Memorandum 21
Submission from Ufi
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1. Background
1.1 Ufi is the company behind the nationally
renowned brand of learndirect, aiming to transform skills in the
UK using technology. Established in 1999, Ufi is now the largest
provider of skills and training in the UK.
1.2 Ufi is responsible for three customer-focused
services which are all unique to the UK:
— learndirect skills and qualifications,
web delivered learning with 1-1 tutor support
— learndirect business, learning
services to employers
— learndirect careers advice,
the national careers and advice service for adults currently available
by phone and over the web
1.3 Ufi operates across the nine English
Regions, Wales and Northern Ireland. Over 300,000 people do learndirect
courses each year and nearly 90% have either no or only Level
1 qualifications.
1.4 Ufi welcomed Lord Leitch's findings
and recommendations published in December 2006[61].
As implementation gets underway across the sector, as outlined
in the DIUS Implementation Plan[62]
and more recently the DIUS/DCSF Machinery of Government announcements[63],
Ufi has stepped up to the challenge by strengthening its regional
delivery and increasing its contribution to new PSA targets, thereby
establishing itself as a major provider in the new demand-led
landscape.
2. Key Messages for the Inquiry
2.1 Effectiveness of regional structures.
Ufi believes there is a lack of consistency with regard to the
effectiveness of structures and partnerships across the regions.
For example there is often tension between the LSC and RDAs in
the regional planning process due to conflicting priorities, eg
LSC focus on Level 2 v RDA focus on higher level skills (Level
3/Level 4 and beyond). The North East is one region where the
key agencies work well together, and this view is supported by
the fact that the North East is often a pilot region for new policy
initiatives.
2.2 Reform of the FE sector post Leitch.
There is a danger that the recent Machinery of Government proposals
in the White Paper "Raising Expectations: enabling the
system to deliver" may replace one complex system with
another. Ufi welcomes the adult responsiveness model to create
a truly demand led system through the development of Train to
Gain and Skills Accounts. The responsibility on employers and
learners to choose their provision needs to be supported by clear
information and a genuinely level playing field for providers.
In managing the transition, the lessons from Train to Gain should
be applied to Skills Accounts so that performance meets ambitions.
2.3 Impact on students. The impact of these
initiatives on students will become clearer as more funding is
routed through Skills Accounts and Train to Gain over the next
three years. In order to make the system work, individuals and
employers need informed choice and greater personalisation of
services. The AACS pilots need to be undertaken against a robust
blueprint which urgently needs to be developed, including full
use of web and phone technology.
2.4 Further detail on these key points can
be found below.
SPECIFIC AREAS
FOR CONSULTATION
3. Role of RDAs in implementing skills and
training policies
3.1 Ufi has been delivering skills training
at regional and sub regional level since learndirect was launched
in 2000 and since then we have developed variable relationships
with the RDAs as a strategic and delivery partner. We believe
the RDAs do not always work well with Regional LSC given their
focus on Level 3 skills and above and the LSC's priority to focus
funding on Level 2. This often creates tension in the regional
planning process.
3.2 RDAs have a broad remit; we believe
they are strong in reinforcing messages but weak on implementation
of policy.
3.3 We have also experienced inconsistencies
across regions in relation to partnership working. For example,
Ufi has secured representation on Regional Skills Partnership
Boards in only three regions. Where we have been successful, for
example in the South East, Ufi has worked hard to build strong
relationships with RSP members, and to ensure that they fully
understand how Ufi/learndirect can add value at regional and local
level. Ufi is not a member of the first Employment and Skills
Board (ESB) in London but our aim is to be involved in the relevant
sub-groups as they are established and to ensure that regional
ESBs understand Ufi/learndirect's contribution to regional objectives.
3.4 Policy affecting the role and remit
of RDAs in relation to skills and training is still evolving through
implementation of the DCLG Sub National Review. Under the proposed
changes top-tier councils will be given a new duty to assess the
economic conditions of their area: those assessments would then
form the basis of a Regional Strategy, drawn up by the RDAs and
covering areas including skills. Strategies would then be scrutinised
by regional forums of Local Authority leaders. Also under new
legislation, Councils rather than RDAs could lead on projects
using funding delegated to them from the RDAs.
4. Regional structures
4.1 It could be argued that the recent Machinery
of Government proposals in the White Paper "Raising Expectations..."
may confuse the regional and sub-regional landscape further—with
one complex planning and funding structure being replaced with
another. Ufi believes further clarity is needed around the potential
gaps that will be left when the LSC ceases to exist in 2010, including
the current role of LSC Regional Councils and potential constraints
imposed by Local Authorities, DIUS etc.
4.2 More clarity is needed around responsibility
and leadership of regional bodies. In Ufi's experience, unless
bodies such as Regional Skills Partnerships have clear authority
with budget, they do not have impact. For example the Regional
Skills Partnership in the Eastern region only became effective
when it became responsible for managing ESF funding.
