Memorandum by the Learning and Skills
Council (DRA 52)
OVERVIEW
1. Thank you for the opportunity to present
evidence on behalf of the Learning and Skills Council on the draft
Regional Assembly Bill. The views expressed below do not seek
to convey a view on whether or not directly elected assemblies
should be established.
2. The evidence outlined is focused upon
those aspects of the Bill, which will clearly impact upon the
work of the Learning and Skills Council and our partners, most
notably the Regional Development Agencies. The evidence draws
upon Learning and Skills Council experience of working with key
regional partners and illustrates this with reference to the North
East.
3. The Learning and Skills Council believes
that in order for learning and skills to be delivered, any new
plans for new structures or arrangements need to take into account
the excellent working practice that is already in existence. It
also needs to recognise the importance of having a body in place
that is able to respond to the needs of individuals and employers
at the local level while at the same time responding to the country's
economic needs at the national and regional levels. We are keen
to work with any body or organisation that shares the same agenda
as the Learning and Skills Council.
DETAILED COMMENT
4. The Learning and Skills Council is the
body that exists to improve the skills and competitiveness of
England. We are responsible for planning and funding high quality
education and training for everyone over 16 other than in higher
education. The LSC is firmly founded at the local level, ensuring
that we remain highly responsive to local communities and local
economies. However, in order to plan effectively and to ensure
that we respond to specific skills needs, we work closely with
a number of other organisations at local, regional, sectoral and
national levels. This partnership work is fundamental to everything
the LSC is doing and has resulted in some of our best work.
5. Although we need to remain neutral on
the policy decision of introducing elected regional assemblies,
we will be pleased to work with any body that shares the same
agenda as the LSC. In this context, we are pleased that paragraph
23 of the Draft Regional Assemblies Bill Policy Statement recognises
that restrictions would be needed to prevent any elected regional
assembly from duplicating or cutting across the existing statutory
functions and powers that are the responsibility of other public
bodies. As noted above, we agree with the statement that partnership
working is an ideal working practice for the learning and skills
sector.
6. The Draft Regional Assemblies Bill Policy
Statement clearly describes the need to ensure that adult skills
and workforce development match regional needs and contribute
to economic and social development. It also emphasises the need
for close and effective working between elected assemblies, Learning
and Skills Council and other members of the Regional Skills Partnership.
The LSC is committed to working with partners in developing the
proposals contained within the statement, specifically, paragraph
48 to ensure these objectives are met. We hope that our comments
contribute to this consideration.
7. The policy and Draft Bill refer to general
purposes of elected assemblies, which enable them to "develop
and help to deliver regional strategies and policies on jobs,
training and skills and to decide how best to integrate them into
other regional delivery mechanisms". There are a number of
existing bodies that function well and are already working within
a coherent plan for skills. There will therefore need to be much
greater clarity as to the relationship between the assembly scheme,
Regional Economic Strategy (RES) and the Skills Action Plan (or
FRESA) of the Regional Skills Partnership. As an example, in the
North East we are currently proposing that the Skills Action Plan
of the Regional Skills Partnership will drive the skills element
of the Regional Economic Strategy. This will ensure that skills
priorities are integrated with priorities for enterprise, innovation
and business support. It will also ensure the integration of national,
regional, local and sectoral skills priorities.
8. The Learning and Skills Council welcomed
the National Skills Strategy with its emphasis upon ensuring "employers
have the right skills to support the success of their businesses
and organisations, and individuals have the skills they need to
be both employable and personally fulfilled". The Learning
and Skills Council is concerned to ensure that the Skills Action
Plan of the Regional Skills Partnership, the skills element of
Regional Economic Strategy and the proposed assembly scheme is
strongly influenced by the needs of employers and would suggest
that the intended statutory guidance relating to assemblies' duties
on stakeholder involvement reflects this.
9. The Learning and Skills Council has at
its heart both the need and the ability to ensure that employers'
needs are at the centre of any action plan both through our structure
and our partnerships. This is clearly demonstrated in our new
business cycle, a mechanism which articulates the nation's skills
needs, provides a means of direct contribution by all stakeholders
and strikes the right balance between the needs of a sector and
the needs of the country or region. The Regional Skills Partnership
in the North East has a strong private sector chair and a number
of high calibre private sector representatives on its board in
addition to clear and developing mechanisms for wider employer
engagement (the Sector Skills Councils being central to this).
