Employ Crawley project ‘tremendously successful’

Employ Crawley has been run out of the town's two libraries

Andrew Skudder (Lab, Langley Green) spoke at a meeting of Crawley Borough Council’s cabinet, where the success of its ongoing Employment & Skills Programme was celebrated.

Since 2016, the programme has established initiatives to help Crawley people find better jobs, building skills that are attractive to Crawley businesses and helping to plug the town’s ongoing skills gap.

At the moment, more than two-thirds of the people who work in Crawley don’t live there – the highest level of ‘in-commuting’ in the South East – with local people earning around £66 per week less than ‘outsiders’.

Mr Skudder said: “We have got to unlock these higher-value jobs for locals.

“There was a thing [on a] website about the 12 best jobs on offer at Gatwick Airport. One of them was assistant chef in Nando’s or something, which makes you wonder how low the bar is.

“We should be aiming at the high-value jobs and this skills programme will help us get there.”

Peter Smith, cabinet member for planning and economic development, said: “That’s the kind of core of why we put the programme together really – to help people in Crawley that, for one reason or another, don’t achieve as much as they would wish.

“It’s about helping people to do the things that they want to do and to do the things that our businesses need as well.

“In many cases, it’s very difficult for people. People like us sometimes don’t realise how difficult it is for others, and I’m very proud of the fantastic work we’ve done.”

Among the programme’s success stories was the launch of the Town Centre Skills Academy, a pilot scheme to find apprenticeships and jobs in the construction industry.

Another was Employ Crawley.

Run from the town’s two libraries, the project has delivered 25 workshops and a jobs fair since October 2017, helping 30 local people into work.

Mr Smith hailed the entire programme as ‘tremendously successful’.

He told the meeting that a former apprentice had been chosen to lead Employ Crawley, adding: “That demonstrates that you don’t actually have to have a massive great load of experience and loads of qualifications – you need to have aptitude and a desire to succeed.”

To find out more about Employ Crawley, visit www.regeneratingcrawley.org.uk/employcrawley