Agenda item

5.1    This item was discussed after item 7 London Health and Care Collaboration Agreement and London Devolution Pilots.

5.2    Gerald Jones (Service Manager Adult Learning Lewisham) introduced the report. The following key points were noted:

·      The success rates for Adult Learning Lewisham (ALL) were the highest they had ever been. Success rate combines measurement of whether people have completer a course with whether people have achieved their intended learning outcomes.

·      The funding for accredited and non-accredited courses will be combined into one grant from central government.

·      ALL has developed partnerships in the last year. One significant one is where ALL is working with schools to offer family learning courses to parents whose children are most at risk of underperforming.

·      ALL has specified nine different areas of impact that non-accredited courses have for learners. These areas of impact provide evidence for the benefits non-accredited courses can have. The impact may not be straightforward to measure and evidence, but that doesn’t mean the benefits do not exist. Learners are being asked about these areas of impact when they start a course. They are also encouraged to write themselves a postcard, that is sent to them 6 months after completing a course encouraging themselves to engage with ALL’s telephone calls asking for longer term feedback on the impact the course has had on their lives.  

·      Department for Business Innovation and Skills may look to develop a London wide funding body for adult learning. Further education colleges across London are experiencing funding problems.  Colleges may merge or specialise in specific areas of education. Community education is this context can provide important services that are complementary to the work done by further education colleges.

5.3    Gerald Jones responded to questions from the Committee. The following key points were noted:

·      The new funding arrangements are not finalised yet so it may be that justification is needed for the provision of non-accredited courses.

·      ALL does encourage learners to progress after completing a course, and not stay engaged in the same course continuously, and it also wants to continue to engage new learners. Funders don’t necessarily appreciate if a group of people attend the same course year after year.

·      The subject area of Neighbourhood Learning in deprived communities is named after a central government funding stream. ALL communicates about these courses with the abbreviation NLDC and doesn’t emphasize the mention of deprived communities.

·      ALL provides small scale learning, and can feel closer to home and safer for many people than attending a large further education college. The provision of ALL supports the provision of colleges but isn’t necessarily the same.

·      Although it can be very beneficial for people to (re)learn skills at a later stage in life and retrain to enter new career paths, the current funding situation is that people tend to need student loans to be able to retrain.

5.4    The representative from Healthwatch Lewisham and Bromley noted that:

·      As well a need for digital inclusion and improving people’s literacy skills, many people could also benefit from courses in financial inclusion. A representative from Healthwatch would be to meet with an officer from ALL to discuss how they could help happy to signpost people to financial literacy courses.

5.5    RESOLVED: that the Committee noted the report.