MD2147 Education and Youth Work Programme 2017-18 to 2020-21

1.1 The Education and Youth Team aims to transform the life chances of young Londoners by improving childcare and early years provision, supporting education standards, addressing inequality and by nurturing young people’s own ambition and resilience.

1.2 Public services for children face pressure including funding, numbers of school places required, recruitment and retention of teachers (especially in subjects such as STEM which are critical to the future economy) and maintaining out-of-school youth activities. Support for the most vulnerable children and young people, including those at risk of disengaging from education, children in need and those at risk of poor mental health or involvement in anti-social behaviour/youth crime, can be addressed through an early intervention approach to reduce inequality and ensure social integration.

1.3 There is an important role for the Mayor and GLA to work in partnership with a wide range of statutory and voluntary sector agencies on addressing these challenges and supporting better co-ordination of the range of cultural, sporting, volunteering, careers and work opportunities for children and young people in London.

1.4 Research based evidence shows that early intervention strategies to improve social mobility and social justice should include:

• Improved take up of quality early years and childcare provision by disadvantaged families;

• Good educational outcomes for all children and young people;

• Improving routes from school to job market including careers education; and

• Action to improve family incomes through access to better paid, secure work.

1.5 The Education and Youth Team has developed a range of programmes in partnership with the wider system , to help address these priority areas. These programmes contribute directly to three of the five Mayor’s top priorities: social integration, future economy, and arts and culture.

1.6 This report sets out proposals for new activity to help improve the life chances of young Londoners. Programmes which we propose will receive funding are:

• A programme to improve access to quality and affordable early years education and childcare;

• Expansion of our award-winning London Curriculum programme to help young Londoners access the capital’s cultural and scientific offers. The London Curriculum supports schools in bringing the national curriculum to life, inspired by the people, places and heritage of London;

• Our programme to support schools to achieve good educational outcomes for all children and young people. This includes:

o The championing of STEM education and careers especially for girls and BAME pupils

o Supporting London teacher recruitment and retention, particularly in areas such as STEM which are essential for London’s future economy;

o Recognising and rewarding those schools which help achieve great outcomes, particularly those which are making a real impact on the performance of low prior attaining pupils to address disadvantage and inequality by ensuring these students don’t fall further behind; and

o Working with the Department for Education, the Education and Skills Funding Agency and the Boroughs to support the provision of school places;

• Further development of our London Ambitions portal and careers education work to improve routes from school to job market; and

• Research and dissemination to ensure that our programmes are evidence based and that we widely share learnings and data to make a strong case for investment in what works in improving social mobility.

1.8 There are other complementary education and youth programmes that will be delivered over this period that are not affected by this report. These include Getting Ahead London (DD2106), Stepping Stones (MD1547), the Youth Innovation Fund (MD1537), London Schools Excellence Fund (LSEF MD1132) the LSEF Legacy Fund (MD1538) and the Peer Outreach Team (DD2112).

1.9 The table below sets out any previous approvals for activity in this MD that have had previous funding. These approvals are historical and do not overlap with approvals in this decision document.

1.9 Delivery and commissioning of activity will vary across each project. Activity will be commissioned following procurement guidelines.

1.10 Approval is sought for expenditure across the financial years 2017-18 to 2020-21 as follows. We will seek additional non-GLA funding, which we will submit for approval at a later date once funding sources are identified and values confirmed. Forecast European Social Fund income is included in this paper.

As we gain evidence that our programmes are effective we will be looking to scale up and expand activity subject to budget availability, match funding and relevant approvals.

2.1 Every child in London should have the best possible chance for happiness and success. All young Londoners should benefit from a good school place, opportunities to thrive in safe and welcoming communities and a chance to have a say and contribute to London’s future. Our overarching aims are:

• More children will be ready to thrive at school from the age of 5;

• A good school place for all London’s children;

• All children in the city will be doing better at school, and disadvantaged children will catch up with their peers; and

• More young people will be on track to leave school ready for adult life in a world city.

