This briefing note summarises the role of the LSC and highlights achievements to date. It also sets out challenges and opportunities for the future; including areas the LSC is focusing on to accelerate progress in order to deliver its priorities and targets, for the benefit of learners, employers and the communities it serves.
What is the LSC? The LSC is the body that is taking government priorities in post 16 education and training and turning them into action.
The LSC was established in 2001 to transform the life chances of individuals, the productivity of business and increase the efficiency of the system. Prior to this, there were 72 Training and Enterprise Councils, the Further Education Funding Council and many local authorities involved in the delivery of post 16 education and training. The LSC has brought all the planning and funding into one place, saving some £50m a year in operating costs.
The LSC plans and funds all post 16 education and training (other than Higher Education) including further education colleges, school sixth forms and work based learning. In 2005-06, it has a budget of £9.6bn. It is led by the needs of employers and the needs of learners; working with business to help meet their current and future skills requirements; and working with and on behalf of schools, colleges and other training providers to provide choice and opportunities for learners.
The LSC operates locally, regionally and nationally. Locally is where it has the most impact - working with providers - to deliver for learners, and employers. Regionally it engages with other regional partners, such as the RDAs on issues such as the Regional Economic Strategies. Nationally, the LSC works with Government and other national partners on policy and development and provides leadership to the whole system.
The LSC also benefits from the expertise of 750 non-executives, locally, regionally and nationally, who have a statutory responsibility to ensure that the education and training needs of learners - whatever their background- and employers - whatever their size or sector - are met. At each level they support and challenge what the LSC does, they provide leadership to the LSC and to the sector and they act as ambassadors for the LSC.
Progress to date Four years on, the LSC has overseen real progress for young people, adults and employers:
For young people: · in 2004/05 there were 1.4 million young people (76%) in learning: the highest number ever; · there are 275,000 apprentices: the highest number ever; · over the last year the number of young people achieving a level 2 qualification (equivalent of 5 good GCSEs) has risen from 705,000 to 722,000.
For adults: · over 800,000 adults have improved their reading and writing over the past 4 years. We are on course to meet the 2007 target of helping 1.5 million people to improve their skills.
For employers and employees: · our employer training pilots have been successful in increasing staff training, benefiting 26,000 employers, 210,000 employees with a 90% satisfaction rate; · there has been a rapid increase in Centres of Vocational Excellence (CoVEs), providing high quality facilities and teaching in specialist subjects. There are now over 350 CoVEs in operation and there are expected to be 410 by the end of March 2006 - ahead of target. · in March 2005 we announced plans for our first Skills Academy - the Fashion Retail Academy, offering newly developed qualifications and backed with £11 million of funding from employers including Arcadia, GUS, M&S and Next. Four more Skills Academies were announced last week in the following sectors: Food and Drink, Financial Services, Construction and Manufacturing.
Investing in World class buildings To offer everyone world class education and training, the LSC needs to provide world class buildings and facilities. Total investment supported since the LSC was formed has now passed £2 billion; the LSC has now updated nearly half of the FE Estate. The LSC's capital budget will increase from £394 million in 2005-06 to £480 million in 2006-07 and expected to rise to £600 million by 2007-08. Better buildings provide a better, more effective learning environment for learners and for businesses as well as for lecturers and other staff.
Quality The LSC has a key role in driving up quality, driving out poor quality as well as action to support the achievement of excellence. In 2004/05, of the 94 colleges inspected 96% were satisfactory or better. The number of colleges judged as being in the worst category by the Inspectorates fell from 13 to 4.
Current and future challenges For young people Yet, despite record levels of young people in learning, we still have one of the lowest levels of participation in education at 17 yrs, compared to other countries, according to the OECD. The LSC also faces the challenge of keeping pace with the population of 16-18 year olds, which has risen by almost a fifth in the past ten years.
In addition, continuing to increase the number of young people in learning means engaging more of the hardest to reach young people. Some 200,000 young people are still missing out entirely - on education, training or employment. Last year the LSC invested £0.25 billion on our Entry to Employment (E2E) programme to bring them back into formal study. In the two years since E2E began, the percentage of young people moving out of unemployment into jobs, training or education has risen by 10 percentage points and continues to improve.
