Contact: Deborah Harkin, Head of Adult and Family Learning, telephone 01962 846530, email: [email protected]

1 Summary

1.1 This report informs the Executive Lead Member of various developments in the County Council's provision of adult learning and the funding relationship with the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Learning and Skills Council. It highlights the changes planned for 2007/2008 and introduces the updated Adult Learning Three-Year Development Plan 2007-2010.

1.2 The report explains the main external influences which are impacting on the development of the service and the responses being made.

1.3 The County Council's mission statement for Adult and Family Learning , Securing Quality Learning, reflects the County Council's commitment to deliver a high quality service. The delivery of the Plan will support all three priorities of the Council's corporate strategy - Hampshire safer and more secure for all by promoting good community relations through creating local learning partnerships; Maximising wellbeing by providing high quality learning opportunities which ensure the continuous development of skills, qualifications and individual achievement; Enhancing our quality of place by enabling the local delivery of services in support of sustainable communities.

1.4 The combination of learning programmes, delivered through the Adult Learning Plan, directly support the five outcomes of the Children Act, particularly those relating to Family Learning. Courses have been developed to specifically meet the outcomes. Examples include: healthy eating; health and safety; learning together about children's rights; learning through play.

2 Recommendation

That the Executive Lead Member for Children's Services approves the County Council's Adult Learning Three-year Development Plan for 2007-2010 in order to secure Learning and Skills Council funding in 2007/2008.

3 Background

3.1 The County Council's provision for adult and family learning is planned to meet the objectives of both the County Council and the Learning and Skills Council (LSC). The funding made available for the management and delivery of the service is largely received through the annual contract with the local LSC. The County Council's contribution remains at less than 10% of the budget. Provision continues to be secured mainly through funding agreements with a range of organisations including extended schools, children's centres, voluntary and community organisations, and other County Council services and departments. Some direct delivery of specialist programmes in Family Literacy, Language and Numeracy (FLLN) has been introduced using tutors employed centrally to work in local settings.

3.2 The Three Year Development Plan continues to be driven by the key challenges identified in the report made by the Adult Learning Inspectorate following an inspection of the County Council's service in February 2006:

· improve the standards of teaching and learning

· extend and develop curriculum leadership

· improve initial assessment and the planning of individual learning

· improve the sharing of good practice

· maintain the good partnerships and widening participation

3.3 A follow up visit took place on 19 June 2007, when two Ofsted inspectors spent the day reviewing progress. This was part of a national programme of post-inspection monitoring visits. The inspectors focussed on seven different themes and made judgements about the progress made against each. The outcomes were as follows:

· Three areas were awarded the highest grade - `Significant progress'. (Definition - progress has been rapid and is already having a demonstrably beneficial impact on learners.  Evidence, including the rigour of the provider's quality assurance procedures, shows that the progress made is firmly embedded.)

· Four areas were awarded the second highest grade - `Reasonable progress'. (Definition -  evidence for progress that is likely to have, or is already having, a beneficial impact on learners is secure and in line with expectations of a provider that has sound quality assurance procedures that lead to improvement.)

Feedback from the inspectors indicated that these outcomes are considered extremely positive. The formal written report will follow in approximately 4 weeks, with publication on the Ofsted website within 6 weeks.

3.4 The local LSC has indicated that the County Council will continue to be supported in 2007/2008 through a block grant which includes a number of different elements. The core funding element is now referred to as `Personal and Community Development Learning' (PCDL) and its use is subject to various conditions which will be explained later in the report. The indicative allocations for PCDL, Family Learning and Family Literacy, Language and Numeracy together form the `safeguarded allocation'. This refers to the stated intention of the Secretary of State to continue support for these areas of work.

3.5 Funding for First Steps programmes (which link learners to courses leading to level 2 qualifications) was first allocated for 2006/2007 and continues to be offered in addition to the safeguarded allocation. The LSC's indicative allocation for all elements is the same as for 2006/2007. However, no inflation will be added which is equivalent to a loss of £48,100 in the value of the grant assuming inflation at 2.5% . The County Council's contribution to the adult learning budget remains at the same level as for 2006/2007, but with added inflation totals £155,000.