2.2 Improving access to quality and affordable early years education and childcare

We want to:

• Support productivity and competitiveness by removing childcare as a barrier to work for parents who wish to re-enter the workforce or progress within their careers; and

• Increase the availability of quality childcare.

This is critical for improving maternal employment, ensuring skills are retained and enhanced in the face of Brexit, and securing London’s future economic success. The GLA and its partners will work to achieve this through:

• Improving affordability and access so families can find childcare that meets their needs; and

• Improving the quality of early years provision for children, particularly the most disadvantaged.

The earlier a child starts to learn the better they tend to do in school and later on in life. London is lagging behind the national average with respect to take up of the 2 year old free early years entitlement - uptake of free early education is below average in London. In 2015, 46% of eligible 2 year olds took up a free early education place in London, compared with 58% nationally. In 2016, 86 per cent of 3 and 4 year-olds in London took advantage of their free part-time place, compared to 95 per cent nationally.

It is often the children from disadvantaged backgrounds who are missing out on this vital early years education. By the age of five, children eligible for free school meals are almost three months behind their peers .

We are proposing to initially provide grant funding for two key activities. Early Years Hubs will improve collaboration across settings. Schools, childminders and Private Voluntary and Independent (PVI) nurseries will work together to support quality early years practice and engage with families to improve access for the most disadvantaged. We anticipate that a minimum of three Hubs will deliver over a three year period to support disadvantaged children. The focus of the Hubs will differ according to their identified needs but will include activity to increase parent’s access to quality affordable childcare. All Hubs will deliver activity to increase the number of children accessing the free early years education entitlement for 2 year olds. Hubs may also collaborate to improve access to the extended hours entitlement for 3 and 4 year olds, provide childcare out of normal working hours and support children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). We also want hubs to promote early years as a career: for example, working with local schools and colleges to provide experience of the world of work in early years or establishing early years apprenticeship ambassadors.

We will conduct an open application process to select the lead organisation for each of the early years hubs. The successful applicant for each of the Hubs will be provided grant funding. We will seek an in-kind contribution from Early Years Hubs applicants. We will commission an external evaluator and produce a toolkit to share the learning widely across the London system.

There is significant evidence that well trained and better qualified early years practitioners improve the quality of early years education. Ofsted said “excellent early education and care are underpinned by strong leadership; this is what counts most and makes the greatest difference”. Practitioners with higher level qualifications (e.g. graduates and level 4 upwards) in particular have been associated with narrowing the gap between the most and least disadvantaged children. We will deliver a three year long Early Years Leaders programme to support early years educators to progress in their careers and improve outcomes for children, particularly those that are disadvantaged. This will be aimed at existing and aspiring nursery and childminding leaders. The programme will include coaching and mentoring support, sharing best practice, and business and leadership skills. We are investigating use of European Social Funding to support delivery of units towards qualifications at level 4 upwards. The support provided through the programme will be ongoing, targeted to the needs of practitioners, and linked to improving practice.

Outputs and outcomes

The Early Years Hubs and the Early Years leader programme are forecast to commence in 2017-18 and will each deliver for three years (over four financial years). The hubs need this time length to establish and embed new ways of collaborative working and to give sufficient time to test new models and understand the impact of their work. The early years leader programme needs sufficient lead-in time for the delivery organisation to identify mentors and to plan the training modules. Consultation has indicated that a long-term coaching and mentoring relationship has the most impact. This time length allows for economies of scale over the programme length and facilitates the use of ESF match funding which requires a longer commissioning lead in time.

Decision

• Expenditure of up to £1,100,000 spread over the financial years 2017-18 (£284k), 2018-19 (£283k), 2019-20 (£283k) and 2020-21 (£175k) to deliver the early years hubs and leadership programme, which will include a cost of £850,000 to the GLA and receipt of European Social Funding of up to £250,000.

