Mayor of Greater Manchester appoints Sean Anstee as Skills and Apprenticeships Lead

The Leader of Trafford Council will oversee plans to secure higher quality apprenticeships with better pay and career progression opportunities alongside a more accessible university style application system.   Cllr Anstee will also be responsible for enhancing employment opportunities for local people by increasing their skills, and supporting the creation of good quality jobs for people in Greater Manchester.

Mayor Andy Burnham said: “If we are to ensure everyone in Greater Manchester has the chance to get on in life then skills, employment and apprenticeships need to be at the heart of our plans. 

“Quality traineeships and apprenticeships should be there for every young person, readily available through a university-style application system.  Local people who want to increase their skills or retrain to find a good job should be given that opportunity. The chance of a second career should be within every Greater Mancunian’s grasp. 

“Sean has shown his passion for improving the skills of local people and creating more opportunities for everyone in Greater Manchester over many years.  This passion, combined with his personal experience of training as an apprentice and then pursuing a successful career in financial services, makes him the perfect person to lead this vital portfolio. 

Greater Manchester’s Lead for Skills, Employment and Apprenticeships Sean Anstee said: “Everyone who lives and works here should be able to take advantage of every opportunity our city-region has to offer.  Equipping people with the right skills to get a good job and succeed will be vital to Greater Manchester’s future. 

“Andy and I agree that if we’re to continue being a centre of innovation and a global destination for investment, we need people here with the skills to take up the jobs that are being created.  We need to give our young people a clear path to an apprenticeship and provide opportunities for them to set up a business or enter higher education.  Everyone must have the chance to gain new skills so they can get on in life. 

“I’ll work with colleges, employers and people in every part of Greater Manchester to make sure our people have the right skills to get a good job and succeed.”

Andy Burnham announced Sean Anstee as Greater Manchester’s Lead for Skills, Employment, and Apprenticeships at an event with Manchester United apprentices at Old Trafford stadium on Monday (12 June) afternoon. 

Sean Anstee has been the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) portfolio lead for Employment and Skills since 2014.  During his time as portfolio lead post-19 skills have been devolved to Greater Manchester.  Sean has also overseen the co-commissioning of a back to work programme, Working Well, with the department for Work and Pensions.  Working Well has proved more successful than other national back-to-work schemes, and has been expanded to help even more people in Greater Manchester.