3.6 The LSC's indicative allocations for the period August 2007 to July 2008 and the County Council's contribution are as follows:

Table 1 : Adult Learning Budget 2007/2008

	Actual 2006/2007 £000s	Indicative 2007/2008 £000s
LSC Block Grant:
- PCDL	1,009	1,009
- Family Learning	311	311
- Family literacy, language and numeracy	491	491
Total Safeguard (sub-total)	1,182	1,182
- First Steps	112	112
Total LSC allocation	1,924	1,924
Hampshire County Council	150	155
Total revenue budget	2,074	2, 079

4 Adult Learning Three-Year Development Plan 2007-2010

4.1 Payment of the LSC's allocations is dependent upon approval of the Plan and agreement on the number of target learners in each category of provision. The information and data are presented in the Plan using a template set by the LSC. The Plan is accompanied by a number of appendices, including the following key components:

· Adult, Family and Parenting Programmes in Hampshire 2007/2008 - a booklet made available to all providers which lists the courses which the County Council will fund, the level of funding available for different programmes, the essential requirements expected of providers, the fees policy and an invitation to apply for funding. The offer includes parenting programmes co-ordinated by the Parent Development Team.

Self Assessment Report (SAR) 2005/2006 and the Quality Improvement Plan (QuIP) 2007/2008. The SAR is produced in September after the end of each year. The QuIP has been updated and further responds to the issues identified during the inspection.

· A Curriculum Strategy, E-Learning Strategy and `Skills for Life' Strategy for 2007/2008

· An Equalities Action Plan for 2007/2008

The full Development Plan with all the appendices accompanies this report.

5 Main changes for 2007/2008

5.1 Personal and Community Development Learning (PCDL) - The LSC published new policy requirements for PCDL on 9 October 2006 which shape future planning. These are as follows:

· Access to PCDL courses should be universal, with most learners contributing to, or paying the full cost of their learning. There is no intention to reduce the amount of provision made available to more affluent or well-qualified learners, so long as they are willing to meet the costs of their learning

· Those who have benefited least from the education system and are in most financial need should have greatest access to public funding for PCDL provision. Access to PCDL programmes will not be based on prior educational attainment.

· There should be a wide range of PCDL programmes that are high quality, challenging and above all, inspiring. Qualifications, employability and progression are not the main aims of PCDL although they will be within the range of positive outcomes.

The most significant challenge for the County Council and the providers is being able to demonstrate over time that most public funding for PCDL is being used to support those in most financial need and with low qualifications, within the context of a universal service.

5.2 Learning Networks - The National Institute for Adult and Continuing Education (NIACE) is co-ordinating a European Social Fund (ESF) project to create national adult learning networks. The purpose of the networks is to strengthen the co-ordination and delivery of adult learning, enhance capacity and align resources. The local LSC has encouraged the County Council to put forward proposals to create a single Hampshire Learning Network, led by a central strategic group supporting area networks across the county. Many of these will be based on existing partnerships within district council areas. As the lead organisation, the County Council will receive ESF funding to establish the network and provide co-ordination and on-going support. This will be jointly managed by the Children's Services (Adult and Family Learning) and Recreation and Heritage Departments.

5.3 The project will be a significant development in 2007/2008 and once established, it is expected that the Hampshire Learning Network will drive future planning for adult learning and lead to greater engagement with disadvantaged learners. Partners involved in the delivery of the project will include schools, colleges, children's centres, voluntary and community groups.

5.4 Learner numbers - The County Council's funding to providers is secured through funding agreements linked to performance against target learner numbers. The pressure from the local LSC is to maintain total learner numbers from year to year, even though the value of the funding made available is decreasing and the costs arising from the necessary quality improvement measures continue to increase.

