Welcome to this fortnight's edition of the Skills for Care London e-news.

Over the coming months we will be sending a regular bulletin listing all the latest news, views and updates. We hope that you find it useful and informative, and we welcome your contributions.

news headlines     

• Linking London Development Project Fund 

The Linking London Development Project fund is available to members of Linking London LLN to support projects that help us all achieve the objectives of the network. These are to enhance and improve progression opportunities for vocational learners.  The priorty areas of work of interest to the fund are the development of short, accredited courses, progresstion from the workplace and collaborative bids that include the use of credit transfer.

For more information on how to bid for the available funding, examples of works already undertaken under the fund, and who to contact for more information please see the Linking London Development Project Fund webpage.

• From workforce development to developing people in London

In collaboration with 'The Really Useful Learning Company', we will be running a series of half day seminars in February aimed at assisting workforce development staff, HR professionals and transformation teams take forward the principles of Putting People Forward via the planning, design and implementation of local area workforce strategies.

The seminars will provide delegates with the opportunity to review and discuss the 'Developing people' model (visit the workforce development website), the reasons why the personalisation of services requires a critically different approach to workforce development and an introduction to some of the tools available for deploying the expertise of local communities alongside traditional professional circles. Booking forms are available to download on the Skills for Care London website.

• Employer grant to take on 16 and 17 year old apprentices now available

A new grant for employers has been announced in order to make it easier to take on young apprentices. Up until the end of March 2010, the National Apprenticeship Service will provide up to 5,000 Apprenticeship Grants for employers of 16 and 17 year olds. The grant of £2,500 is to enable employers to take on an unemployed16 or 17 year old apprentice immediately. The £2,500 grant is in addition to the costs of training which are already met by the National Apprenticeship Service. For more information, please visit the apprenticeship website.

• Joint Improvement Partnership London - Commissioning Masterclasses

The Joint Improvement Partnership London are running a series of Masterclasses in Feb/March 2010 for commissioning and procurement officers, independent providers and operational officers. The Masterclasses will be practical, interactive, solution-focused learning opportunities. The aim is to encourage dialogue and the sharing of knowledge and experience, and exploration of innovation, with inspirational input from key leaders in the field.

The Masterclass topics are Evidence Based Commissioning and Workforce Commissioning, and dates for the two events are February 22nd and March 23rd respectively.

Evidence Based Commissioning: this workshop will explore how to make use of available evidence, both from research and local knowledge, to inform evidence-based decisions for commissioning and service delivery. More information...

Workforce Commissioning: will explore what commissioning the future workforce means in practice. This will include research by Unison looking at examples from other countries. Experience and lessons learned from workforce remodelling in schools and theintegrated local area workforce strategy pilots in Lambeth and Haringey. More information...

events

• Apprenticeship Week 2010 (February 1st-5th)

National Apprenticeship Week will take place from Monday 1 February to Friday 5 February 2010 and will celebrate the talents and skills of apprentices across England. National and regional activities will take place during the Week involving employers, apprentices and providers. To find out more about National Apprenticeship week, what's happening in the London region and how to get involved, please visit the Apprenticeships website.

To amend your contact details, be added to our distribution list, or to provide us with your feedback, please e-mail sfc.london@skillsforcare.org.uk