In Leeds 24% of the working age population do not have a Level 2 Qualification. The city therefore runs an Adult Learning Programme which is targeted at residents with low-level skills and qualifications; those living in poverty; unemployed or with multiple barriers and disadvantage. Over a thousand residents have consecutively secured work with mainstream employers as a result of the Programme.
The ‘Build a Better Tomorrow challenge’, part of the new BUILD programme, has been launched which aims to support entrepreneurs from diverse backgrounds across the Leeds City region to turn their innovative, socially beneficial ideas into scalable businesses that investors want to back. Successful BUILD applicants will benefit from a comprehensive 12-week programme covering a broad range of topics, as well as valuable connections to world-class experts and over 30 of the Leeds City Region’s most successful entrepreneurs. The programme provides participants with the tools, approach and connections they will need to get-to-market, secure their first customers, generate revenue, attract investment and scale their businesses. BUILD is committed to engaging and supporting a diverse group of founders and aspiring entrepreneurs and will champion underrepresented talent. As such, founders from all backgrounds are encouraged to apply.
Enabled by LCC, the Leeds Anchors are committed to working together to maximise the local benefits from their spending, services and recruitment. Practical actions are focused on the achievement of the city’s ambitions on Inclusive Growth and the health and wellbeing of its citizens. Established in 2019, the Leeds Anchors have over 58,000 employees (one in seven of the Leeds workforce), providing an important opportunity to unlock the potential for transformational change and outcomes to address inequalities in the city. The Leeds Anchors Network is collaborating on a project to significantly improve workforce diversity in the city. Leeds will be the first city in the UK in which employers will work together to publish data showing the make-up of their workforces. The aim is to create a ‘workforce diversity dashboard’ – a new tool which will see organisations publishing their diversity data on a common basis, in partnership with the Open Data Institute Leeds. The dashboard will help organisations take joint action to improve representation amongst their staff and demonstrate to the public how they are making progress. It will also see employers voluntarily publish their ethnicity pay gap figures alongside their statutory gender pay gap statistics. The dashboard will help to provide a better understanding of gaps in representation in the workforce and areas where recruitment policies can be improved. This work will ensure the workforce of the largest publicly funded organisations in the city is representative of the communities it serves and works more closely with the city’s disadvantaged neighbourhoods getting local people into work.