5.5 Within the funding agreements, the term `learner numbers' is used in different ways. In terms of performance, it describes the number of individual learners actually engaged in programmes. However, in the allocation of funds, learner numbers are used as the basis of calculating indicative allocations. In that sense, the term describes a unit of resource. Hence, the funding given to a provider for a particular programme might be based on a certain number of learners, but the actual learners taking part could be higher or lower.

5.6 It is in the interest of the County Council to maximise the number of individual learners in order to meet the LSC's performance targets. Some programmes attract a higher level of subsidy than others. Also, there is a continuing problem with providers who claim individual enrolments rather than individual learners. A single learner might enrol three times on a year long programme. The learner can only be counted once in terms of the County Council's performance, but currently the provider is able to claim three payments for the same learner. As the total funding available for allocation is reducing, the target learner numbers used as the basis of the allocation need to be adjusted in order to get the best possible return in the number of actual learners, so that the County Council can meet the targets expected by the LSC.

5.7 The following table shows the effect of some revisions made to the target learner numbers. It is important to understand, for the reasons explained above, that these changes do not necessarily equate to any change in the actual number of learners taking part.

Table 2: Target learner numbers for LSC-supported programmes 2007/2008

5.8 The overall target for learner numbers in 2007/2008 will remain the same as in 2006/2007. The distribution has been amended to reduce the number supported on programmes which incur higher costs (eg no fee charged or high learner support costs) with a corresponding rise in PCDL where the costs are lower. The resource attached to the increase in PCDL numbers will be targeted at those learners with low levels of qualifications or with high need of financial support.

5.9 About 60% of all learners attend programmes managed by schools funded separately by the County Council from the community education budget. These schools in particular have been encouraged to offer PCDL programmes as community courses without any LSC subsidy. Learners pay a fee which covers the cost of the tuition and the programmes operate outside the scope of inspection, with resulting savings for providers in terms of quality assurance. Some schools choose to continue providing data for these learners, even though they do not receive additional funding. Based on their returns, the estimated number of learners continuing outside the LSC funded programmes in 2006/2007 has risen to an additional 7,500. The trend will continue during the next three years as the LSC's expectation about targeting PCDL support increases.

5.10 Programme length - To ensure consistency and to help overcome the distortion caused by counting enrolments rather than learners, the funding offered in 2007/2008 will be based on a maximum programme length of 20 hours. It will still be possible for longer programmes to be offered, but with the exception of Family Literacy, Language and Numeracy (up to 72 hours), no further funding will be available to providers for learners continuing after the initial 20 hours. For example, a provider might choose to offer a 60 hour course for the same 10 learners and receive funding just for the first 20 hours. Alternatively, a provider may choose to deliver three separate 20 hour programmes, with 10 different learners on each, and receive three funding payments. The change is intended to maximise actual learner numbers and improve performance against the County Council's targets.

5.11 Family Learning - Free access to family learning programmes (known as Strand 1) will be continued for disadvantaged learners eg those at risk of exclusion, with low levels of qualification and/or in need of financial support. In 2006/2007, arrangements were put in place to enable non-priority learners to access family learning programmes. Learners already with qualifications and who could afford to pay were able to enrol as Strand 2 learners on payment of a fee. This was intended to release funding to provide more free places. The system started to have an impact in its first year with 30% of learners in family learning programmes paying a fee. The arrangements will be continued in 2007/2008 but the expected learner contribution towards the cost will be increased from £2.00 hour to the same amount as for PCDL programmes (ranging from £3.10 to £4.10 per hour).

5.12 Older learners - The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 came into force in October 2006. One effect of the anti-discrimination measures in employment and training is that it is no longer possible to offer fee discounts based on age criteria alone. All forms of adult learning fall within the scope of the regulations - including PCDL. Consequently, providers will have to comply with the legislation and cease to offer an automatic entitlement to the over 60s. However, the 25% fee discount previously offered will be doubled in 2007/2008 to 50% for those over 60 in receipt of Pension Credit. Nonetheless, the change may have an adverse effect on enrolments, as older learners who can afford to pay full fees may have a cultural expectation of some form of discount.

