A FRESH initiative and new funding is coming to Okehampton to improve people's skills and help them to find work.

A new allocation of government funding is being used to support the Okehampton Works Partnership. The money will fund a resource hub to raise awareness of available support, seminars for front line staff and a survey of the labour force needs of local businesses and individuals. The project is being run in conjunction with Jobcentre Plus.

Devon's Cabinet Member for economy, Will Mumford, chairs the Okehampton Works Partnership.

He said: 'I am delighted this new scheme of Jobcentre Plus is able to fund further activity in the Okehampton area.

'This will enable more people to be better informed of the support in place to help local residents into suitable employment and training. It's essential for all the local organisations to work together to provide the most effective service possible.

'Improving the productivity of Devon's economy depends on finding the best match between the needs of employers and the skills of the local population.'

The partnership is meeting today (Thursday) to green-light the initiative, which must be completed by March 2012.

The resource hub will support local community-based groups to raise awareness of employment and skills support through the creation of 20 local information points in the villages and smaller towns surrounding Okehampton.

It will also provide web-based material and channel information through a network of community contacts.

Four seminars will be run for 100 front-line professionals in health, the police, local authorities and businesses, as well as the community contacts at the information points.

Information will be gathered to paint a clearer picture of supply and demand for labour and skills in the area, and the difficulties people face when looking for employment. This will complement statistics already held by a number of organisations such as the Business Information Point.

The Okehampton Works Partnership was set up to respond to the immediate impact of redundancies in the town earlier this year.

In order to address the medium and longer term issues, Devon County Council convened a partnership of the relevant local bodies and government agencies.

They agreed an action plan which included the hub, seminars and survey, as well as a business infrastructure element which will develop new employment space and related services, including improved broadband and transport links.