2.3 Expansion of the London Curriculum

Schools are critical places to ensure we enable all young people to access the wider cultural, scientific and educational assets of the city and connect them to the city. Working closely with teachers, cultural and science experts the Education and Youth Team has developed the award- winning London Curriculum, to support teachers in bringing learning to life inspired by the people, places and heritage of London. This approach is being adopted in other metropolitan areas and cities.

Despite London’s wealth of assets and thriving industries, too many young people growing up in the city are not getting the chance to engage in creative or sporting activities, explore its culture, heritage or science or gain experience of the world of work. Research from The Sutton Trust highlights profound inequalities in uptake of extra-curricular activities between lower income families and those that are wealthier.

The London Curriculum Units cover the arts and sciences with topical areas relevant to London such as air quality and the Green Belt and are currently in use in over 80 per cent of secondary schools and over 300 primaries. There are 25 key secondary units and three cross-curricular primary units available for schools. The numbers of schools using the London Curriculum continue to rise each month and the quality of the resources and events is widely recognised in the sector and nationally.

The power of the London Curriculum is that, once it is embedded in a school, then opportunities are opened up to every child in the school, regardless of their background. Importantly schools serving deprived London boroughs are more likely to be registered for the London Curriculum. Providing an enhanced offer to the most deprived boroughs and groups of children is central to future work.

From 2017 to 2021 our plans are to:

• Secure the engagement of up to 90% of London’s primary and secondary schools with the universal London Curriculum offer, with demonstrable impact on learning. We will do this through a robust engagement campaign and by using the London Curriculum Lates programme and the website to support and share learning between schools.

• Ensure those children and young people who are least likely to benefit from London’s heritage, scientific and cultural venues will be benefiting most. To achieve this we will create family resources for children, young people, families and schools. We will develop enhanced London Curriculum activity for children, young people, families and schools in disadvantaged areas and make sure it works for groups with high or special needs.

• Use the London Curriculum to help children and young people become active citizens of the city in the widest sense placing education within a wider system of economic, cultural, sporting and community assets for young Londoners and their families. To support active citizenship and equip young people for a positive future in the city, we will use existing, and new, resources and activities, including writing new secondary resources in citizenship.

• Develop strong partnerships and seek sponsorship to drive the quality, richness, scale and sustainability of the programme. Strategic direction will be overseen by an advisory group including external partners and funders.

• Further evidence the ongoing impact on learning by evaluating the London Curriculum.

Outputs and outcomes

The London Curriculum is a long-term project which has a clear work programme to March 2021 to extend resources, raise external funding and embed use by London’s schools. Multi-year approval is required to provide the certainty which will enable the team to undertake school and funder engagement with the majority of London’s schools, and in particular the most disadvantaged pupils.

Decision

• Expenditure of up to £240,000 spread over the financial years 2017-18 (£40k), 2018-19 (100k), 2019-20 (£50k) and 2020-21 (£50k) to deliver the London Curriculum programme.

2.4 Support to London Schools to achieve good educational outcomes

How we educate and train our young people has a profound effect on both their own life chances and our city’s future prosperity. London’s schools have seen a transformation in recent years and achieve the best outcomes of any region in relation to both progress and attainment for young people at the end of primary and secondary school, especially for the most disadvantaged children .

However, there are still large numbers of young Londoners who don’t achieve the expected standard by the end of Key Stage 4, a lack of a proper focus on high quality vocational and technical routes into work, a high level of youth unemployment and child poverty (in particular, rising family in work poverty). This has major detrimental implications for children and young people’s long term health and well-being, as well as London’s future economic success.

The Mayor has committed in his manifesto to support schools and ensure that both teachers and school support staff alike are properly recognised, respected and rewarded. City Hall has a city-wide strategic role, seeking to help local authorities coordinate school-place planning and prepare properly for long-term population growth

2.4.1 Championing STEM education and careers

We will lead new work to develop stronger Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) pathways working with a wide range of external partners to encourage more women, girls and BAME people into STEM careers.