There is a need to ensure that a high level of employer engagement
is maintained and enhanced in the transition to an Assembly leading
the work of the Regional Skills Partnership.
10. Regional Development Agencies, Learning
and Skills Councils and other key partners are developing their
capacity and skills to lead and manage the work of the Regional
Skills Partnership, including the preparation of the Skills Action
Plan. It will be important to ensure that this expertise is recognised
and not lost or duplicated in the transition to the new arrangements
or in the creation of new structures.
11. We recognise the importance of an elected
assembly appointing five members to each of the local Learning
and Skills Councils. However, it will be necessary to ensure that
nominated representatives have the opportunity to work with the
Regional Director to maximise the local contribution to the regional
agenda. This is in recognition of the Regional Director's responsibility
for overall regional delivery of LSC plans and targets as outlined
in Annex A of the Concordat on Future Working Between Regional
Development Agencies and the Learning and Skills Council, which
is attached.
12. The current flexibility for partners
to respond to any issues on the ground in the most effective way
is essential. We therefore welcome recognition of the differing
approaches that can be taken by regions to ensure the supply of
skills, training and workforce development for adults is better
matched to the needs of the region.
13. Together with regional development agencies,
the Learning and Skills Council has developed "dual key"
arrangements for closely aligning the approach of the two bodies
to adult skills and workforce development. While the LSC/RDA Concordat,
mentioned above, sets out the de minimus working relationship
between the two organisations, the dual key arrangements result
in agreement between all partners about how to align relevant
budgets to contribute to the delivery of the skills agenda. We
believe this principle to be entirely in line with both the Skills
Strategy and the Regional Skills Partnerships.
14. The operation of dual-key in the North
East is a good example of how the arrangements work in practice.
The intention in the North East is that the Regional Skills Partnership,
whose remit extends beyond adult skills (covering the skills needs
of young people, and also adults undertaking learning at level
4 and above), will develop a Skills Action Plan which will clearly
articulate skills and employment priorities for the region, describe
responsibility for addressing those priorities and detail the
intended impact on the region. This could be described as representing
a multiple-key planning process for adult skills, not simply a
dual-key approach (although the regional development agency and
the LSC have the largest direct stake and can be expected to play
the key role).
15. Arrangements for joint planning do not
mean that all expenditure will also be joint and whilst committing
to address shared priorities, individual partners will continue
to have separate accounting responsibilities. The LSC Chief Executive,
and within their delegated authority the Regional Directors, will
continue to be accountable for expenditure from the budgets voted
by Parliament and transferred by DfES to the LSC. Therefore after
the joint plans have been agreed through the Regional Skills Partnership
process, operational expenditure decisions will continue to be
taken by LSC, and RDAs will have no veto or dual key to activate
expenditure from the LSC budget in-year. This does not of course
mean that RDAs cannot influence, comment on and advise on in-year
priorities. In the same way, the LSC will have no veto over RDA
operational expenditure decisions which will deliver agreed plans,
but can influence, comment and advise on them.
16. Further detail on the principles for
future working between the Learning and Skills Council and Regional
Development Agencies within the Regional Skills Partnerships is
outlined in some detail in the Concordat referred to above.
17. I hope you find the above comments helpful.
The Learning and Skills Council will be happy to expand upon any
of the points at the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister Select
Committee on the 14 September.
CONCORDAT ON
FUTURE WORKING
BETWEEN REGIONAL
DEVELOPMENT AGENCIES
AND THE
LEARNING AND
SKILLS COUNCIL
Purpose
1. This concordat sets out the principles
which will govern the future working between Regional Development
Agencies (RDAs) and the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) within
Regional Skills Partnerships. It has been agreed between the RDAs,
the LSC, the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) and the
Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), in consultation with other
partners.
Context
2. The Skills Strategy, "21st Century
Skills", published in July 2003 set out a new national agenda
for increasing investment in skills and training as a major contribution
to raising economic productivity. The primary mechanism for implementing
the Strategy at the regional level is through Regional Skills
Partnerships (RSPs).
