Abingdon and Witney College has won a successful bid for Local Skills Improvement Fund (LSIF) projects in Oxfordshire and Berkshire.

The college, in partnership with seven local institutions, will now start delivering a range of skills development programmes for the counties' businesses and communities.

The colleges have jointly acquired £5 million, £2.5 million for each of the counties, to create, deliver and resource a variety of courses to cater for their counties' future needs.

The enterprises aim to enhance the skills of those currently in employment, covering areas such as green construction skills, electric vehicle maintenance, advanced digital skills, and robotics.

These plans are part of the Government's ongoing blueprint for reaffirming the technical skills system to better address the needs of local labour markets.

Local Skills Improvement Plans (LSIPs) have also been introduced, developed with Thames Valley Chamber of Commerce in Oxfordshire and Berkshire, which have informed the LSIF bids to the Department for Education.

Jacqui Canton, principal and chief executive of Abingdon & Witney College, said: "The LSIF projects provide an excellent opportunity for the local FE colleges to continue working collaboratively on developing and delivering training solutions to local skills needs.

"For us, primarily focused on green skills in construction, and aimed at upskilling those already in employment.

"The recruitment of specialist vocational teachers is something that all FE colleges find challenging, so working together to find a solution for the sector is something very exciting."

The Thames Valley Chamber of Commerce will implement and inspect the LSIPs for Oxfordshire and Berkshire.