North Lincolnshire Council leader Rob Waltham and North Lindsey College chief executive and principal John Rees have discussed the benefits devolution cash will bring to the skills sector.
North Lindsey College is part of DN Colleges.
They met to discuss how best to use the devolved budget once the Greater Lincolnshire Combined County Authority (GLCCA) comes into being later this year.
Cllr Waltham, who is the lead on skills on the shadow combined authority, said: “It was good to hear about the exciting new developments at North Lindsey since the money for their expansion plans was awarded.
“It is great we’ve got a local college that is dedicated to improving skills across the region.
“The council’s subsidised travel for students shows our commitment to young people, the devolution money will enable us to further improve opportunities.”
The GLCCA will have powers to decide how to spend money locally to improve the economic, social and environmental wellbeing of people across greater Lincolnshire in areas including transport, housing and skills.
This can mean training in higher-level skills to boost access to high-wage jobs, extra help for young people and those not in the jobs market, careers support and investing in the adult education budget to help people retrain.
John Rees said: “We are delighted to be working so closely with our local authority partners on skills devolution at this early stage.
“With close partnership working, devolution will enable us to shape the skills offer, to ensure we create new training and development options, sharply focused on local and regional priorities. North Lindsey College has always had an incredibly strong skills focus in its curriculum and this will be enhanced further thorough this work.
“I’m grateful to Cllr Waltham and his colleagues for their pro-active approach to working with the College and I look forward to working together to help our communities flourish with the skills needed for a successful future.”
