Contact: Lionel Paris, Head of Adult and Community Learning, 01962 846848; [email protected]

1 Summary

1.1 The following decision is sought:

1 That Cabinet initiates joint work with the Learning and Skills Council for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight to improve national understanding of the local needs of adult and community learning.

2 Reason

This decision supports Aims 1-5 of the Corporate Strategy by maximising life opportunities, stewardship of the environment, achieving economic prosperity, building strong and safe communities, improving services.

3 Other options considered and rejected:

None.

4 Conflicts of Interest declared by the decision maker or other Executive Member consulted

None

5 Dispensation granted by the Standards Committee - Not applicable.

6 Reason(s) for the matter being dealt with if urgent - Not applicable.

Approved by: Date:

Councillor T K Thornber CBE

Contact: Lionel Paris, Head of Adult and Community Learning ext. 6848, [email protected]

7 Summary

7.1 This report informs Cabinet about new priorities for the provision of adult and community learning (ACL) set by the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Learning and Skills Council (local LSC) and explains the implications for the learners supported by the County Council.

7.2 The report:

· Explains how the funding being allocated by the local LSC for provision managed by the County Council will be less than the amount needed to continue the present level of service into the next year.

· Sets out new priorities given to the County Council for the use of the LSC's funding, in support of the Government's national skills strategy

· Describes how in the absence of additional funding, the local LSC has agreed to a reduction in the target number of learners expected of the County Council in return for its block grant.

· Explains how the County Council will withdraw £324,000 of LSC funding from the support of a programme of leisure learning courses in order to meet costs and respond to the new priorities

· Shows how the courses for the 8,000 learners affected will be continued as part of community programmes within schools and arts centres supported by the County Council, with learners being asked to contribute more to the costs.

7.3 It invites the Cabinet to note the impact on services in 2004/2005 and recommends that the Cabinet initiates joint working with the local LSC to improve national understanding of the local needs for adult and community learning.

8 Background

8.1 The local LSC funds the County Council's Adult and Community Learning Unit (the Unit)) to secure adult learning through funding agreements with a network of providers. There have been about 26,000 enrolments this year, of whom about 20,000 learners are enrolled in courses which used to be regarded as 'non-vocational learning' or more recently, learning for leisure. The courses do not lead to qualifications and learners join for reasons of personal interest, well-being or health.

8.2 The County Council has been working to annual Adult Learning Plans written in response to planning guidance issued by the national LSC and agreed with the local LSC. The Unit receives an annual block grant from the local LSC to deliver the provision and performance is monitored against targets included in the plans. The Unit is expected to comply with funding criteria in the use of the grant and to ensure that provision matches national quality standards set by the Adult Learning Inspectorate. The Inspectorate is committed to carrying out a formal inspection of LEA-managed programmes on a four-yearly cycle. The last inspection of the County Council's programme was in 2000.

8.3 The national LSC has been charged by Government with introducing a funding formula for the support of ACL managed by LEAs. There is considerable variation in the value of the grants paid to LEAs, mainly because of the different historical spending priorities. The support in the local LSC area is low compared to others in the south east region.

8.4 An adult learning plan for the current educational year 2003/2004 was agreed by the County Council and the LSC in July 2003. The Unit was subsequently asked in October 2003 to draft a three year Development Plan for the period 2003/2006. The LSC's intention is to move towards a three year planning cycle in line with post-16 colleges. The LSC's original planning guidance given to the Unit assumed an initial 5% increase in the block grant following the intended introduction of the funding formula in 2004/2005 as the first step in converging with the value of grants given to other LEAs, plus 3% inflation.

8.5 Shortly after the submission of a draft plan, the local LSC announced the national LSC's decision to postpone the introduction of the funding formula. The County Council's total grant for 2004/2005 will be increased slightly, but at less than the value of inflation. The total grant of £2.07m includes earmarked funding for family learning and family literacy, language and numeracy provision, leaving about £1.25m in support of adult and community learning. Furthermore, a number of specific costs are currently being supported by additional one-off grants from the local LSC totalling about £500,000. These include the revenue costs of the new computerised management information system introduced this year, funding for learner and learning support, staff development, compliance with the Disabilities Discrimination Act and capacity building within the network of providers. The County Council is being asked to absorb these continuing costs in 2004/2005, which reduces the value of the grant still further.

8.6 At about the same time, the local LSC gave feedback to the Unit following a review of performance in 2002/2003. Although the performance was graded as acceptable, the Unit was asked to introduce more challenging learner targets, especially for basic skills provision. These requirements have additional revenue implications.

