The West Yorkshire Consortium of Colleges (WYCC) will be part of the Government’s plans to boost the nation’s skills and make sure more people can secure good, well-paid jobs closer to where they live.  

The Department for Education says it will invest £2.6m in West Yorkshire’s colleges through the Strategic Development Fund.

It will allow the educators to increase specialist equipment to deliver electric vehicle and retrofit training, grow and embed green knowledge within the curriculum and improve links with businesses to develop and enhance their green agenda.

The Strategic Development Fund was launched in 2021 to help colleges and further education providers transform their facilities and offer high quality technical training that better meet the needs of local employers and boost job opportunities for their communities.

Project director of the West Yorkshire Consortium of Colleges, Joanne Patrickson, said: “This funding will make a big difference to our colleges and in turn, the businesses and communities in West Yorkshire.

“Part of the funding will be a capital investment into equipment and machinery to allow our colleges to train the workforce in electric vehicle maintenance and retrofitting buildings.

“All seven of our partner colleges and Notre Dame Sixth Form College will also benefit from internal training and development in Sustainable Development Goals.

“Colleges will be employing dedicated teams to work with businesses in the region to understand what help they need to become more sustainable, and the West Yorkshire Consortium of Colleges will launch The Green Agenda Service to help employers access the training and resources they need to take action.”

Ebrahim Dockrat, Director of Commercial Services & Partnerships MBE at Calderdale College, said: “This is a valued investment of more than £400,000 from the Department for Education that will substantially support the small and micro businesses in our community with sustainable skills and training.

“With the funding, we will be launching a ground source heating workshop, allowing us to increase the specialist equipment and training on campus to equip local people with the current and future skills required by employers.

“Our range of new electrical qualifications and training will also include key areas such as electrical vehicle maintenance, electrical vehicle charging and solar panel installation.”