Agenda item

The Director, Learning Services, submits a report that will update Members on Multi Access Centres, Adult Skills and Learning Service Review and ESOL.

The Director, Learning Services submitted a report which outlined a proposal to reconfigure the Multi-Access Centre service in order to align with the Leicester to Work initiative and achieve efficiencies, progress on ESOL developments, and Community Learning purposes and priorities. The report was presented by Kerry Gray, Interim Head of Service, Adult Skills and Learning.

Kerry updated the Commission on the current position of the eight Multi-Access Centres (MACs) in the city, and since April 2012, following the end of Working Neighbourhoods Fund (WNF), the MACs had been funded out of the Skills Funding Agency Community Learning grant. Six of the centres were directly managed by the City Council, and the MACs in Braunstone and Highfields were sub-contracted. Kerry said the £119,000 funding for Highfields included admin support and accommodation for adult learning courses, which was different to Braunstone’s contract.

She said it was proposed to consult on a service organisational review in two phases to achieve £416,000 of savings in staffing reductions and a further £92,760 in other efficiency savings. She added that the target date for implementation was the end of July 2013 for Phase 1, and September 2013 for Phase 2.

Kerry said the service was looking to reduce the staffing working on 1:1 consultations in the six MACs under the control of the Council, and the staffing reductions referred to advisers and managers in the service; admin staff were not included in the review. The Chair asked for a report to be presented to a future meeting of the Commission on proposals for spend of the remaining WNF money held by the Council.

Kerry, responding to Members' questions, said all options had been considered. She said completely stopping the support for the unemployed by the Adult Skills and Learning Service would not be desirable, but it was important to focus activity and the available funds on the most effective parts. Kerry added the service was looking at the impact of the services delivered, and it was proposed to redesign and rebrand the Workclubs to provide regular contact with an adviser and rapid response if required - for example if a person needed advice for a job interview. Kerry said advisers would be qualified to at least NVQ Level 3.

Margaret Libreri, Director, Learning Services, said there had not been a sufficient overarching strategic view of initiatives, and the report presented to the Commission had begun to tackle the big issues. As stated in the report the previous management review which had begun in May 2011 would not have achieved the savings required, and the proposed staffing structure would not have been fit for the  the service needs, therefore the decision had been made to stop the review. Margaret said the move of the Adult Skills and Learning  services to Learning Services was a pragmatic decision to address  immediate operational issues, and the service would look at where LASALS best fit. Margaret said that wherever the service sits itsconnections with other sections in the Council were important, i.e. the Economic and Neighbourhood agendas. Mike Dalzell added that Economic Development had the broad responsibility for the Learning to Work programme, though it was a corporate initiative.

Councillor Chaplin left the meeting at this point.

The Chair said the Council was moving in the right direction in terms of how adult education was dealt with by the authority, and asked for information on the proposed staffing structure, and the expertise required. Members also requested information on employment and requested a presentation on the Leicester to Work programme.

Kerry then presented information on ESOL services, which covered the volunteer ESOL tutor project as reported at the November Scrutiny Commission  meeting, the central referral mechanism and citywide ESOL database, and publicity.

Kerry informed Members that partners to the project, including Leicester College, VAL and Unionlearn, would each develop one part of the volunteer ESOL tutor training course, and the service was confident training would be piloted at the beginning of May 2013. VAL and Unionlearn would recruit the participants.

Kerry said the LeicesterShire Learning Network (LSLN) would close at the end of the financial year 2012-13. She added that as previously reported, there was not much enthusiasm by other providers of ESOL for the Begin model as used in Nottingham, which would require significant resources. Kerry added, however, that the Skills Funding Agency held significant amounts of data on ESOL participation, and she had requested information from them and would analyse the position of ESOL supply and demand against census figures later in the year.

Kerry said that with regards to publicity, learners usually engaged through word of mouth, not printed materials. She said that marketing ideas would be launched at the start of the next academic year,

The Chair said Nottingham had a more co-ordinated approach and there was no infrastructure in Leicester. Kerry responded that progress had been made with mapping providers and services to avoid duplication in the city.

Kerry then reported on the Community Learning Funding which had been confirmed for the next two academic years. The report contained information on community learning enrolments, and stated the service was on target to match enrolment numbers on 2011-12. Kerry drew Members’ attention to the issues that were to be addressed in the report, and the table of figures on how the money was spent previously.

Councillor Dempster, Assistant City Mayor for Children, Young People and Schools informed the meeting that the Head of Finance (Financial Strategy) had focussed recently on the general fund, but would look at the corporate recharges for Adult and Skills and Learning, as the Council needed to know what was being provided with the budget.

The Chair asked it be recommended the budget be looked at closely, as there were concerns over the percentage being taken from the budget in charges.

The Chair thanked the officers and Councillor Dempster for the information.

RESOLVED:

1.    That the report be noted.

2.    That a report be brought to a future meeting of the Commission on proposals for spend of the remaining WNF money held by the Council.

3.    That information on the proposed staffing structure and expertise required be brought to a future meeting of the Commission.

4.    That employment figures from the MACs be presented.

5.    That a presentation on the Leicester to Work programme be delivered to the Scrutiny Commission meeting.