3. RSPs bring together the key organisations
responsible at regional level for planning and funding public
services for economic development and regeneration, skills, training,
labour markets and business support. The primary organisations
are RDAs, the LSC, Jobcentre Plus, the Small Business Service
and the Skills for Business network. The role of RSPs is to ensure
that the strategy for supply of skills, training, business support
and labour market services is planned, managed and delivered in
a coherent, collaborative way which reflects the priorities set
out in Regional Economic Strategies. The relationship between
the RDA and the LSC is central to securing the RSP's effectiveness.
4. This concordat sets out the principles
which should govern that relationship. It will need to be applied
in a way that takes account of differing regional priorities and
circumstances. In particular, the operation of the joint RDA/LSC
adult skills pilots and the RDA/SBS Business Link pilots has given
the pilots regions greater experience in joint working to build
on in establishing their RSPs. This is an evolutionary process.
It will require both RDAs and the LSC to develop new ways of working,
and to build their internal capacity to deliver their respective
roles to full effect.
National, Regional and Local Roles
5. The national objectives for economic
development and skills investment cannot be secured through action
limited to one geographical level. They, and specifically the
Skills Strategy, require co-ordinated action at national, regional
and local levels. Consequently, no single dimension can over-ride
all others.
6. The LSC is the national agency responsible
for planning and funding the supply of post-16 education and training
in England outside higher education. It operates within a framework
of national targets for participation and attainment in post-16
education. Many of its programmes and operations need to be designed
and overseen on a national basis to secure transparency, equity
and consistent standards. At the same time, the delivery of LSC
programmes has to be highly responsive to regional and local needs.
The LSC has therefore recently appointed a new cadre of Regional
Directors, to increase the capacity to work with regional partners
through the RSPs in shaping the supply of training and skills
to meet regional needs. Within the framework of the agreed regional
strategy, the delivery of training must also directly reflect
local demand and circumstances, as identified through its 47 local
Councils.
7. The primary focus of RDAs is regional.
But they too operate within a framework of national objectives
and targets, while delivering many of their programmes in partnerships
at a sub-regional and local level.
8. The Skills Strategy assigns a major role
to Sector Skills Councils to identify for each major sector of
the UK economy the skills that employers need to raise productivity.
For many purposes, employers (particularly large employers) identify
with others in their sector across the UK, rather than in their
region or locality. Actions to promote employer engagement in
skills for productivity are therefore being developed through
national Sector Skills Agreements. The analysis of skills gaps
and deficits in each sector, and the action needed to address
them, set out in those Agreements will need to be reflected in
the work of Regional Skills Partnerships in shaping the supply
of training and business support services.
Principles
9. The shared objective is to maximise regional
productivity and economic development, and thereby promote social
inclusion, through securing the supply of skills, training and
business support which best meets the current and future needs
of employers in the region.
10. The RDA and the LSC will work together,
and with their other regional partners, to secure that objective.
They recognise a mutual obligation to collaborate in pursuing
their shared interests.
11. All parties recognise that a successful
partnership requires two things. There need to be appropriate
structures for setting priorities and deciding action. But there
also needs to be a spirit of constructive collaboration which
respects the different roles of the partners, recognises that
each has a distinct remit and objectives which go beyond the shared
objective in paragraph 9, and seeks a mutually acceptable outcome.
12. The RDA's primary role is to lead and
broker, with regional partners, the preparation and periodic review
of their Regional Economic Strategies. These Strategies will identify
the priorities for the economic development of the region. The
RDA will also lead and broker, with the LSC, Jobcentre Plus, the
Skills for Business network and other partners, the identification
of employers' priorities for the skills and training needed to
secure achievement of that Strategy.
13. Operating within the framework of its
national targets and objectives, the LSC's primary role is to
exercise its planning and funding powers so as to secure the supply
of high-quality training and skills that will best meet those
identified priorities.