We want to raise STEM career aspirations through getting young Londoners to feel like scientists and that science is ‘for them’. An important focus is challenging stereotypes – particularly around gender – and ensuring this is a top consideration in any school science programme.

We also need to start early. Children start to form ideas about their identity and careers from as young as four years old. Yet research shows STEM toys are three times more likely to be aimed at boys than girls . This is where the gendering of interests, identities and careers begins. We want more toy/play businesses to work proactively to make toys open to all children, regardless of gender.

There is a wide and varied offer of external support for schools. The Mayor’s London STEM partnership plan will focus on working strategically with partners in the business and education sectors and professional bodies, to make a strong regional offer for schools. We will use our existing London Curriculum programme to bring partners together to provide in kind support for teacher professional development, subject knowledge and pedagogy particularly in primary schools. Similarly, through the London Ambitions programme we will increase information on STEM careers and the new early years programmes currently in development will also include STEM related content.

We will support schools to deliver more on STEM careers activity by extending the Team London Enterprise Adviser scheme to primary schools. We are working with Stem Learning and EngineeringUK Big Bang fairs to support STEM careers advice for secondary schools and linking STEM activities with the Mayor’s Smart Cities agenda to encourage behaviour change in schools.

To initiate activity we are working on three priorities for the next academic year:

• Launch the ‘Mayor’s London Scientist’ recognition scheme that promotes established school science programmes to boost their uptake in London and encourage young people to investigate issues relevant to their city – like air pollution and biodiversity loss.

• Deliver ‘STEM Speed Network’ events as a model to link teachers with industry and Higher Education Institute outreach departments to demystify the field of STEM, allowing teachers to inform students what jobs are available to them.

• Hold an ‘Equal Play Roundtable’ to spotlight what toy and play businesses are doing to tackle gender stereotypes in the sector and highlight the benefits of these initiatives in the public sphere.

These will be launched in time for 2018 which is the Year of the Engineer and the Centenary of the Representation of the People Act 1918.

In future years, the STEM programme will work with our partners to support the integration of offers for schools. We will also work with the sector to ensure a range of offers are available for all schools, particularly science focused careers activity. Further targeted activity to support disadvantaged schools and pupils will be undertaken through these activities. Interdisciplinary science and creative arts will be the theme for the STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and maths) programme activity in 2019 and 2020 to include work with Culture and the Mayor’s new Music Board.

2.4.2 Supporting London teacher recruitment and retention

Significant difficulties in recruiting teachers at all levels, subjects and phase have been identified by the London school system as its number one concern alongside school funding and budget reductions. Nearly one third of secondary schools in the city have teacher vacancies and the proportion of primary teachers leaving the state sector altogether is higher in London than in any other region . A Department for Education report shows London consistently having the highest proportion of schools reporting a vacancy of at least one classroom teacher. This impacts directly on the breadth of subjects being offered to young Londoners, especially in the STEM subjects.,

To help address this we will deliver activity with the London Teaching Schools, Boroughs and other partners working with networks of schools to help them inspire, recruit and progress London teachers and tackle problems of unfilled teacher training places in London; and particularly for shortage subjects (e.g. STEM, Geography) and in the primary school phase.

We will bring together activities including research to quantify the scale and detail of London’s teacher recruitment and requirements.

The aim of GLA support will be low cost and high impact by working strategically with the London school system to:

• Amplify the case to be made to government to prioritise London’s needs if it wants London’s schools to share their continuing success with weaker schools across the UK;

• Commission key London level research to understand better the supply and demand requirements;

• Host a hub on the london.gov.uk site to promote the benefits of training and starting a teaching career in London schools; and

• Build on the London School Atlas to offer a similar functionality to drive more interested potential teachers into training in London schools and universities.

2.4.3 School recognition programme – Schools for Success

Schools for Success will reward the hard work of teachers, support staff and schools across London. It will recognise those schools achieving great educational outcomes – and particularly those which are making a real impact on the performance of low prior attaining (LPA) pupils. These include special educational needs and disabled (SEND) pupils, pupils eligible for free school meals (FSM), Looked After Children, black Caribbean, Gypsy, Roma and Traveller pupils and white working class pupils.

