Memorandum by the Department for Education
and Employment (UWP 113)
URBAN WHITE PAPER
LEARNING SKILL
COUNCIL ROLE
IN ADDRESSING
SKILLS SHORTAGES
IN URBAN
AREAS
1. The Learning and Skills Bill which sets
up the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) in England requires it
to secure education and training provision for both those under
and over the age of 19. It will ensure greater coherence to the
delivery of learning and skills training, bringing together the
funding of functions currently residing with the Further Education
Funding Council, Training and Enterprise Councils and some LEA
responsibilities. The Bill was introduced in the House of Lords
in December 1999 and received it's second reading on 17 January
2000. It is currently at the Lords Committee stage. LSC will be
a unitary Non Department Public Bodies with a Headquarters and
47 local arms covering both urban and rural areas.
2. The LSC will produce both national and
local strategic and operational plans. Local LSCs will be responsive
to local needs and will consult a wide range of partners to identify
the learning and skills needs and gaps within their areas and
appropriate provision to meet these. When drawing up their plans,
local LSCs will be especially required to consult with and take
account of the plans of relevant Regional Development Agencies.
HOW TO
IMPROVE SCHOOLS
IN INNER
URBAN AREAS
3. The Government has introduced a programme
specifically addressing the problems of education in our cities.
This is the Excellence in Cities (EiC) initiative. It covers six
of the country's largest conurbations. It is hoped to include
more cities and to spread good practice. EiC concentrates a variety
of measures upon the target areas. The aim is to achieve a step
change in the performance of pupils in schools in the target areas
and to improve dramatically public perception of city education.
4. Excellence in Cities relies upon partnership—in
particular between local education authorities and the secondary
schools within the partnership areas who are the focus of the
additional resources and innovative policies which make up Excellence
in the Cities. The programme includes the establishment of city
learning centres, enriched education for the most able 5-10 per
cent of pupils of every secondary school in EiC areas, access
to learning mentors, learning support units to tackle truancy
and disruption and small education action zones built around individual
schools and their primaries. The EiC partnership areas are also
a priority for the expansion of Beacon and specialist schools.
5. The policies the Government has adopted
to change the image and performance of city education are firmly
rooted in the national strategy to raise school standards. But
the strategy is adapted to local circumstances of city schools
and enhanced by specific targeted policies for city schools.
6. The main elements of the overarching
national strategy to raise standards are:
— the literacy and numeracy strategies
aimed at raising national standards to an adequate level, but
specifically targeted at areas of poor performance and therefore
of greater impact in city schools than elsewhere;
— the adoption by every LEA of an Education
Development Plan approved by the Secretary of State with clear
targets and action plans for raising standards in its area. In
the case of city LEAs the action plans are targeted on the type
of challenges set out above;
— a robust framework for the inspection
of schools and for tackling the problems of failing schools so
that schools can no longer languish in failure over a long period;
with a parallel inspection regime for LEAs to ensure that they
are, or become, effective agents for raising standards in schools;
— a clear basis for schools to undertake
their own self-improvement through target setting, the availability
of benchmarking data and examples of good practice;
— working with parents and the community
(including business): a crucial element in the National Year of
Reading and Maths Year 2000;
— the modernisation of the teaching
profession through the measures set out in the Green Paper. The
revitalisation of the profession with a strong leadership strand
will be of particular importance in the more challenging schools
in cities, together with positive programmes for recruitment and
retention;
— effective action to reduce truancy
and exclusion and ensure those out of school get a full timetable;
— targeted support for those at risk
of low achievement (eg looked after children);
— an expansion of study support activities
to help produce motivated confident learners and a culture of
learning; and
— the SEN Action Programme, which was
published in November 1998 after consultation on the SEN Green
Paper "Excellence for all children" and which sets out
a strategy raising standards for children with SEN, including
policies for developing a more inclusive education system and
providing £100 million over the next three years under the
Schools Access Initiative to make mainstream schools more accessible
to disabled pupils.
