Courses on offer at College of West Anglia in Wisbech need to provide engineering qualifications and skills required by local businesses, according to councillors.

The issue of relevancy of courses currently on offer were questioned during Monday’s meeting of Fenland’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

Councillor Simon King said the current courses are not providing the necessary electrical engineering skills required by companies such as Nestle Purina, who are forced to recruit new staff from outside the area.

Councillor Ralph Butcher, Portfolio Holder, said he had met with David Pomfrett, CoWA’s principal to discuss the issue who had explained the syllabus was set around finance.

But Cllr King pointed out the district council had provided funding for the new technology centre at the Isle site.

“We need to prepare our young people to come into the jobs market. There is a demand for workers but they don’t have the skills the businesses need. We should not be afraid to point out to CoWA that they owe us and should be providing the relevant courses,” he said.