 1,300 new employment opportunities for young people, including helping 800 to sustain work for at least six months
• Creating 1,500 new work experience placements across the region
• Creating 300 additional apprenticeships and 800 new youth contract wage incentives, which are incentive to employers, paid if they provide a young person with employment that is sustained for 6 months
• Creation of a Thames Valley Berkshire Business Growth Hub to improve business support


Reading Borough Council Leader Jo Lovelock said:

“Today’s announcement is once again acknowledgement of the region’s strong track record, even in difficult circumstances, of delivering a strong economic performance. Reading is known within the wider region as a place where people come to find work, but we also know that there are a great many young people out there who have found it difficult to get the right training to access job opportunities. If we can tailor young people’s skills so they are ready and able to take the opportunities that are becoming available, it will go a long way towards further cementing Reading’s, and the wider region’s, place as a key driver in the economic performance of the UK.”

Steve Lamb, Chair for Thames Valley Berkshire LEP added:

“The Thames Valley Berkshire City Deal is a positive and exciting opportunity, not just for the local area, but also the sub region as it enhances ability to compete on a global level. It offers an unprecedented shift in control from Whitehall over the way in which our skills system works, so that we can make sure we have a highly skilled workforce which corresponds with business needs in Thames Valley Berkshire, for future growth and economic success.”


ENDS