14. All parties wish to see a mechanism
for taking, and acting on, decisions about the RES and its skills
consequences which is quick, effective and efficient; which directly
responds to employers' skills needs and priorities; and which
will secure the greatest impact in benefiting the region. So within
each RSP there must be an identified set of people who are able
to speak on behalf of their respective organisations in taking
those decisions and committing to act on them. In the case of
the RDA, that person is the Chief Executive. In the case of the
LSC, the Regional Director must have the necessary powers and
authority to discharge that role, working with and through the
local LSCs in the region. Annex A sets out how the LSC Regional
Directors will operate. The delivery of the LSC contribution will
be secured through the LSC's new business planning cycle, so that
the skills priorities identified from the RES and RSP can feed
directly into the planning and funding of training supply. Other
members include regional representatives of Jobcentre plus, the
Small Business Service/Business Link and the Skills for Business
network.
15. The composition, remit and operation
of that decision taking group will vary between regions. But the
common principles that will apply in all regions are:
(a)
Each member of the decision taking group will maintain
their current lines of accountability and reporting to their respective
employing organisation. Thus the RDA Chief Executive will continue
to account to the RDA Board, and the LSC Regional Director will
continue to account to the LSC Chief Executive. No part of the
RSP can over-ride those lines of accountability, or re-assign
control of any one partner's planning and funding responsibilities.
(b)
The functioning of the RSP will allow the regional
representative of each delivery organisation to play their full
part in reaching decisions about regional priorities and the key
actions required to achieve them. It will recognise that each
organisation has to balance national, regional and local objectives,
such that no one organisation's priorities can over-ride those
of the other partners. It will also recognise that, within the
agreed framework of priorities and actions, each organisation
must retain operational flexibility and discretion to decide the
best way of delivering its contribution.
(c)
Employer demand for the skills, training, business
support and labour market services needed to promote productivity
and future growth will be the primary determinant that shapes
the exercise of respective planning and funding powers. The delivery
of an integrated, high-quality, easily understood, and easily
accessed suite of support services for employers is a shared priority.
So each RSP needs a mechanism through which employers and their
representatives can clearly articulate their needs and priorities.
(d)
A wider group of RSP stakeholders, beyond the five
core delivery organisations, will be involved in setting and reviewing
the strategy.
16. The intention and expectation of all
parties is that the decision taking group will reach decisions
which are mutually acceptable. If in any particular case concerning
LSC and RDA interests that proves unachievable, the matter will
be referred to the LSC Chief Executive and whichever RDA chief
executive currently holds the role of national lead for the RDA
chief executives. If the matter still cannot be resolved at that
level, it will be referred ultimately to the Secretaries of State
for Education and Skills and for Trade and Industry to resolve.
Analogous arrangements would apply in relation to matters affecting
Jobcentre Plus, business support services, and the Skills for
Business network, with referral in each case to the Chief Executive
of the relevant national service, and thence if necessary to the
responsible Secretary of State.
17. One function of the decision taking
group will be to identify those public funds (both UK and European)
which are held by their respective organisations and which are
attributable to workforce development (including adult training
and skills), business support, productivity and labour market
support in the region. It is recognised that in some cases those
funds will be included within larger totals (for example, the
LSC allocates funds to colleges covering both 16-19 and post-19
training) and may have to be estimated. They will jointly discuss
how, subject to meeting the national targets applied to the relevant
organisations, those funds can best be deployed to achieve the
RES and its skills and business support priorities. The objective
is to secure the greatest value and impact from public funds,
and the greatest leverage of private investment, through collaboratively
deciding how those funds are best invested. Each member of the
group is then responsible for securing, through the planning and
funding powers of their respective organisations, their agreed
contribution to that plan.
18. It will be open to the RDA and the LSC
in each region, with their other RSP partners, to review progress
and develop at any stage mutually acceptable proposals for achieving
the shared objective in paragraph 9 more effectively in that region
by sharing targets, integrating planning operations, and pooling
funds. In considering any such proposals, the DfES and DTI will
have a presumption in favour of endorsing them subject to meeting
the following criteria:
(b)
That they will still deliver effectively relevant
national targets and objectives set for the LSC and the RDAs.
(c)
That lines of accountability for the delivery of
those targets and the safeguarding of public funds remain clear.