Ensuring exceptional progress for LPA children whilst attaining at least the London average for all children improves equity and fairness in the education system and improves social mobility by ensuring these students are enabled to achieve their full potential. The 150 eligible London schools in 2017-18 comprise 118 primary schools and 32 secondary schools, who will be invited to join the programme. The cohort of eligible schools will be refreshed annually.

A network of schools will be established as an exemplar of the great teaching and leadership practice in London. They will support other London schools to improve their progress made with low attaining pupils. School led knowledge sharing will be delivered with the Teaching Schools community and some boroughs by embedding this programme in their own CPD events, and with the support of the UCL Institute of Education. The GLA will facilitate the programme and publish data and self-analysis of the recognised schools’ progress achievements to help aspiring schools learn from this exceptional practice.



2.4.4 Mayor’s Education Conference and London Education Report

The Education Conference is a key opportunity for the Mayor and his team to engage with London schools. It provides a platform to set the scene of the current state of education in the capital including identifying areas for improvement, informing Mayoral policies and plans, highlighting innovative approaches and providing key thought pieces from influential and international educators. The London Education Report is published alongside the conference. We will seek sponsorship towards the costs of future education conferences.

2.4.5 Providing a good school place

Planning for London’s growing secondary school population is an important issue as it is due to expand significantly over the next five years. London has large secondary schools with limited room to grow, and suitable sites for new schools have to be sourced.



The GLA is working with the boroughs, the Department for Education and the Education and Skills Funding Agency to support better coordination across all stakeholders.. A recent snapshot report by the boroughs confirms that there is a gap between planned and required schools provision and identified some suggested areas for improvement. Three areas where additional help is sought from the Mayor relate to (i) pupil demand, school capacity data and pupil mobility and (ii) best practice on school development and design, especially multi-use sites and tight urban sites and (iii) information sharing and networking across the various stakeholders and agencies involved. Supporting the boroughs on these three areas will contribute to increased data transparency, improved schools design and the wider infrastructure 2050 planning.

We will publish updated population projections and use school capacity and projected new schools’ data profiles to show areas of unmet demand and scope and test further data analysis on pupil mobility modelling. With London Councils, we will run a series of good practice sessions for practitioners and publish design advice developed by the Mayor’s Good Growth by Design, in conjunction with London Councils and other relevant stakeholders. We will review progress and conduct a further gap analysis to identify additional activity.

Outputs and outcomes

We are requesting approval for four years of funding to support London schools to achieve good educational outcomes. This is a complex programme of work that is reliant on sustained partnership building and collaboration with the education and STEM sector over multiple academic years. Our financial contribution in this area is small but our commitment helps build relationships with stakeholders to leverage greater support over the four year time frame. To build the capacity for the system to make tangible progress requires lead-in time, and the challenges that we aim to address are long term and cannot be resolved in a single year.

Decisions

2.5 Expenditure of up to £608k spread over the financial years 2017-18 (£152k), 2018-19 (£152k), 2019-20 (£152k) and 2020-21 (£152k) to deliver support to London schools to achieve good educational outcomes

2.6 Development of the London Ambitions portal and careers education work to improve routes from school to job market

London Ambitions: Shaping a Successful Careers Offer for all Young Londoners sets out seven recommendations for the London Ambitions career offer to transform the landscape of careers and employment support for young people across London. Produced through London Councils, the London Enterprise Panel (LEP) and the GLA, London Ambitions recommends that schools and colleges provide:

• Access to impartial, independent and personalised careers education, information, advice and guidance;

• At least 100 hours of experiences of the world of work for all young Londoners;

• An explicit publicised careers policy and careers curriculum in every secondary school and college; and

• A governor with oversight for ensuring the institution supports all students to relate their learning to careers and the world of work from an early age.

