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What you should know about our information
Our information is provided free of charge and is intended to be helpful to a large range of UK-based businesses. Because of its general nature the information cannot be taken as comprehensive and should never be used as a substitute for legal or professional advice. We cannot guarantee that the information applies to the individual circumstances of your business. Despite our best efforts it is possible that some information may be out of date.
 

Jobcentre Plus

Jobcentre Plus

Who we are

Jobcentre Plus is a government agency supporting people of working age from welfare into work, and helping employers to fill their vacancies.  We are part of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and play a major role in supporting the Department’s aim to ‘promote opportunity and independence for all through modern, customer-focused services’.

Our aims

Our key objectives are to:

• Increase the effective supply of labour by promoting work as the best form of welfare and helping unemployed and economically inactive people move into employment
• Work towards parity of outcomes for ethnic minority customers
• Pay customers the correct benefit at the right time and protect the benefit system from fraud, error and abuse
• Provide high-quality and demand-led services to employers, which help fill job vacancies quickly and effectively with well-prepared and motivated employees
• Help people facing the greatest barriers to employment to compete effectively in the labour market and move into and remain in work
• Improve continuously the quality, accessibility and delivery of services to all customers
• Ensure that people receiving working age benefits fulfil their responsibilities while providing appropriate help and support for those without work
• Increase Jobcentre Plus’ overall productivity, efficiency and effectiveness

Northwest Development Agency

The Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) leads the economic development and regeneration of England's Northwest and is responsible for:

• Supporting business growth and encouraging investment
• Matching skills provision to employer needs
• Creating the conditions for economic growth
• Connecting the region through effective transport and communication infrastructure
• Promoting the region’s outstanding quality of life

NorthWest University Association

NWUA is the representative body of the fifteen higher education institutions in the North West of England and within this role NWUA has two key objectives:

To provide a means whereby member institutions may co-ordinate their regional activities and identify opportunities for collaborative action so as to maximise their contribution to the social, economic and cultural life of the North West of England and develop partnerships with business, industry and public bodies accordingly.
To facilitate and effect such joint activities or collaborations within the Region with Members and/or non-members, as agreed by the member institutions.

Structure

To enable NWUA the deliver to these objectives within a dynamic regional, national and international environment NWUA operates within a management structure governed by a Board, which is supported by an Executive Committee which oversees the financial and operational aspects of the association, and a Strategy Group with six Advisory Groups focusing on addressing the key strategy and policy issues. At an operational level NWUA is organised into three key functions, Strategy & Policy, Operations & Finance, and Projects, which form part of a broader operational structure supporting all NWUA activities.

SkillsActive

About us

SkillsActive is the Sector Skills Council for Active Leisure and Learning.

The 2003 Skills White Paper’s outlined the governments’ commitment to the development of the nation’s skills. The paper pinpointed education, reform, and funding as key drivers for addressing the nation’s skills gaps and shortages and as a result, Sector Skills Councils were established to address those issues.

SkillsActive is licensed by government as the Sector Skills Council for Active Leisure and Learning. Charged by employers, SkillsActive leads the skills and productivity drive across the sport and recreation, health and fitness, outdoors, playwork, and caravan industries – known as the active leisure and learning sector.

What we do

SkillsActive is dedicated to the needs of business and organisations by helping to improve their competitiveness and productivity; and aims to bring together employers, educators and government, and unite them with a common, employer-led agenda for action on skills.

Active leisure and learning is a service sector, and put simply, we must ensure that employers have the right people, with the right skills, in the right place, at the right time to survive.

SkillsActive is part of a network of sector skills councils (the Skills for Business Network) which brings together employers, trade unions and professional bodies working with government and their agencies to develop the skills that UK business needs.

Sport England

Sport England is the Government agency responsible for advising, investing in and promoting community sport to create an active nation.

Our ambition is to get two million people more active in sport by 2012 – and to make sure that participation is sustained.

What does Sport England do?

Sport England exists to sustain and increase participation in community sport. This includes informal activities like aerobics and pilates; newer activities, such as skateboarding; and more traditional team sports like football and netball.

We seek to do this by promoting, investing in and advising on the development and maintenance of high quality sporting pathways which release potential through:

• Community sports activities
   
• Sports clubs
   
• Coaches and officials
   
• Player pathways
   
• Volunteering
   
• Sports facilities.

The Learning and Skills Council

John Korzeniewski
Regional Director North West

"Welcome to the North West LSC website - we intend this site to build into a useful resource for the North West's learners and employers and our many providers, partners and stakeholders.

If you have any comments or suggestions regarding the site do please let us know."

The Regional Intelligence Unit

Welcome to the Regional Intelligence Unit (RIU) Extranet, brought to you by the NWDA Research Team.

The RIU is one of 9 Regional Observatories which have been developed in the English regions to support regional policy making, through the provision of high quality information and analysis.

Our main functions are:-

• Providing analysis of data and research
• Produce briefings
• Helping to disseminate and widen access to intelligence
• Conducting research to fill data gaps
• Answering information and intelligence enquiries