The LSC also needs to do more to improve the numbers of young people at 19 achieving Level 2 qualifications; and it is working with the Prime Minister's Delivery Unit to improve performance in this area.
For adults Despite progress on Adult Basic Skills, 3.5 million people still go to work who cannot read and there are 15 million people with low number skills. In 2004, 50% of staff in small business received no training.
For employers 20% of business report skills gaps in their workforce. 1 in 5 vacancies remain unfilled because no applicants with the right skills apply for them. More than 40% of employers suffering from skills shortages said they were losing business as a direct result.
All of this harms England's ability to compete in the modern global economy.
14-19 and the Skills agenda The Government's 14-19 and Skills Strategies are key to tackling these challenges, to do even more to ensure young people have the opportunity to succeed and to raise the nation's skills and competitiveness. The LSC is central to the delivery of both. For 14-19 year olds it is working with local authorities and other local partners, leading collaboration to increase opportunities and achievement for young people. Through the Skills Strategy, the LSC is working with partners such as the Sector Skills Councils to ensure that the training it funds meets the skills requirements of employers and the economy. It is ensuring that adults have the skills they need to succeed in the modern workplace; and that employers are able to recruit individuals with the right skills to contribute to the success of their business now and over time.
The Government has agreed that the LSC should take over responsibility for learning and skills for offenders from the Home Office and Department for Education and Skills, for completion in September 2006; and for unemployed people from Jobcentre Plus.
Funding The LSC's recently published funding strategy (Priorities for Success) is designed to support these priorities and meet the challenges set out above. This means funding to support increased participation and achievement for young people, embedding 14-19 reforms, supporting low skilled adults in acquiring basic skills, progression to level 2 qualification and above. It also means increasing employer engagement and meeting the needs of employers and continuing to raise standards of education and training.
This focus on priorities inevitably creates funding pressures elsewhere. To manage these funding pressures the LSC expects colleges to reduce courses that do not contribute directly to these priorities; and to re-balance funding so that employers and individuals outside the priority areas contribute more towards the cost of learning. The increase in contribution reflects the tangible benefits (including financial return) that those employers and individuals receive from increased skills levels.
Transformation and leadership It is vital that the right tools are in place to enable the post 16 sector and the LSC itself to deliver on this huge agenda. To this end, the LSC has embarked on a fundamental programme of transformation for the sector and for itself through its agenda for change programme. This programme sets out proposals to remove the obstacles that the sector currently faces in delivering high quality, relevant education and training to young people, employers and adults. The principles underpinning agenda for change are about simplification, removing barriers to cooperation, moving resources across the front-line and excellence across the sector. Agenda for change consists of 7 themes:
· how the sector can best meet the needs of employers · how to build a sector fully committed to quality and delivery of the highest standard · how funding methods can be changed to support priorities · how data can be simplified · how the sector can achieve business excellence · how the reputation of the sector as a whole can be enhanced and · how the LSC can change itself to provide real leadership to the sector.
The proposals for change to the LSC itself will mean that it can operate: · locally with flexibility and expertise, focusing on relationship management and partnership working; · regionally with greater efficiency and effective support to local teams through regional service centres; · nationally, through a smaller, expert national office that adds value to the whole of the LSC.
The implications of this are huge, with potential management and running cost savings of up to £40m a year which could be redirected to front-line learning and a reduction in posts of some 1321.
LSC's Annual Statement of Priorities The LSC's second Annual Statement of Priorities for 2006/07 to be published in November, sets out the 6 priorities that support all of the above in order to achieve a step change improvement in outcomes for young people, adults, and employers. These priorities are:
1. Ensure that all 14 to 19-year-olds have access to high-quality, relevant learning opportunities 2. Make learning truly demand-led so that it better meets the needs of employers, young people and adults 3. Transform the learning and skills sector through agenda for change 4. Strengthen the role of the LSC in economic development so that we provide the skills needed to help all individuals into jobs 5. Improve the skills of the workers who are delivering public services. 6. Strengthen the capacity of the LSC to lead change
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