We launched the London Ambitions portal (www.london.gov.uk/ambitions) in spring 2016 to enable schools and colleges to access opportunities that provide students with a rich careers education offer and real experience of the world of work. Employers can promote their offers of support to schools and learn what others are doing to support schools and colleges develop the future workforce. Nearly one third of London’s secondary schools are now signed up to the portal.

We levered in £8m of ESF funding to create twelve Careers Clusters which are supporting school and college leaders in a whole-school approach to designing and implementing a high quality careers offer. 129 secondary schools and colleges across London are engaged in clusters which have been contracted by the Education and Skills Funding Agency. We are working with the Clusters to share learning with all of London’s schools and colleges.

The LEAP has continued to prioritise London Ambitions and its fit with Skills for Londoners. We will continue to improve the portal to ensure that it meets the needs of both businesses and schools. We intend to transfer the portal from its current microsite onto www.london.gov.uk in autumn 2017 alongside technical improvements. Ongoing budget is required to meet annual hosting and technical support, upgrades to enhance the user experience.

We will be running targeted campaigns, covering science, technology, engineering, arts and maths opportunities on the portal and to increase usage by primary schools.

Outputs and outcomes

We have requested multi-year funding for the portal as we are confident that it is meeting a continued need from schools and businesses for a mechanism to make it easier for them to link together to open-up more experiences of the world of work to London’s young people. This confirmation of funding allows the team to carry out a long- term school and business engagement plan and provides the confidence to invest in improvements to the technical side of the site.

Decision

• Expenditure of up to £250k spread over the financial years 2017-18 (£25k), 2018-19 (£75k), 2019-20 (£75k) and 2020-21 (£75k) to deliver the London Ambitions work programme.

2.7 Research and dissemination

Research and knowledge dissemination in 2017-18 includes: London Learning research and development of a new vision setting out the Mayor’s commitment to children and young people; joint research with the GLA’s Economic Business Policy Unit and London Councils to inform London government’s policy position on how the 16-18 skills and education landscape could be reformed to deliver improved learning and employment outcomes for all young Londoners (see ADD2107); and commissioned research on the teacher recruitment and retention evidence base. We will undertake research to identify best practice in supporting disadvantaged learners and host a round table to identify how best the Mayor and City Hall can work with stakeholders to help to improve outcomes for children in care and care leavers. We will continue to focus on sharing evaluation and building an evidence base for the education and youth sectors. Future years research and knowledge dissemination activity will ensure that our programmes are evidence based and that we widely share learnings and data to make a strong case for investment in what works in improving social mobility. The programme be confirmed annually and the relevant approval sought.

Outputs and outcomes

Decision

• Expenditure of up to £60,000 in 2017-18 on research and dissemination to ensure that our programmes are evidence based, we have a strong case for change and that we widely share learnings.

The success of London’s children is critical to the success of the city. London’s future depends on every child acquiring the skills that our economy needs to succeed. How well we educate children will determine both their future, and that of London as a whole.

The Mayor’s Annual Education Report 2017 provides analysis of the success of London primary and secondary education and the impact across cohorts of children.

The proportion of London’s children achieving a good level of development at age five has increased rapidly in recent years. In every London borough, children eligible for free school meals (FSM) do better at GCSEs than their peers in the rest of England. Also, children who have English as a second language do just as well at school as their peers, which is not the case in the rest of England.

However, we know that children from some groups and communities still do much worse than their peers, with initial gaps in development widening, as those children get older. The early years are critical to a child’s educational development, but children whose parents have low-incomes suffer immediate disadvantages because they are less likely than their peers to access high quality childcare.

White British boys who receive FSM achieve the lowest grades at GCSE of any main ethnic group and white British FSM girls are also the lowest performing main female ethnic group, although with a huge degree of variation between boroughs. For example, GCSE performance for children from the White ethnicity group in Westminster is high compared while there are much lower levels of attainment in Newham. Children from Black communities tend to have lower attainment levels at GCSE than their peers and are more likely to be excluded. Children living in temporary housing and those from the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities face significant challenges at school due to in-year school moves. Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children have the lowest attainment levels at every key stage.

