Regeneration Department

Skills, Learning and Enterprise

The main functions of the Skills, Learning and Enterprise Division are:

Improving basic skills, creating routes to better jobs, workplace development and encouraging lifelong learning
Supporting local businesses
Encouraging sustainable economic development
Town centre and market management

Vision Statement

Our vision is for a well-educated, highly skilled population, able to access new jobs easily from the varied opportunities available within the borough, and elsewhere.

People will choose to live, work and invest here because Barking and Dagenham provides excellence and choice in the big things in life-work, education, health, housing and recreation - for individuals and for the family.

Purpose of the Service|

Key Priorities

Ensure that local people benefit from local job opportunities. Improve access to this information and the range and quality of pre-employment training
Ensure the key strategic positioning of our borough alongside key Olympic partners, and through the Thames Gateway London Partnership
Improve the quality and continuity of careers advice and guidance, particularly at 19-25 where the Not in Education, Employment or Training figure is far too high. Increase the capacity of local job brokerage services
Develop additional capacity in vocationally-specific skills training. This implies partnership with further education and training providers, but also developing Barking and Dagenham's capacity independently - for young people and key groups, e.g. males 50+
Develop outreach capacity in training needs analysis with local businesses, based upon the notable successes within our borough's own workforce
Ensure that local procurement procedures encourage local businesses to supply goods and services to the council
Develop initiatives that support key industry sectors (beginning with construction) and priority groups (beginning with people with disabilities)
Develop further the capacity of the voluntary and community sector to deliver learning, training and mentoring
Encourage employers to offer high quality work-based training to allow residents to progress their careers throughout their working lives
Ensure that planning applications include opportunities to develop training and employment provision
Produce a Borough Prospectus of Learning and Training Opportunities