Increasing economic participation is a priority for Derry City & Strabane District Council.
A crucial factor in developing our regional economy as we move forward will be the skills and strengths of our people and the need to further invest in both our workforce and those removed from the labour market.
Our key targets and ambitions relate to job creation, improving competitiveness, addressing economic inactivity, increasing overall job numbers in the City & District and improving skills – particularly for those with no or low skills.
Derry City & Strabane District Council's Skills Team offer a number of ways to support individuals and businesses.
In collaboration with key stakeholders, the Skills Team supports the education and skills ambitions outlined in the Strategic Growth Plan through its core function of:
- Developing an employability and skills pipeline to ensure residents' skills match the needs of the economy;
- Improving accessibility to employment opportunities for those most removed from the labour market
- Improving the employability of school leavers
- Increasing skills investment in growth sectors reinforcing their growth potential
Key Sectors:
- Life Sciences and Health Sciences
- Digital Industries including Business, Professional and Financial Services
- Creative industries
- Advanced Manufacturing & Engineering
- Culture and Tourism
Skills for business growth, skills for employment and skills for the future workforce are supported through a range of initiatives:
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Initiative |
Details |
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Recruitment Support |
With local knowledge and excellent relationships, the Skills Team offers a job brokerage service to employers working in partnership with other agencies to source additional specialist services. |
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Sector Specific Support |
We can provide sector-specific support, citywide skills academies, upcoming career fairs, plus access to third party training providers. |
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Skills Academies |
Assisting with developing and enabling the delivery of Skills Academies - recruiting for the specific needs of an employer delivered in conjunction with the education sector. Academies recruited and delivered in the last twelve months include:
Ongoing employee and employer support to ensure sustainability |
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Apprenticeships |
In partnership with local private training providers, the NWRC and the Careers Service, Derry City and Strabane District Council are promoting Apprenticeships as a viable pathway. Our ambition is to grow the apprenticeship offer- create jobs for young people and develop the skills of existing staff. Apprenticeships are work-based training programmes designed around the needs of employers, which lead to employees, both new and existing, gaining nationally recognised qualifications. Apprenticeships can be used to train both new and existing employees who are moving into a new or changing job roles and need to learn new skills. Increasing the amount of apprenticeships available and the uptake of apprenticeship opportunities in the council area is a priority and we have recently invested in and launched a marketing campaign to drive up numbers. A matching exercise is being provided between those wishing to go down the apprenticeship route and employers looking for an apprentice. For further information go to www.getapprenticeships.me |
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Suppliers and supply chain opportunities |
We can give you access to meet-the-buyer events and local supply chain opportunities, as well as providing support on corporate social responsibility with neighbouring communities. |
| Social Clauses |
Included in all council funded capital projects is the voluntary implementation of the social clause of targeted recruitment and training to create jobs and apprenticeships per million pound of investment. In partnership with the Strategic Investment Board (SIB) we work to integrate social considerations into public contracts impacting on the council area through the ‘Buy Social’ toolkit. This is a practical guide providing assistance to organisations with procurement responsibilities, by offering them guidance on how they can help generate benefits to society and the local economy through their contracts. |
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Support for those Unemployed or Economically Inactive to get back to work. |
We’re also working with a range of organisations citywide who are delivering support programmes for unemployed people. We part fund these programmes with the Northern Ireland European Social Fund 2014-2020 Investment for Jobs and Growth programme. |
Education & Skills Delivery Partnership
The City’s first Community Plan - The Strategic Growth Plan sets out how by working together and pooling resources, we can strategically grow and improve social, economic and environmental well-being for all. To deliver on the Education & Skills Outcomes we have established an Education and Skills Delivery Partnership (EDSP).
The EDSP has the following mandate.
- It has a strategic role of setting the direction of skills development in the city and district
- It has an operational role in leading on co-ordinating and implementing the education and skills actions identified in the Strategic Growth Plan.
Membership of the partnership comprise of all the partners responsible for the actions within the outcome and those with an interest in the outcome area. This includes statutory, public and private sector reps.
The Partnership aims to provide a common focus for co-ordination, oversight and prioritisation of the skills landscape in Derry City & Strabane District Council.
Detailed research has been undertaken to understand what skills sets employers are struggling to find. In response, a number of initiatives are now underway to identify and progress appropriate actions to inform local skills provision and supporting services. Four groups led by the business sector have been tasked with taking initiatives forward:
Advanced Manufacturing & Engineering Sub Group
Tourism & Hospitality Sub Group
Creative & Digital Technologies Sub Group
UNESCO Learning City Sub Group
Contact the Team:
Skills Manager
Tina Gillespie - [email protected]
Skills Officers
Nicky Gilleece - [email protected]
Eilleen McGrinder – [email protected]
Telephone: 71308466