Boys continue to do less well than girls and children with special education needs (SENs) do less well than those with no identified needs at school. Children with SENs are also much more likely to be permanently excluded than their peers, and to have been the victims of bullying. Young lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT+) people are more likely to be bullied at school, which affects their desire to attend school and in turn their results. Looked after children have some of the poorest outcomes at school of any group.

The programme will address the equality duty by:

• Working with early years, schools and colleges to address under-representation of girls and women in science and engineering higher qualifications and professions.

• Working with partners to improve outcomes for children who are disadvantaged by championing high quality professional development of teachers with strategies to tackle disadvantage

• Supporting schools to recruit, retain and progress the best educational workforce that is also as diverse as the communities they serve who can be role models and provide useful insights to aid children’s development

•Designing programmes to improve the quality of early years teaching and learning that work equally well for all children supporting early providers to collaborate and share good practice

• Continuing to monitor inequalities in educational outcomes of London’s children and young people

The impact of the programme will be monitored and theories of change and evaluation frameworks are being established across all of programme areas.

1. Key risks and issues

1. Links to Mayoral strategies and priorities

Our education and youth programme contributes directly to three of the five Mayor’s top priorities: social integration, future economy, and arts and culture.

Our programme links to the following manifesto pledges:

• Make childcare more affordable and accessible with a strategy that delivers for business and workers

• I will put up a fight against any funding cuts to London schools and demand that the Government rethinks any formula which puts London’s schools at risk.
• Play a city-wide strategic leadership role, seeking to make a big dent in the school places crisis; [and] break down the boundaries between boroughs and coordinate school-place planning, working with local authorities to prepare properly for long-term population growth.
• Work with councils to challenge coasting or poor-performing schools of all types and support those schools that need it; support calls for local democratic scrutiny of all state schools; ensure that both teachers and school support staff alike are properly recognised, respected and rewarded.
• Promote financial inclusion, through partnership with the financial sector, including social enterprises and credit unions, with the goal of ensuring that every adult can access financial services in affordable ways that meet their needs, and that all young Londoners leave education with numeracy skills and an understanding of finance.
• Ensure that communities across London have access to training, and that from a young age both girls and boys are encouraged to explore the skills they need to get on in the future economy.
• Work with schools to improve careers advice and to promote opportunities for children to get an early start in career skills such as coding or engineering – and making sure all such advice and programmes are gender blind, creating equal opportunities for boys and girls
• Develop a city-wide STEM strategy and establish a London STEM Commission to link schools with science jobs and careers
• Make gender equality a focus of Skills for Londoners, creating targeted opportunities for girls to excel in STEM skills in particular.
• Improve provision of careers advice in schools through the new Skills for Londoners taskforce

1. Impact assessments and consultations

   Consultation has been carried out for each programme strand. For example:

   Early Years: The Education and Youth Team has worked closely with GLA health, economic business policy unit, Intelligence Unit and Economics teams. A conference was held with the sector in November 2016 to discuss what action could be taken to address affordability, access and quality of early years education. A further consultation was held at the February 2017 annual education conference. In Spring 2017 a survey was conducted to gain feedback from the sector on our proposed activity.

   London Curriculum: consultation with cultural institutions including Museum of London and A New Direction who are on the London Curriculum advisory board. Ongoing feedback from schools and teachers on resource design and implementation.

STEM: Wide consultation was carried out at our STEM Roundtable[1] in November 2016 and a parallel session with head teachers at the Education Conference in February 2017. We have had discussions with key STEM organisations including Royal Academy of Engineering, STEM Learning, AccessHE, and Institute of Physics.

Teacher recruitment and retention, schools recognition and school places: consultation with London’s education system leaders including UCL Institute of Education, teaching schools, headteachers, Ofsted and London boroughs.

