Humber partnership calls for renewables training centre

A dedicated renewables training centre is vital to help people in the Humber region capitalise on the developing offshore wind industry, a report says.

Humber Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) said it wants to see a multi-million-pound facility built to "bridge the skills gap" in the region.

About 6,000 jobs are expected to be created in the industry by 2023.

The centre is one of 36 recommendations being made following a year-long review by the LEP's Skills Commission.

Chair of the commission, and Labour MP for Scunthorpe, Nic Dakin, said: "A pan-Humber training centre would become the epicentre of this reform which will transform the region.

"We need to do this if we are to realise the huge opportunities that are within our grasp."

A £200m wind turbine factory, in Hull, and the 600-turbine Dogger Bank wind farm, located 77 miles (125km) off Hornsea, are among the projects planned for the region.

'Languish in unemployment'

The LEP's Employment and Skills board will now review the recommendations and set out an implementation plan.

Other ideas put forward include calls for a Humber careers hub to act as a "single reference point for industry, jobseekers and students" and a skills investment fund.

Mr Dakin said up to 65,000 jobs could be created in the next seven years in all business sectors but that the local population was "insufficiently skilled" to fill them.

He said: "If we do not act now, we will be in the same position by 2020 and will have to import skills and expertise while our own school leavers and young adults continue to languish in unemployment."

The LEP is made up of representatives from businesses, the University of Hull, and the four local authorities in the Humber region.

The announcement came a day after Lord Mandelson said the region needed to focus on renewable energy at the launch of Hull's 10-year city plan.