00:005,000 vacancies and the long pathway to the UK's most ambitious road project in over 35 years.
00:07The solution? A skills hub in Gravesend designed to train up the next generation
00:13of construction workers, steel fixers and engineers to get the project off the ground.
00:19Behind me is the Gravesend Skills Hub for the Lower Temps Crossing,
00:23seeing new students every month. These will offer a range of employability
00:27and functional skills courses for free to upskill or reskill those at the start of their career
00:34or looking to change career. The opportunities to upskill here are endless
00:39and we're working in collaboration with the local supply chain so that we're sourcing real gaps in
00:43the market so these people who come in and work with those local people can gain free aggressive
00:48training, guaranteed job interviews and then go on to deliver the construction reviews here in Kent.
00:53But in Gravesend, a constituency where in 2021 the ONS found that just over a quarter of school
01:00leavers held a level 4 or above qualification, this is just as much about levelling up an entire
01:06generation than it is about boosting productivity. Really important if this is going to work that
01:12local people feel and it will take time that this is a bonus, it's a plus not a minus. So getting the
01:20jobs that are necessary from the locality, getting people to feel that this is about them.
01:27Embedded into the development's plans is a pledge to ensure that 45% of the workforce lives within 20
01:34miles of the project, prioritising local people and community. But for Dr Lauren Sullivan,
01:41Gravesham's MP, holding this to account is a major priority.
01:45It's about opportunities and fundamentally this is a huge infrastructure project with lots of money
01:50coming to Gravesham and the surrounding areas. We need to make sure that local people have those
01:56opportunities. We know that a train ticket to London is for a youngster £30. That is a huge amount of
02:05money to participate in those opportunities in London. They are out of the loop of that so I need to make
02:12sure that those opportunities that are here can be felt by all. But with the speeches made, the targets
02:18set and the programmes unveiled, there's only the hardest part yet to do. Deliver. And ensure those
02:26in and around Gravesend can feel the benefits of a once controversial project. Megan Shaw for Kane TV in Gravesham.
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