The Learning and Skills Council and
Learning Partnerships

Background Partnerships Vision, targets and tasks Increasing the demand for learning Funding guidance Adult and Community Learning The Adult and Community Learning Plan for 2003/04 Funding challenges Additional LSC funding Learning Partnerships Links and references

Investing in Skills: Taking Forward the Skills Strategy - Summary of changes proposed by the LSC consultation paper Also see.. LSC news update Lifelong learning Regional Development Agencies The Union Learning Fund Individual Learning Accounts Adult and post-16 literacy

Background
The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) is responsible for funding and planning education and training for over-16s in England. It is expected to play an active role in building the capacity of people living in deprived neighbourhoods, and to promote equality and social inclusion.

The LSC was set up in April 2001, bringing the learning providers together under a single funding regime. The Remit Letter by the Secretary of State stresses the significance of the its creation, bringing an end to reforms to learning and provision of skills development that were "piecemeal" in scope or "limited in their long-term impact" so that change is "radical and enduring". The following year (April 2002) 47 local LSCs were established, replacing the Training and Enterprise Councils (TECs). Local LSCs are responsible for carrying out the instructions of the central council within the context of the locally agreed strategic plan. In April 2002 the LSC also took control of the £1.35 billion sixth forms budget.

Partnerships
Local LSCs are expected to work in partnership at the regional and sub-regional level to develop shared community strategies, and especially with Local Strategic Partnerships in terms of addressing the needs of deprived areas. Other key partners are employers and their representative bodies, Learning Partnerships, national equality organisations to support the most disadvantaged, the trade unions, Connexions, schools, colleges and private training providers. Local LSCs are also expected to support the broad objectives of the National Strategy for Neighbourhood Renewal and to work with partners, particularly from the voluntary and community sector, to target help where it is most needed.
See below for more on Learning Partnerships

Vision, targets and tasks
The Learning and Skills Council: strategic framework to 2004 set out the vision, targets and key objectives of the LSC. Its overarching vision is that "by 2010, young people and adults in England will have knowledge and productive skills matching the best in the world". The plan emphasises the need for the LSC to establish the right balance between top-down and bottom-up processes.

Its targets for 2004 included:

• 80% of 16-18 year olds in structured learning (2000: 75%)
• 85% at level 2 by age 19 (2000: 75%)
• 55% at level 3 by age 19 (2000: 51%)
• 750,000 adults with improved literacy and numeracy skills, which was the Skills for Life target
  

Its main tasks are:

• to raise participation and achievement by young people
• increase demand for learning by adults
• raise skills for national competitiveness
• raise the quality of education and training delivery
• equalise opportunities through better access to learning
• improve effectiveness and efficiency

Increasing the demand for learning
The LSCs were given the responsibility of encouraging more adults into learning provision and increasing the supply of flexible, high-quality opportunities to meet their needs. Widening adult participation is therefore a key part of LSC strategy - in particular to draw in those adult learners who have not before engaged in learning - drawing on the work of the BBC and others, Ufi, Adults Learners Week and working with local authorities in the context of their responsibilities for adult and community learning (ACL).
For more on widening participation see the Skills for Life section.

Funding guidance

The Secretary of State's grant letter to the Chairman of the LSC highlights the targets for basic skills work which should be reflected in funding. The specific targets include:

• improving the literacy, language and numeracy skills of 1.5 million adults and young people by 2007
• reducing by at least 40% the number of adults without a level 2 qualification by 2010, with one million adults currently in the workforce achieving level 2 standard between 2003 and 2006

The guidance for 2003/04 restated the funding principles for basic skills provision:

• provision is free to the learner
• it automatically attracts fee remission
• it has a programme weighting factor of at least 1.4
• Where programmes are aimed entirely at improving basic skills, there will be an additional disadvantage uplift of 11% (12% in 2004/05)

This means that basic skills provision will be funded at least 40 per cent more than other classroom-based learning. Where a course has basic skills built in to it (embedded), if more than 50 per cent is on improving learners' language, literacy or numeracy skills, then the course qualifies for the 11 per cent uplift.

These courses are also funded for Basic Skills, providing 10 per cent 'achievement funding':

• those which lead to approved qualifications in literacy, numeracy and ESOL qualifications at entry level and levels 1 and 2
• those which lead to key skills qualifications in the application of number and communication at levels 1 and 2 for learners aged 19+ and learners aged 16-18 who are following a part-time course
• basic skills qualifications for learners aged 16-18 for whom a key skills qualification is not appropriate

Adult and Community Learning

The Secretary of State's remit letter to the Learning and Skills Council describes Adult and Community Learning (ACL) as a: "great heritage... which developed in the 19th century, when the pioneering efforts of the community movements helped many men and women to improve their lives through the power of learning."

