Mayor announces £23m for London training opportunities

17:02 18th May 2009

Boris Johnson, the mayor of London, has announced £23 million worth of funding to provide training opportunities to unemployed people in the London area.

The money will be distributed through the London Development Agency and will seek to help around 20,000 unemployed Londoners back into work through various training opportunities.

Computer training facilities could benefit from the fund, which Mr Johnson announced while visiting A4e, a support scheme based in Shepherd's Bush which is among over 30 separate projects earmarked to receive a share of the money.

Mr Johnson said: "This £23 million funding is a vital and welcome boost, and greatly complements the work already underway in the capital to help ensure that Londoners have the skills and attributes needed to find work."

In the future, the amount of money received by specific projects will depend on their individual success levels and how many people find employment as a result of the training they receive.

In other news, people looking for secretarial work could aim for a typing speed of around 70 words per minute, according to training provider Pitman Training.