8.7 The County Education Officer had to report to the Chief Executive of the local LSC in December 2003 that the level of the proposed grant in 2004/2005 was insufficient to enable the current ACL provision to roll forward, or be increased in response to the performance feedback. In the absence of additional funding, he sought clarification about the local LSC's priorities for the County Council's contribution to ACL in Hampshire and agreement for a reduced level of service which would be manageable within the available resources. In real terms, this would mean that funding would continue to be available to support the LSC's priorities of family learning and widening participation activities, but leisure learning courses would not receive the present level of subsidy and more of the costs would have to fall on learners.

9 Changing priorities for the County Council

9.1 The Government has published a national skills strategy and has set new priorities for the LSC. These include improving the level of basic skills across the population and increasing the number of adults with a level 2 qualification (equivalent to five good GCSE passes). The strategy values learning for personal interest unrelated to any qualifications, but emphasises that priority must be given to the needs of the less well qualified. The local LSC was sympathetic to the County Council's reported difficulties and agreed to maintain the level of the block grant in 2003/2004 against a reduction in learner numbers. However, the County Council was asked to move towards use of the funding in support of the LSC's new priorities. Consequently, the Unit has been asked to plan for the following:

· Widening participation in adult learning by using internal and external relationships with County Council departments and the community and voluntary sector to reach those who have not participated in learning and are not attracted to formal learning delivered by other providers (e.g. colleges).

· Raising literacy and numeracy skills through family learning opportunities in schools.

· Contributing to LSC priorities by using the ACL block grant to entice adults without qualifications into learning which will enable them to progress to further learning

9.2 The year 2004/2005 is being viewed as a transitional year. The Unit was asked to work towards these new priorities for full implementation in 2005/2006.

9.3 The Skills Strategy states that the Government intends to safeguard 'learning for interest' courses which do not lead to qualifications. The future funding of adult learning is being reviewed and there will be recommendations published in the autumn for any changes to be made from August 2005. It is expected that public funding will be targeted in support of courses intending to engage new learners, rather than being open to all. Any changes will also impact on ACL provision made by Hampshire colleges.

10 Implications for adult learning in Hampshire

10.1 The Unit has already been successful in growing family learning provision from 600 to 4000 learners since 2001/2002., and is working with Recreation and Heritage services and Social Services to develop innovative programmes for engaging new learners. However, most of the block grant is supporting ACL courses engaging learners already well-qualified and others who continue in the same group from year to year without progressing to a higher level. The programmes fulfil important social, recreational and sometimes therapeutic needs, but in many cases, the educational needs are less apparent. The match between some of the provision and the national quality standards is such that the County Council could be vulnerable in the event of an inspection.

10.2 In response to the combined effect of new priorities and the need to invest in the providers' capacity to meet the quality requirements, the Unit has had to adjust the draft Development Plan for 2003/2006 and devise a new strategy for 2004/2005. Final planning guidance was received from the local LSC on 28 May 2004 and this is attached as an appendix to this report. The revised Development Plan will be presented to the Education Policy and Review Committee on 13 July and to the Executive Member for Education shortly afterwards.

10.3 The Unit is following a strategy which will utilise the County Council's subsidies for community use of the 24 secondary schools delivering adult learning. About £800,000 is currently allocated from the Education Budget to the schools in support of locally managed programmes of sports development, recreational and community activities, including childcare and study support. The subsidies support a management infrastructure and the costs of opening schools during evenings and weekends for use by the community. This is in addition to the underlying and much larger support given by the County Council to maintaining the actual schools themselves. Similar arrangements apply at arts centres which are made possible by support from the Recreation and Heritage budget. In 2004/2005, the Unit is planning to withdraw LSC funding from courses which presently enrol about 8000 adults. As many as possible of these courses will transfer to the schools' community programmes. Schools and arts centres will need to increase the learners' fees in order to recoup the cost of tuition, but will not have to seek full cost recovery. The LSC funding will continue to be used to support about 12,000 learners engaged in courses which although not yet entirely in line with the LSC's new priorities, can be shown to be making a greater contribution to the skills agenda.

10.4 The courses most affected by these changes are those providing opportunities for sport and physical well-being such as yoga and exercise classes, together with painting and craft courses. Claims are often made that such courses give an easy `first step' for adults returning to learning. Although potentially true, there is little to suggest that the current provision is organised in such a way as to make a significant impact in this respect. About 15 tutors across the county are being made redundant as a consequence of the transfer to self-financing arrangements. These are where existing learner numbers are less than the minimum thought necessary to achieve financial viability. Managers initially reported that as many as 60 tutors would be affected. As happens every year, further adjustments may be necessary after the September enrolment.

10.5 Providers are being encouraged to continue to offer some discount for older learners and those on low income. However, any support may have to be targeted at those most in need, rather than through automatic qualification by age. The actual fees to be charged are determined by individual schools, often in consultation with others in their area and usually take account of fees charged by local colleges. The level of fee income needed to cover the direct costs will vary from one provider to another, dependent in part on the share of the overall management and premises costs charged to the respective adult learning and community budgets. An average school's total expenditure on its adult learning programme is £68,000 of which this year's LSC subsidy accounts for 7%. However, the same school has another £300,000 expenditure in its community budget which is supported by the County Council. Course fees are very `market-sensitive' and increases may be phased over more than one year. They will be increased by more than the level of inflation, but reported increases of up to 30% will be exceptional.