Review
19. The operation of this concordat will
be formally reviewed by the four parties in June 2006. That will
assess experience in setting up and operating RSPs, recognising
that different regions are starting from different points and
aiming to learn from the good practice of those which have made
most progress. In the light of that, it will assess the scope
for further evolution so as better to meet the shared objective
in paragraph 9. That evolution may include closer alignment and
integration of target-setting, planning, funding and review.
Approved by:
Charles Clarke,
Secretary of State for Education and Skills
Patricia Hewitt,
Secretary of State for Trade and Industry
Bryan Gray,
Chair of the North West Regional Development Agency
and current Chair of the Chairs of Regional Development Agencies
Mark Haysom,
Chief Executive of the Learning and Skills Council
June 2004
IMPACT OF
THE INTRODUCTION
OF REGIONAL
DIRECTORS ON
THE LSC'S
ABILITY TO
RESPOND TO
THE REGIONAL
AGENDA
Headlines
The creation of a regional structure will enhance
the relationships between the LSC and regional organisations,
not least RDAs, and Regional Assemblies.
Regional relationships will also mature with
other regional players—Association of Colleges, CBI, Institute
of Directors, Federation of Small Businesses and Universities
UK—all of whom will be critical in delivering the Skills
Strategy.
Regional Directors are responsible for overall
regional delivery of LSC plans and targets.
Regional Directors can move funding and targets
around between local LSCs and their providers in response to the
need to ensure overall regional objectives are met.
Regional Directors will be key players in establishing
the new Regional Skills Partnerships.
The Regional Skills Partnerships will set out
the priority needs in each region, including priorities in terms
of level 3 provision and above.
This regional analysis of skills needs will
drive LSC's allocation of funds within regions under the new LSC
Business Cycle.
In their plans for 2004-05, all Regional Directors
are developing regional LSC leads and dedicated budgets (including
ESF and alignment with RDA skills budgets) in support of regional
priority sectors and clusters within Regional Economic Strategies.
Each Regional Director will develop their own
specific proposals for workforce development across the region,
and also be responsible for identifying and disseminating good
practice across regions.
Regional Directors will also be responsible
for developing a capital investment strategy for the region, to
ensure first-class investment in learning provision, including
relevant Centres of Vocational Excellence, to develop the infrastructure
needed to deliver first class learning in line with regional skills
needs. This should include joint investment with other partners,
including RDAs.
Further detail
Regional planning and performance
The new accountability structures in the LSC
will be at regional level. In other words, Regional Directors
are responsible to Mark Haysom as Chief Executive for overall
regional delivery, but can move funding and targets around between
local LSCs and their providers in response to need, provided overall
regional objectives are met.
Regional Directors will be responsible for ensuring
effective initial allocation and in-year redistribution of funds
within regions, as changing patterns of spend and delivery emerge
across providers.
The same applies to targets. For example, LSC
has recently issued revised Apprenticeship targets to local LSCs
but told Regional Directors that they can flex between local LSCs
and sectors to achieve optimal outcomes.
The LSC is pressing local LSCs to ensure release
of funds from underperforming colleges. The Regional Director
will be ensuring a consistency of approach. Re-investment of any
funds released will be for the Regional Director to back priorities
for investment across their region.
Determining skill needs with partners
Regional Directors will be key players in the
Regional Skills Partnerships.
The RSPs will draw together research and data
at the regional level about the demand from employers and the
regional economy.
The RSP will set out the priority needs in each
region, in particular priorities in terms of level 3 provision
and above.
Purchasing in line with priorities
The Regional Directors will be responsible for
ensuring the local LSCs in the region use their purchasing power
with colleges and training providers to develop plans which collectively
will deliver those priority needs.
The issue is not primarily about how much "discretionary
spend" the LSC has, but how it uses its mainstream budgets
to influence provision.
The Regional Directors' watchwords will be the
quality and relevance of provision when working with local LSCs
in making planning and purchasing decisions.
Developing capital investment strategies
Regional Directors will also be responsible
for developing a capital investment strategy for the region, to
ensure first-class investment in learning provision, including
relevant Centres of Vocational Excellence.
The LSC would want RDAs to align their learning
and capital budgets alongside the LSCs to ensure overall regional
plans which effectively deliver on regional skills needs, and
realise the economic development impact of capital investment
alongside its impact on the quality and effectiveness of learning.
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