Staffordshire colleges’ funding boost welcomed across the county

A £34million government boost for 16 to 18 learning in Staffordshire has been welcomed by the county’s skills leader – as work continues to bridge the remaining funding gap.

The government recently announced the outcome of bids for 16 to 18-year-olds education capacity and construction funding.

Staffordshire was successful in securing £34m for further education projects with £26.6m for building and creating new facilities.

The county council and its partners will now be looking at whether the number of potential new 16 to 18 students will be accommodated sufficiently in the new facilities and what funding gap remains.

Staffordshire projects receiving funding include:

• NSCG’s Newcastle College extension receiving £6.8m towards its £13.9m extension – read more
• Burton & South Derbyshire receiving £4.9m for expansion and creation of new classrooms for health, public services and ICT – read more
• South Staffordshire College in total receiving £14.9 for the following projects – read more:
  • Lichfield extension for creative and digital
  • Rodbaston college creation of civil engineering facility
  • Rodbaston college expansion with additional learning resource and gas/plumbing facilities
  • Cannock college expansion of construction provision with additional workshops

In addition, Stoke on Trent college received £6.5m for expansion and construction provision – read more.

NSCG also recently received £10m for the Advanced Manufacturing Technical Excellence Centre in Stafford.

Robin Hall, Staffordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Economy and Skills said: “This is fantastic news for Staffordshire and a major investment in our young people, our businesses and our economy.

Demand for further education places continues to grow, so expanding our colleges and investing in modern, high-quality training facilities is essential if we are to give more young people the opportunity to develop the skills employers need.

This funding will help strengthen our skills pipeline in sectors that are vital to Staffordshire’s future, including construction, engineering, digital technologies and health.

It is also an important step towards our longer-term ambition of securing £104million of investment over the next five years to ensure our further education provision can meet future demand and support economic growth across the county.

My thanks go to everyone who worked so hard to develop these successful bids.

This is a significant achievement and demonstrates what can be delivered when we work together to invest in Staffordshire’s future.”