MD2321 Draft Skills for Londoners Framework

From the academic year 2019-20, the Adult Education Budget (AEB) in London will be devolved via a transfer of powers from the Department for Education (DfE) through delegation to the Mayor via section 39A of the GLA Act 1999. This decision is subject to a number of readiness conditions and agreement by the Secretary of State for Education, followed by a further Mayoral Decision to approve the proposed delegation.

The AEB covers skills provision for learners aged 19+ including Adult and Community Learning. It is delivered by a range of different provider types including general FE colleges, local authorities, independent training providers, sixth form colleges and universities.

As part of the preparation for the proposed delegation of the AEB to the Mayor in 2019-20, the GLA is publishing a draft Skills for Londoners Framework for consultation. The consultation period will last for four weeks running from mid-July 2018.

The draft Framework outlines how the Mayor will support the delivery of the objectives of the Skills for Londoners Strategy, which was published in June 2018. It sets out the implementation plans for the AEB, as well as the European Social Fund (ESF) and the Skills for Londoners Capital Fund.

This MD is related to ADD2235 which approved expenditure of up to £25,000 on a consultant to support public consultation on the draft Framework, and MD2299 which approved the publication of the final Skills for Londoners Strategy.

The draft Framework sets out the key priorities for the AEB, and how they will be delivered, as well as wider policies to remove barriers to participation and achievement in adult education. The key priorities are:

• Eligibility for full-funding for people in low-paid work
• Basic English and maths skills
• English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL)
• Basic digital skills
• Adult and Community Learning (ACL)
• Support for disadvantaged learners
• Support for learners with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)
• Addressing London’s key sectoral and occupational skills needs

The AEB will also be used to unlock some uncommitted European Social Fund (ESF) funding to help deliver on these priorities (subject to a further MD), as well as to pilot innovative approaches to the delivery of skills and employment provision to support the most disadvantaged groups in the capital. The Framework also contains information on commissioning and contract management arrangements for each of the different funding streams, and how these will complement each other to deliver the Mayor’s strategic aims. Additionally, the Framework sets out how the GLA intends to move towards an outcomes-based approach to delivering the AEB and ESF in London in future years.

The Framework will be published on the GLA website for consultation in mid-July 2018. The Framework sets out a number of key questions under the relevant chapters in the document for stakeholders to respond to as part of the consultation. The questions cover a range of issues including the types of provision and groups of learners that should be prioritised for funding, rules for subcontracting for providers and the outputs and outcomes most important for London’s residents.

A final consultation report will be produced six weeks from the end of the consultation. The consultation report will be used to inform the final Skills for Londoners Framework, which will be published in late autumn 2018 (subject to a further MD), as well as supporting further AEB policy and programme development work, including developing the AEB funding rules.

Under Section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, as a public authority, the GLA must have ‘due regard’ to the need to:

• Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation; and
• Advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between people who have a relevant protected characteristic and those who do not.

The draft Framework has been informed by the Skills for Londoners Strategy consultation and the wider skills evidence base. It sets out how the priorities in the Skills for Londoners Strategy will be delivered. These priorities have been assessed for their impact on equality and diversity through the Economic Development Strategy Integrated Impact Assessment, in line with the Public Sector Equality Duty.

The consultation on the draft Framework will also seek to capture the impact the proposals put forward in the draft Framework could have on people with relevant protected characteristics (age, disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, gender, religion or belief, sexual orientation) by targeting representative and specialist organisations that understand the needs of these groups and the barriers they face. The equalities impacts will then be taken into account when finalising the framework and before the Mayor is invited to approve it.

There are no direct financial implications arising from this proposal as the draft Framework will be published on the GLA website. It should be noted that consultation on the draft Framework was previously approved by ADD2235 and was supported with a budget provision of up to £25,000.

The decisions requested of the Mayor, so far as they relate to the AEB, concern the exercise of powers proposed to be delegated to the Mayor by the Secretary of State under section 39A of the Greater London Authority Act 1999 (GLA Act). So far as the decisions relate to other funds, the GLA has power under section 30 of the GLA Act to do anything which it considers will further any one or more of its principal purposes, which include the purpose of promoting social development in Greater London. Under section 34 of the GLA Act, the GLA may do anything (including the acquisition or disposal of any property or rights) which is calculated to facilitate, or is conducive or incidental to, the exercise of any functions of the GLA. Further consideration will need to be given (in relation to how funding is distributed) to certain statutory restrictions on the GLA incurring expenditure in providing education services which may be provided by other public bodies.

In implementing the proposals in respect of which a decision is sought, GLA officers should comply with the GLA’s related statutory duties to:

(a) Pay due regard to the principle that there should be equality of opportunity for all people;
(b) 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
(c) Consult with appropriate bodies.

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

Should the Framework be approved, with or without amendment, appropriate contracts and grant agreements should be used so as to ensure that these documents reflect the GLA’s requirements under the Skills for Londoners Framework.