5.13 Quality Improvement - A Provider Confidence Rating system has been introduced and will be further developed in 2007/2008. Individual providers will be scored against a range of criteria to highlight areas for improvement, good practice and, in extreme cases, risks associated with unacceptably low performance. The results will be shared with providers and support offered by Quality and Curriculum Development Officers (QCDOs) as appropriate. If any necessary improvement is not made within a reasonable period, funding agreements may be discontinued. The system is transparent and is largely based on the observation of teaching and learning informing detailed action plans, which are monitored by the QCDOs.

5.14 The delivery of the service described in the Three Year Development Plan and the changes highlighted in this report continue to support the County Council's corporate priorities - Hampshire safer and more secure for all by promoting good community relations through creating local learning partnerships; Maximising wellbeing by providing high quality learning opportunities which ensure the continuous development of skills, qualifications and individual achievement; Enhancing our quality of place by enabling the local delivery of services in support of sustainable communities.

5.15 The delivery of the service also makes significant contributions to the five outcomes of the Children Act 2004 through targeting adult learning, family learning and parenting programmes for priority families identified through extended school clusters and children's centres. A section in the booklet "Adult, Family and Parenting Programmes in Hampshire" appended to the Three-Year Development Plan - How Family Programmes support Every Child Matters - Change for Children - includes a table giving specific examples alongside each of the five outcomes.

6 Consultation

6.1 An e-consultation took place in February, through which 60 adult learning providers were consulted on the proposals contained in the Adult Learning Plan for 2007/2008 and were asked to indicate their support. Eleven providers replied on-line to confirm their approval with three voting against. Further consultation was carried out at the County Adult and Family Learning Forum, where 35 providers endorsed the proposals contained in the Adult Learning Plan and agreed to become partners in the Hampshire Learning Network. Additionally, the Adult Learning Officer attended a meeting of HASCE (Hampshire Association of School-based Community Educators) to discuss and agree key changes with centre managers.

7 Legal implications

7.1 Some challenges have been made by learners through their elected representatives, both nationally and within Hampshire (including the local media), about the withdrawal of the fee discounts for the over 60s. The main argument advanced has been that the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 only apply to vocational training. Guidance has been received from the Department of Trade and Industry (who issued the regulations), the LSC, ACAS, and the Equalities Challenge Unit. The advice clearly states that the definition of vocational training was intentionally widened to include all forms of adult learning in order to achieve consistency with other UK legislation against discrimination.

7.2 The available advice and guidance was reviewed by the County Council's Legal Practice, who confirmed that it was necessary to comply.

8 Financial implications

8.1 The financial implications are included in the report.

9 Personnel implications

9.1 Up to 15 part-time tutors may be employed by the Family Programmes Manager to deliver Family Literacy, Language and Numeracy programmes during 2007/2008 through standard contracts for adult learning staff.

10 Impact assessment

10.1 A full race and equality impact assessment has been carried out on the Adult Learning Three-year Development Plan 2007/2008 to 2009/2010. A copy of the summary report is attached as appendix 1 to this report. The full report has been published on the Children's Services Department's website. The Adult Learning Development Plan includes an Equalities Action Plan for 2007/2008.

11 Crime prevention issues

11.1 The delivery of adult learning on school sites out of school hours ensures a presence, helps deter vandalism and improves site security. Family learning programmes help parents focus on the rights and responsibilities of children and issues to do with health and safety in the family. Programmes tackle themes such as keeping children safe from crime and anti-social behaviour, and free from exposure to violence.

12 Views of the local County Councillor

12.1 The views of local County Councillors have not been sought as this report and the accompanying development plan apply to the whole county rather than local areas.

13 Conclusion

13.1 Approval of the Adult Learning Three-year Development Plan will enable the LSC to release grants to the County Council totalling £1.9 million.

LINKS TO CORPORATE STRATEGY
	Yes	No
Hampshire safer and more secure for all	√
Maximising wellbeing	√
Enhancing our quality of place	√

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.

None.