Mayor Cllr Brenda Stevenson.
Mayor of Derry Cllr Brenda Stevenson is to meet with statutory agencies, local companies and education providers in the coming weeks to get a “better understanding” of the work being done locally to help the city in terms of job creation and developing the local skills base.
The meetings are part of a new Mayoral initiative taking place this month during which Cllr Stevenson will focus her attention on job creation and the ongoing efforts of all agencies and groups to deal with the challenges that the city faces in providing long term sustainable employment.
Mayor Stevenson said the purpose of the initiative was to get all agencies to share information in relation to the work they are doing and to find a common approach so that a more collaborative approach could be implemented for the greater benefit of the city.
She said: “As Mayor of the city, I feel it is imperative that I use my time in office to do what I can to look at the challenges we face creating jobs and opportunities for our young people.
“I know that there is a lot of very positive work being done and every effort is being made to attract investment and provide support to local industries and job providers but by working more collectively I think we can do more to look at new ideas, identify any gaps and agree a common approach of how we can create jobs for Derry and help encourage our young people to stay here.”
Cllr Stevenson added a key element of potential job creation opportunities for the city lay with education provision and the need for education provision to be reviewed to ensure it matched up with the job opportunities available.
She added; “We need to ensure that the courses we are offering our young people are in line with the job opportunities that exist here and vice versa.
“It’s imperative that when we are attracting investment that we have the right skills base so that we can retain these companies and provide sustainable jobs.”
The meetings are scheduled over the next number of weeks with a view to focusing efforts on how to move forward with a joint up approach.
“This is about working in partnership for the better good of the people of this city and most importantly our young people,” added Cllr Stevesnon.
She concluded: “A key part of our legacy is to make our city an attractive place to work and study and by joining up on our efforts I think we can do that.”
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