The London Development Partnership (LDP) have put together a plan to address the divide between London's city slickers and its less privileged populations.

The Skills Strategy for London, unveiled yesterday by David Blunkett, Education and Employment Secretary, is a three-year plan funded with help from a £6.5 million Skills Development Fund.

A huge divide exists between the city's success as a knowledge capital, with its highly skilled workforce generating 15 percent of GDP, and the 16,000 Londoners with skill levels too low to get jobs.

David Blunkett commented that "around 280,000 employees lack the skills required for their current jobs, while half the city’s employers still do no training at all".

Ken Livingstone, the newly-installed Mayor of London, will be able to draw on help from the London Development Agency (which will take over from the LDP)to implement the plan, which will include reviewing existing education and training resources, expanding links between higher education and business and linking bodies responsible for employment and training with those looking after health and housing to provide support across the board.

The Mayor of London's website is still under construction, but you can read more about the launch of the Skills Strategy for London at www.dfee.gov.uk