Today in Parliament, the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for New Towns hosted its third roundtable event for the year. The event Unlocking skills, Innovation and Enterprise in New Towns was chaired by Telford’s MP, Lucy Allan and was attended by New Town experts from local authorities across the UK including representatives from Telford, Harlow, Hemel Hempstead, Stevenage, Warrington and Milton Keynes.
The panel led discussion focused on the challenges that New Towns face in upskilling the local workforce for to meet needs of local business and the importance of innovation and enterprise for a successful New Town.
Speaking following the event, Lucy Allan said:
“Skills are vitally important for New Towns and are a crucial element to their success.
“In the past, Telford was an unemployment blackspot with low skilled, low paid jobs. Today we see a growing population and a thriving specialist centre for innovation and advanced manufacturing. It is therefore so important that the local workforce in Telford has the right skills to meet the needs of business/
“We must be able to adapt and change to meet demands of the automation and globalisation if we are to continue to attract more inward investment and continue to grow as a successful New Town.”