ACL is a narrower category than 'adult learning' in general. It takes place in a wide variety of settings, in which local authorities are major players; much of the learning is non-vocational and non-accredited. It provides learning opportunities particularly suitable for reaching out to disadvantaged people.

The Adult and Community Learning Plan for 2003/04

This plan stated that the local LSC, guided by local authorities, could identify specific local priorities that ACL provision could meet, eg encouraging participation by under-represented groups. The guidance accepts that a balance needs to be met between supporting a wide range of learning opportunities and meeting national targets.

Funding challenges

LSC funding is generous for basic skills work, but it does assume minimum numbers for classes, which can be difficult in the early stages of developing community provision - although see below for additional funding for deprived communities.

Another potential problem is that, where learners do not achieve the qualification, part of the funding is withheld by the LSC. This is particularly problematic when provision is directed at the 'hard to reach', many of whom attend irregularly and therefore do not necessarily learn at the expected rate or indeed prioritise courses leading to qualifications - at least in the initial stages of engagement.

Provider miscoding can also result in potential funding loss for providers of literacy, language and numeracy provision, if the old codes continue to be used. (In 2002/03 the potential funding loss for providers amounts to 32%, which rises to almost 52% in 2003/04.)

Innovative outreach work, work with hard-to-reach learners or groups of learners, grants to voluntary organisations or other developmental activities are unlikely to be funded by the formula funding mechanism, according to the Adult and Community Learning Plan 2003/04. This suggests that there needs to be a special dialogue about this issue between local LSCs, local authorities and others, including the voluntary and community sector.

Additional LSC funding

The Neighbourhood Learning in Deprived Communities Fund was set up in 2003/04 to support community-based learning in the 88 local authorities with the most deprived areas (ie those eligible for the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund). £20 million was allocated for 2003/04. It was targeted, in particular, at supporting the voluntary and community sector by:

• providing access to a capacity building programme
• providing first-step learning
• delivering education and training, including literacy and numeracy, in the broadest possible range of settings
• developing new ways of engaging excluded and under-represented groups into learning, including ways of delivering relevant curriculum

Schools are also eligible to apply since they are 'well placed to provide or host family and community learning'.

The key performance indicator for 2003/04 was how many people entered learning from deprived areas and how many of them progressed to further learning. The numbers helped into basic skills provision were also monitored.

The Local Intervention and Development Fund (LID) provided additional discretionary funds to support achievement of the LSC targets, including innovative and developmental initiatives, and support for Learning Partnerships.

Basic Skills in Local Communities was a separate funding stream to support the development of small short-term projects designed to improve the basic skills of learners in local communities. From 2004/05 this funding stream was incorporated into each local Learning and Skills Council's main adult allocation.

Learning Partnerships

Learning partnerships are non-statutory, voluntary groupings of local learning providers (ranging from the voluntary sector to further and higher education) and others such as local government, some libraries, Connexions/Careers Service, trade unions, employers and faith groups covering post-16 and lifelong learning. There are 104 learning partnerships across England. They aim to promote provider collaboration in support of lifelong learning and to maximise the contribution of learning to local regeneration.

Learning Partnerships are also involved in follow-up to Area Inspections, 14-19 proposals and a range of initiatives around basic skills, workforce development, IT and progression into higher education. Contributing increasingly to local strategies for regeneration, many have become the 'learning arm' of the Local Strategic Partnerships.

During 2003/04, £9.8 million of funding was channelled to Learning Partnerships through the LSC and formed part of the LSC Local Intervention and Development Fund. Following a review of Learning Partnerships, the LSC planned to produce operating guidance for 2004-05 that wouldl set out the relationship between the LSC and Learning Partnerships.

A National Institute for Adult Continuing education (NIACE) evaluation highlights the challenges facing Learning Partnerships in terms of their contribution to the regeneration agenda, a task made harder where Learning Partnerships have to relate to a number of Local Strategic Partnerships. Their strength includes the effective communication of the full range of activity and ways in which learning can contribute to local regeneration, including the dissemination of successful practice.

Links:

• For the Learning and Skills Council call 0845 019 4170 or visit www.lsc.gov.uk
• For Learning Partnerships visit www.lifelonglearning.co.uk/llp/, which includes contact details of all partnerships. This site links to the national evaluation of learning partnerships website, which provides information about the evaluation process, examples of good practice and a discussion group.