Greening visits Blackpool on ‘opportunity areas’ tour

Education Secretary Justine Greening has visited Blackpool as part of her ‘opportunity area’ tour.

There are six opportunity areas that have been identified across the UK to receive additional funding to identify ways of driving social mobility. These are: Blackpool, West Somerset, Norwich, Scarborough, Derby and Oldham.

More areas are expected to be announced in the coming months, and all areas will benefit from a share of £60 million of additional funding. This will be used to support tailored plans to form local partnerships with early years providers, schools, colleges, universities, businesses, charities and local authorities in order to help all children have the opportunity to reach their full potential.

On her trip to Blackpool Greening visited the South Shore Fire Station to meet young people who are benefitting from the Prince’s Trust Team programme, which helps unemployed 16- to 25-year-olds to get into work or training, as well as meeting staff and students of Blackpool and The Fylde College (B&FC) - one of the UK’s leading further education colleges.

B&FC places strong emphasis on developing the skills needed to secure high-value employment and works with a large number of businesses to deliver training - including Ford, Morrisons and BAE Systems.

Greening said: “We want to make Britain a country that works for everyone, not just the privileged few. That means widening horizons and creating opportunities for young people across the country who otherwise might not get the chance to make the most of their talents.‎”