Ray Walker

Business Executive Director – Local Authorities, Community and School Development

Birmingham Metropolitan College

The Role of Further Education in the Development of Skills and Economic Growth

Challenge set down by government:

• “ Skills for Sustainable Growth”

• “Investing in Skills for Sustainable Growth”

• “New Challenges, New Changes”

• Promote Adult Skills.

• High Quality Teaching and learning

• Free Colleges/Providers from bureaucracy to enable better response to local needs/communities.

• Better investment in skills between the taxpayer, learner and employer.

Apprenticeships:• Significant increases in the number of

apprenticeships in the region. • Greater increase in youth apprenticeships as well as

adult apprenticeships.• Government funding for 250,000 more

apprenticeships over the next four years.• More High level Apprenticeships.• Apprenticeship Training Associations/Agencies

(ATAs) and Group Training Associations/Agencies (GTAs).

Adult Skills Budget- Provision for the unemployed:

• Meet the needs of those claiming JSA and ESA in Work Related Activity Group.

• Referral via Jobcentre Plus• Provision appropriate to learner and employer

needs.• Job Outcome Incentive Payments.

Skills Conditionality:

• Skills training a condition of continued receipt of benefit.

• Benefit sanction for non participants

Colleges and Training Providers to support Service Academies:

• Combining work placements with pre-employment training.

• Guaranteed Interviews with employers.

Key Developments to support growth via skills development:

• Review of funding.• Lifelong Learning Accounts Launch.• Development of new industry – led

professional standard schemes – ensuring qualifications are valued and are of high quality.

• £210 million /year protection of informal Adult Community Learning.

• Fully funded provision for the low skilled, young people and jobseekers.

• Government backed loans for first time in FE for learners aged 24+.

• Upfront cost of training not being a barrier to following learning and skills.

Growth and Innovation fund:

• £50 million / year.

• Pump prime and pilot selected projects, build leadership and management skills in SMEs.

What else needs to be done?

• Greater integration of the pre 19 and post 19 activity to address skills and employability.

• Young NEETs can and often do become older NEETs/long term unemployed.

• Addressing the skills and employment agenda much earlier with young people.

• Wolf Report – more appropriate vocational learning for young people.

• Following vocational qualifications that are recognised by employers.

• High quality Internships –a real engagement with the world of work.

• New structural arrangements to deliver education and training.

• Continued focus on functional skills and employability skills.

• Differentiated approach for specific disadvantaged groups.

• Programmes that integrate “wrap around” support with good teaching and skills delivery.