London Ambitions: schools, colleges and businesses were integral to the portal development process. Further feedback is sought from users on an ongoing basis and via termly newsletters. London Councils, the GLA’s Economic Business Unit, Team London and LEAP officers meet regularly to discuss the London Ambitions work plan and we also report into the London Young People Employment Skills Board.

Approval is being sought for the following:

5.1 Expenditure of up to £2.258m on the Education and Youth Work Programme, with costs to be incurred over four financial years in 2017-18 (£561k), 2018-19 (£610k), 2019-20 (£560k), and 2020-21(£527k).

5.2 Receipt of up to £250,000 in external funding from the European Social Fund to support and further enhance the Early Years Education Programme, with income to be received over four financial years as detailed in the table below.

5.3 Re-profile of the Early Years Education budget (previously profiled and approved by MD2091).

5.4 The net cost to the GLA of £519k for the year 2017-18, will be funded from the Education and Youth Team’s budget for 2017-18 (as approved by MD2091). Future years’ budgets are indicative and still subject to the GLA’s annual budget setting process.

Below is a breakdown of costs and income by programme:

6.1 Section 30 of the Greater London Authority Act 1999 (‘GLA Act’) allows the Mayor, acting on behalf of the Authority and after appropriate consultation, to do anything which the Mayor considers will further the promotion of economic and social development in Greater London. Education (early years and beyond) and initiatives relating to progression from school to the work force are relevant to economic and social development.

6.2 The Mayor is restricted by section 31(3) from incurring expenditure in providing any educational or social services that could be provided by a London Borough or public body. However, the Mayor is not prevented from incurring expenditure in co-operating with, facilitating or co-ordinating the activities of a London Borough Council or other public body. The initiatives described in this Mayoral Decision document do not constitute the provision of an education or social service by the GLA but instead have as their aim strengthening the delivery of such services. The role of the GLA is a co-operative, facilitative and co-ordinating one and is, therefore, permitted under the GLA Act.

6.3 In formulating the proposals in respect of which a decision is sought officers have set out above how they have complied with the GLA’s related statutory duties to:

• pay due regard to the principle that there should be equality of opportunity for all people;

•consider how the proposals will promote the improvement of health of persons, health inequalities between persons and to contribute towards the achievement of sustainable development in the United Kingdom; and

• consult with appropriate bodies.

6.4 In taking the decisions requested of him, the Mayor must have due regard to the Public Sector Equality Duty; namely the need to eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct prohibited by the Equality Act 2010, and to advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic (race, disability, gender, age, sexual orientation, religion or belief, pregnancy and maternity and gender reassignment) and persons who do not share it and foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it (section 149 of the Equality Act 2010). To this end, the Mayor should have particular regard to section 3 (above) of this report.

6.5 Any procurement required and authorised should be undertaken in accordance with the GLA’s Contracts and Funding Code and in consultation with Transport for London’s procurement team, who will determine the procurement strategy.

6.6 Officers must ensure that appropriate contract documentation is put in place and executed by the successful bidder(s) and the GLA before the commencement of services.

6.7 Section 2.2 indicates that grant funding (not payment for services) will be provided for two key activities – Early Years Hubs and Early Years Leaders. Officers must ensure that funding is distributed fairly, transparently, in accordance with the GLA’s equalities duties and in a manner which affords value for money in accordance with the Contracts and Funding Code. Officers must ensure that an appropriate funding agreement is executed by the GLA and recipient before any commitment to fund is made.

6.8 Sections 2.3 and 2.4.4 indicate that officers anticipate seeking sponsorship for certain activities and intend to seek further approval in due course. Officers must ensure that sponsorship is sought in accordance with the sponsorship policy and appropriate sponsorship agreements are put in place between and executed by the GLA and sponsor(s) before any reliance is placed on sponsorship income.

The delivery activity will be led and managed by the GLA Education and Youth team and will be subject

to the standard GLA procurement, approval and safeguarding processes.