4.3 As skills and employment policy and
delivery become more integrated it will be increasingly necessary
to bring together the key agencies and delivery partners in a
region. In the North East the key bodies, including LSC, JCP and
Regional Skills Partnership, are focused on delivering the Regional
Employability Framework (REF). Ufi supports the focus of the Framework
to remove duplication of funding however it is proving difficult
for some providers to enter the employability market as the regional
LSC already have provision that JCP refer into to meet their targets.
5. The role of the LSC
5.1 The LSC restructure in 2005 strengthened
their regional presence by creating regional LSC bodies with a
responsibility for strategies, planning, some commissioning and
delivery across the nine English regions, in addition to the National
Employer Service.
5.2 Pre-19 funding will transition to Local
Authorities in 2010 and the LSC will move to become the Skills
Funding Agency (SFA) within the next three years. It is still
unclear where the balance of power will lie for Adult Skills Strategy
in new regional structures post 2010. It is possible that DIUS
will take responsibility for strategy and that the SFA will become
a planning and funding body. This may create a significant distance
between the policy makers and the delivery, although it may create
opportunities for national providers such as Ufi to respond to
policy on a national level, providing an opportunity to become
a significant national delivery partner and potentially securing
national contracts.
6. The role of SSCs
6.1 Ufi believes SSCs have struggled with
the regional agenda and not had the impact expected because of
their national focus on qualifications reform, 14-19 and apprenticeships.
Ufi agrees with Leitch's observations that SSC performance is
variable but much of this is down to their differing heritage
and start up resourcing.
6.2 It is believed that SSCs have not successfully
addressed the employer engagement agenda partially due to weak
strategies for partnership working, particularly with brokers
and Chambers of Commerce. SSCs are the voice of the employer,
but they often do not make a significant contribution to regional
priorities. SSC membership is not always a true reflection of
businesses in a region, eg not representative of sole traders/micro-businesses.
6.3 There have been difficulties in aligning
Sector Skills Agreements (SSAs) with local strategies such as
Regional Economic Strategies and there is a danger that since
the closure of SSDA there will be little attention to SSAs going
forward. Some SSCs may feel their future is uncertain given the
UK Commission's plans to re-license later this year and there
is an expectation that the number of SSCs may be rationalised.
7. Respective roles of FE and HE in delivering
a region-based agenda
7.1 Bridging the gap between FE and HE is
still a policy priority. Ufi is a national organisation which
delivers regionally and sub-regionally and is the only national
organisation with an offer ranging from Entry Level to Post Graduate
level. Ufi believes more innovation is required in the sector
to make the adult responsiveness model successful. Ufi's unique
learning model packages technology, outreach, tutors and products
enabling a personalised learning experience to be delivered to
individuals and employers cost effectively.
7.2 The online, flexible nature of learndirect
makes learning "portable" and Ufi has been particularly
innovative, for example the development of a secure model delivering
learning into prisons. learndirect has now been rolled out in
25 prisons, with another 10 prisons coming on board by July 2008.
The offer includes a tutor-supported portfolio of learndirect
skills and qualifications including Skills for Life, IT and
work based learning—offering a pathway which can lead to
employment. Offenders have an Individual Learning Plan which can
be transferred to the learner on release enabling them to continue
to access their learning and learner records online in the community.
7.3 Ufi is also using the learndirect model
to address regional issues such as graduate migration. Through
its Learning through Work programme, Ufi partners with a number
of HEIs and FECs to deliver qualifications from Level 3/4 to Level
7 including Foundation Degrees, Honours Degrees and short CPD
courses so that graduates can be "grown" in a region
where there is a shortage of skills. learndirect Learning through
Work is delivered through a custom-built Learning Support Environment
enabling the development of tailored programmes for individuals
and groups. It particularly responds to the needs of business
because it:
— enables staff to gain relevant (and
QAed) learning and qualifications without taking time off work;
— demand led: programmes can be tailored
specifically to the work related needs of the employer and the
individual;
— tailored programmes can be developed
for employers within a short timescale.
— existing, relevant in-house courses
an be incorporated;
— includes a range of on-line learning
packages relevant to business need
8. Impact on students
8.1 To date, the impact of Leitch's review
has been more on systems and processes rather than the learner.
The impact of these initiatives on students will become clearer
as more funding is driven by demand over the next three years.
In order to make the new system work, individuals and employers
need informed choice and greater personalisation of services and
Ufi supports a contestable, demand led system which routes funding
through Skills Accounts and Train to Gain to empower students
to make informed choices based on quality and flexibility of provision
in an area.
8.2 The AACS pilots need to be undertaken
against a robust blueprint which urgently needs to be developed,
including full use of web and phone technology.
April 2008
61 Prosperity for all in the global economy-world
class skills (December 2006) Back
62
World class skills: implementing the Leitch Review of Skills
in England (July 2007) Back
63
Raising Expectations: enabling the system to deliver Back
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