Skills

JETS - JOB ENTRY TARGETED SUPPORT PROGRAMME

It has been a tough year for everyone. However, Chamber member New London Educational Trust (NLET) is workinghard to help London Borough of Ealing residents through our new office at the Lido Centre inWest Ealing where we are pioneering the West London Alliance (WLA) and Shaw Trust Job Entry Targeted Support programme, or JETS for short. The initiative is a COVID response programme to support unemployed people in receipt of benefits to re-enter employment. It is a national contract working to help develop employment skills and capacity, especially for those most affected by the pandemic. NLET aims to help residents gain employment via a range of integrated employability support, personal development skills and information broadcasts. Our light touch employment support is linked to vocational upskilling and reskilling opportunities, preventing individuals from becoming long term unemployed or economically inactive. We support participants to identify and overcome barriers to work, helping recognise transferable skills and career alternatives, providing up-to-date employability tools and rekindling motivation, drive and confidence, enabling more effective job searches and aiding in progress towards sustained employment. Interventions include: • Employability skills training • CV Sessions -all levels • Tailored support • Personal Development modules • Post Covid-19 support • One-to-one, group and remote training • Participant forums including peer led discussions • Employer Insight Sessions from Labour Market Analysis • Broadcasts including NHS opportunities The Lido Centre, where NLET delivers its Ealing services, is a base for over a dozen Ealing charities. It is a community resource and venue for meetings, training and support services for Ealing residents. NLET is delighted to partner with the Lido Centre to widen our network of support. (#lidolife) If this is the right opportunity for you or someone you know, please speak to your local Job Centre Work Coach and ask to be referred onto the JETS Programme.

For more information please email us on jets@nletrust.org NLET Lido Centre, 63 Mattock lane, Ealing W13 9LA

-European Union

European Social Fund West lJM, London Alliance o, shaw trust I� Department for Work& Pensions

An exciting new project has been launched to help and support employees* in West London to develop their job-related skills, improve their technical knowledge and build their career prospects. NLET is proud to offer a new and exciting opportunity that will enable eligible employees to gain units towards a qualification and knowledge in a flexible and accessible way from basic skills English/Maths to sectorbased units at Levels 1, 2 & 3.

This project is completely FREE to all eligible employees and their employers. Please contact us to discuss your eligibility for London Learning. Contact us at londonlearning@nletrust.org or call on 020 8570 7766.

*If you are currently furloughed, you may still be eligible to study.

European Union

-European Social Fund i, • nlet

New London

Educational Trust

NLET Sceptre House, 75-81 Staines Rd, Hounslow lW3 3HW www.nletrust.org

Temporary visas insufficient to address labour shortages

The shortage of EU workers has had a major impact on UK supply chains across a vast swathe of sectors.

Some supermarket shelves have been bare and cars and lorries have been queuing up for miles to obtain essential fuel.

The government reacted by announcing a temporary visa scheme that will see 5,000 foreign HGV drivers and 5,500 poultry workers allowed into the UK on three-month contracts up to Christmas.

However, the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) said the move was not enough to address skills shortages, describing it as “a thimble of water to put out a bonfire”.

Baroness Ruby McGregorSmith CBE, BCC president, said: “Government has made clear its priority is to transition from a reliance on EU workers to a focus on the domestic workforce, and businesses have been ready to participate in this, but it is a longterm project.

“A managed transition, with a plan agreed between government and business, should have been in place from the outset. Instead, the supply of EU labour was turned off with no clear roadmap as to how this transition would be managed without disruption to services and supply chains.

“Now some action has been taken, but additional testing will take time and the low number of visas offered is insufficient. Even if these short-term opportunities attract the maximum amount of people allowed under the scheme, it will not be enough to address the scale of the problem that has now developed in our supply chains. This announcement is the equivalent of throwing a thimble of water on a bonfire.

“Government should be prepared to significantly expand the number of visas issued within this scheme and convene a summit that brings business and government together to find both immediate and longer-term solutions to the many challenges facing firms throughout the UK.

“Without further action, we now face the very real prospect of serious damage to our economic recovery, stifled growth as well as another less-than-happy Christmas for many businesses and their customers across the country.”

Hannah Essex, co-executive Director of the BCC, said: “Chambers of Commerce have been warning government about critical labour shortages for months now – not just in the food and haulage industries but in hospitality, construction, the care sector and elsewhere in the economy. Whilst businesses will welcome that government is finally taking action, this scheme does not go far enough.

“BCC data has shown that 76% of hospitality businesses and 82% of construction firms have faced recruitment difficulties in recent months. At the same time, we found that three out of four exporters reported no growth in sales in Q2.

“Businesses are facing the most difficult environment for a generation. On top of labour shortages, border delays, increased debt and the rising cost of materials, shipping and energy are all putting huge pressure on firms struggling to recover from the pandemic. All of these issues are hitting smaller firms the hardest.

“Attempts to address the deficit of HGV drivers and poultry workers is a step forward, but these industries are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the huge impact of the current labour shortages. Without a comprehensive plan to tackle this issue across the board, we are facing a winter of lost opportunities for our businesses, hampering the UK’s economic recovery.”

Mel Bruneau, Board Director Hounslow Chamber of Commerce said: “The impact of the delays at port has meant many importers are resorting to paying the extremely high fees to bring their goods in via airfreight instead. This has firstly resulted in an unprecedented volume of cargo coming through the airport.

The shortage of warehouse staff and drivers now means two things:

1. Warehouse issues - lack of space in warehouses meaning breaking down of aircraft pallets is slow and lack of warehouse staff to collate the shipments ready for collection is slow

2. A shortage of drivers means transport companies are reluctant to collect one piece at a time this is then causing a backlog of freight held at airlines and a delay in getting goods out to customers, which will result in low stock in the shops leading up to Black Friday/Christmas.”