10.6 The changes are likely to be unpopular with many adult learners who have been enjoying subsidised courses, sometimes for many years. A statement is being issued to those learners currently enrolled on courses which will become self-financing in September. The statement sets out to explain the background to the changes and has been agreed with the local LSC (attached as appendix 2 to this report).

10.7 The LSC funding being withdrawn from centres for re-allocation by the Unit in 2004/2005 amounts to about £324,000. Most of this will be used to pick up the core costs no longer being funded by additional grants from the LSC. There continues to be a high demand from schools and other community organisations for support in the delivery of family learning and widening participation initiatives, alongside the traditional ACL programmes. The demand will continue to exceed the available resources, even after the changes have been implemented in 2004\2005.

11 Conclusions

11.1 The Cabinet will be concerned at the impact of these changes on the County Council's corporate aims of 'maximising life opportunities' and 'building strong communities', as well as the commitment to lifelong learning and the improvement in services for older people. On the one hand, there is an emphasis on supporting learners who have not achieved qualifications and on family learning, which contributes to the County Council's aims. On the other hand, there is a reduction in the support of learning for leisure. Everything possible is being done within available resources to work with the local LSC to achieve some flexibility in the best interests of all learners.

Recommendations

1. The Cabinet is asked to note the impact of these changes on the County Council's provision of adult and community learning.

2. The Cabinet initiates joint work with the local Learning and Skills Council to improve national understanding of the local needs for adult and community learning.

Section 100 D - Local Government Act 1972 - background documents

The following documents discuss facts or matters on which this report, or an important part of it, is based and have been relied upon to a material extent in the preparation of this report.

NB: the list excludes

1. Published works

2. Documents which disclose exempt or confidential information as defined in the Act.

List documents here or type `none'.

None.

SC\2004\JUN100LPgg

Final Guidance to Hampshire LEA on LSC Priorities and

Adult Learning Funding

The Government's priorities for the LSC

The Government has set the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) very clear priorities:

· to raise participation in education and structured vocational learning for 16-18 year olds;

· to deliver Apprenticeships;

· to improve the level of basic English and numeracy skills across the population;

· to increase the number of adults with a level 2 qualification [equivalent to 5 good GCSE passes].

By focusing on these priorities we now have nationally the highest numbers of 16-18 year olds in education and training since the mid-1980s and we have funded four million people through FE - the highest number ever. We also have more young people on an apprenticeship programme since 2001 and three quarters of a million people have improved their literacy and numeracy skills.

We want to maintain momentum and deliver the Government's Skills Strategy which builds upon these priorities and stresses that priority must be given to the learning needs of the least well qualified. To achieve this from September we will be trialling, with Local LSCs in the South East region, a new first full level 2 entitlement enabling adults without a level 2 qualification to have access to free learning. We need to have this focus as in Hampshire and Isle of Wight alone 400,000 adults do not have the equivalent of a level 2 qualification and one in four have no qualifications.

The Government has entrusted the LSC with major priorities in driving up participation and achievement levels, so we need to ensure that our finite resources are invested to best effect in the interests of learners, employers and the community. Our task now is to strike a balance between all the demands on our budgets that is consistent with national policy and priorities; for example, to make a first full level 2 qualification a real offer we must be able to resource it and move some public subsidy away from other provision.

11.2 The LSC's priorities for the LEA

The LSC views 2004/05 as a transition year to meet national policy and priorities set out by Government and to ensure that those in most need get every opportunity to succeed.

In order to plan for an effective transition by August 2005 this LSC has agreed with Hampshire Local Education Authority (LEA) a budget for 2004-05 of just over £2.07 million which includes a block grant of £1.25million for Adult and Community Learning (ACL). The priorities for the LEA are:

· Widening participation in learning by using their unique internal and external relationships with local authority departments and the community and voluntary sector to reach those who have not participated in learning and are not attracted to formal learning delivered by other providers;

· Raising literacy and numeracy skills by using their unique access through schools and family learning opportunities;

· Contributing to LSC priorities, where possible, by using the ACL block grant primarily to entice adults without qualifications into learning through:

(a) innovative first step programmes which will enable them to progress to further learning, or

(b) programmes which will lead to a qualification at level 2.

It is for the LEA to decide how these priorities will be delivered by their provider network within the funds they have available from the LSC and other public sources. However, care with the planning of learning for interest programmes, particularly for older people, should be taken to ensure that provision will continue to be available where costs can be met. We know that these types of programmes enrich people's lives, and we also know that these types of programmes will entice those without qualifications back into learning and this is where the priority must be.