7. These policies taken together are giving
a powerful push to the Government's commitment to raise standards,
and have particular relevance to urban areas.
THE ROLE
OF HIGHER
AND FURTHER
EDUCATION ESTABLISHMENTS
AS AN
ENGINE FOR
URBAN REGENERATION
a. Higher Education Institution as an engine
for urban regeneration.
8. Higher Education institutions (HEI) play a
key role in training and skills development to create a workforce
which is highly skilled, competitive, mobile and able to meet
the needs of employers. Many HEIs work closely with local businesses
in developing new products and processes through research and
consultancy. Many support the growth of knowledge based businesses
and technology transfer through their own research departments
or in spin-off companies.
9. Quality of life can be enriched by the
many facilities and activities which are provided by universities
and colleges—libraries, sports facilities, theatres and
art centres for instance. In many communities, access to cultural,
sports and adult education facilities in an HEI also provides
a gateway into higher education.
10. In recent years, DfEE has funded a range
of activities with higher education institutions designed to enhance
the employability of their students, improve Higher Education's
responsiveness to the needs of the labour market, and to increase
higher education's contribution to economic development. In many
cases this has encouraged higher education institutions and business
to work closer together so that higher education understands employers'
needs, and business recognises more of the benefits of working
with higher education. These activities include:
— Development Projects/Innovations
Fund.
— Skills Development Fund.
— Higher Education Reach-out to business
and the community (Reach-Out) Fund.
11. This year the Higher Education Funding
Council gave HE institutions £30m a year to use on wider
participation initiatives to widen the social profile of entry
into higher education. A five per cent premium was introduced
this year for universities to recognise the extra costs incurred
in recruiting students from disadvantaged backgrounds. £12
million has been allocated for the 1999-2000 academic year to
enable fees to be waived for those starting courses who are in
receipt of benefits or who lose their job during the course of
their studies. Similar amounts will be made available for following
years. The fee waiver will be available in respect of existing
as well as new students, studying towards 1st degree, HNC, HND,
or other undergraduate credit-bearing HE provision which is funded
by HEFCE.
12. The Department wants to see a society
where higher education is a real option for anyone who can benefit
from it, not just for an elite, as it was in the past, but for
every part of our society. Higher education gives individuals
the opportunity to participate in Higher Education make wider
choices about their careers, to enjoy the economic rewards for
their efforts, and to make the fullest contribution they can to
the life of the community. Still too many people are missing that
opportunity.
b. Further Education (FE) as an engine for
urban regeneration.
13. Further Education's reach is extensive.
It is at the heart of general education and vocational training
in a multiplicity of forms; full time study, part time study,
evening classes and day release. It also provides training in
the workplace and out of it. It is the first choice for many young
people at 16.
14. For the majority of colleges, a driving
force in their mission remains the provision of a non-discriminatory
service to all sections of the community. Education is more than
the acquisition of knowledge and skills. It can also be about
problem solving, learning to learn and acquiring the capability
for intelligent choice in exercising personal responsibility.
It is a weapon against poverty and the route to participation
and active citizenship.
15. Specifically Further Education colleges
are the main providers of "second chance" education
and training for individuals who have not completed or have missed
out on education. FE colleges are major employers in their own
right and often the largest employers in their locality. They
work closely with employers and regional bodies in addressing
local skill needs. An example of this is Havering and Barking
colleges which are working with Ford Motor Company in Dagenham
to expand both in house training and college based training for
the smaller firms which provide components for Ford.
16. FE provide access to education and training,
frequently through co-operation with other colleges, LEAs and
other organisations, in a wide range of community venues for people
who are unable to access the main college centre. In inner city
areas significant elements of such outreach work are often directed
at the needs of ethnic minorities. FE are actively involved in
lifelong learning partnerships, which often build on long standing
links with the LEA, TEC, careers service and other post 16 education
providers, acting as a catalyst for new or expanded collaborative
arrangements.
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