East Midlands Mayor wants to get 60,000 more people working across the region
Derby has been given a £4.5 million boost to help thousands of people get into work.
East Midlands Mayor Claire Ward has allocated the city the seven-figure sum as part of her mission to get 60,000 more people working across the region over the next decade.
Derby City Council’s Labour administration moved forward plans to accept the multi-million-pound grant at a meeting held last week.
A report says £3 million of the allocation will fund vital lessons and courses for adults – aged 19 and over – looking to boost their skills for employment opportunities.
Around 7,000 people aged 16 and over in Derby were unemployed in the year ending December 2023 according to Government data. This is a rate of 4.9 percent.
This was an increase compared with the year ending December 2022 when the city’s unemployment rate was 3.4 percent.
But Derby’s unemployment rate is lower in comparison to other East Midlands cities such as Leicester, Nottingham and Lincoln.
Around £1.5m of the total funding will provide young people with work placements and apprenticeships as well as guided support from employment officers and careers advice.
Last year Ms Ward launched her “Get East Midlands Working” mission. The Labour regional mayor has targeted to get 60,000 more people working over the next 10 years.
Part of the work includes tackling barriers to work, including poor health, low skills, caring responsibilities, and transport challenges and to boost productivity and pay.
Speaking at Derby College, Ms Ward said: “We have still got far too many people in some areas who are economically inactive. Those are adults who are of working age who could and should be working.”
Leading Derby councillors approved plans to get the mission rolling in the city at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday (March 18).
India Johal, Derby’s Youth Mayor, welcomed the funding and asked council leaders what work was being done to ensure young people are aware the opportunities available from it.
Derby City Council leader Nadine Peatfield said in response: “We work very closely in partnership with all of the providers across the city and beyond.
“There is a lot of detailed investment and work and support which we are putting in to find those hard-to-reach people who have fallen out of the educational system.
“We’ve found that if young people, as young as 12 or below, have lost a connection or interest in the curriculum by that age there is a much higher percentage they are going to fall out of the educational system.”