We appreciate that many already well-qualified people currently enjoying subsidised learning for interest courses will regard this as unwelcome. But with clear priorities from Government we have to make hard choices in circumstances where public funding is insufficient to meet all demands.

We also appreciate that in the transition from present arrangements some flexibility may be required and we encourage the LEA to discuss with us particular local difficulties for people unable to access courses to meet their needs. We see it as important that, where possible, we discuss difficult issues of change management and communications in advance and in private, and agree lines to take on them, so that we can be seen in public to be operating in partnership.

12

12.1 Funding 2003-2006

The total funding for the LEA for 2003-2004 was £2,040,878. We agreed with the LEA that they would no longer fund FE Colleges to deliver ACL programmes and that they could retain the £350,000 earmarked for these programmes. This represents a 17% increase in funding for learners, investment in the infrastructure and raising quality without a requirement to increase the number of people participating in ACL programmes.

Despite competing priorities, and in the absence of a national funding formula, we have been able to maintain funding for Hampshire LEA in 2004-2005 at £2,074,495. We have also agreed with the LEA that a proportion of this funding can be deployed on continuing to improve the quality of their infrastructure, programmes and management information to meet the requirements of the Common Inspection Framework. In previous years the costs associated with these improvements have been met by the LSC from other funding sources totaling £545,150.

The Skills Strategy says that it is the Government's intention to safeguard `learning for interest' courses which do not lead to a qualification. To achieve this a review of the future funding of adult learning is underway and it is expected that the recommendations will be published for consultation in the Autumn. Any further changes to the way adult provision is funded will commence from August 2005.

28 May 2004

12.2

13 Appendix 2

14

15 CHANGES TO THE FUNDING OF ADULT LEARNING

A briefing note for adult learners

15.1 Background

· You are enrolled on a course supported by Hampshire County Council. The direct cost of the course is covered by income raised from learners' fees and a subsidy from the public purse. Overheads such as premises costs are spread across the wider range of community activities at the school.

· The subsidy allocated to your course comes from funding made available to the County Council by the Learning and Skills Council (the LSC). The LSC has responsibility for securing adult learning on behalf of the Government.

· Your local school or adult learning centre actually sets the fees you pay so as to balance the cost of delivery against income from all sources.

15.2 Changes to the present arrangements

· A Government White Paper (21^st Century Skills: realising our potential) sets out a strategy to improve basic skill levels amongst the adult population and support adults in achieving employment-related qualifications. The LSC is charged with delivering the strategy through colleges, local education authorities, training agencies and other providers.

· The strategy recognises the value of adult learning which is not work-related, particularly for older learners and adults who are returning to learning, often after a gap of many years. However, the resources available to the Government are such that priorities are having to be reviewed.

· Like many others, your course is primarily about learning for interest, personal well-being or health. Many learners joining such courses for personal interest are already well-qualified and others continue in the same group from year to year, without progressing to a higher level. The courses fulfil important social, recreational and sometimes therapeutic needs. The top priority for subsidies however is the need to reach the estimated 400,000 adults in the Hampshire and Isle of Wight area who do not have the qualifications currently expected of a 16 year old.

· As always, there has to be a balance between available resources and official priorities. The emerging policy concentrates subsidies from public funds on adult learners with low levels of skill or qualification.

· Courses like yours will continue to be offered as part of the programme but the direct cost will need to be met from fees.

15.3 What does this mean for you?

· From September 2004, the County Council has recognised that resources released will need to be re-invested in support of the local targets as part of the Skills Strategy developed by the LSC, which means that it will not be possible to subsidise the direct costs of some other courses.

· Your local centre has been encouraged to continue the courses on a self-financing basis. The County Council uses its own resources to subsidise the cost of making schools available for use by the community during evenings and at weekends. The school's subsidised community budget also helps support the management of the adult learning programmes. The County Council will continue this support but your local centre will need to increase some fees by more than the cost of inflation in order to meet direct costs.

· The centre may judge that a few courses may not be viable financially. This is a decision taken every year according to the uptake and viability of courses. Some may be discontinued and others may be turned into self-programming club activities. You will be informed as appropriate.

· The County Council will still be using LSC funding to support a programme of non-qualification courses which are better placed to contribute to the Skills Strategy. This may give you other options or you may be ready to move on to qualification courses at a local further education college. The centre will be pleased to advise.

15.4 Impact

· Both the LSC and the County Council appreciate that these new arrangements will disappoint many learners who have become accustomed to subsidised activities over many years. Nonetheless, we trust that you will understand the difficult choices that are having to be made and will accept that we have a duty to make the best use of the public funding made available to us.

Lionel Paris

Head of Adult and Community Learning, Hampshire County Council