Issue - meetings

Report of the Cabinet Member for Children and Young People

The Self-Assessment Report was a fundamental tool that Ofsted Inspectors used to judge the quality and effectiveness of an organisation in providing education opportunities to young people and adults.  The Select Committee considered and commented on the quality assurance and performance of the portfolio of the learning provision commissioned, in order to further improve quality, outcomes for learners and in remaining a good learning provider in Staffordshire.

Community Learning was an umbrella term describing a broad range of learning that brings together adults, often of different ages and backgrounds, to pursue an interest, address a need, acquire a new skill, become healthier or learn how support their children.  It was mainly non-accredited and could be undertaken for its own sake or as a step towards other learning or work.  It may happen in personal or work time and be delivered by providers in the public, private or voluntary community sectors across Staffordshire.  Community Learning supported wider government policies on localism, social justice, stronger families, digital inclusion, social mobility and upskilling English and Maths skills and preparing for employment.

The funding comes from the ESFA as part of a national scheme.  In 2015 Community Learning was re-commissioned and a decision was made to reduce the funding allocation of leisure programmes in order to focus on targeted provision.  Targeted provision includes family programmes, provision for learners with learning difficulties and disabilities and those with enduring mental ill health, programmes to support employability and English, Maths and IT skills and more recently the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) provision.  In the academic year 2014/15 the funding allocation for leisure provision was £577,000 and 60% of the total ESFA allocation and this decreased to £360,000 and 35% in 2016/17.  Targeted provision increased from £384,000 and 40% of the total ESFA allocation in 2014/15 to £670,000 and 65% in 2016/17.

The Select Committee were shown a video, in which learners explained how a particular course had been of benefit to them.  They were informed that the Community Learning offer aimed to target people who felt excluded from participating in society, and that 38.1% of learners were from wards of high levels of deprivation and a third of the learners had learning disabilities or difficulty with learning.  The aim was to enable these learners to have better lives and be able to do more for themselves.

A member commented that the offer covered a broad scope and queried how this was narrowed down and focused on the outcomes which were trying to be achieved.  The Cabinet Support Member referred to the programme areas outlined in the report and pointed out that there were a number of family learning schemes, which involved the whole family learning together and focused on core skills in English, Maths and Language.  In relation to Adults with learning difficulties and/or disabilities the focus was on improving independence and confidence.  In the area of functional skills and employability skills the focus was on equipping people with the tools to go on to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 71