MD2820 Draft London Adult Education Roadmap

1.1 From 1 August 2019, the Mayor was delegated responsibility from the Secretary of State for Education for the commissioning, delivery and management of London’s Adult Education Budget (AEB).

1.2 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 Further Education (FE) colleges, local authorities, independent training providers, sixth form colleges and universities.

1.3 Following a successful transition period and year of delegated AEB delivery, the GLA is now in a position to set a longer-term plan for adult education in London. For this reason, development has begun on an Adult Education Roadmap. The Adult Education Roadmap will build on the learning from the AEB delegation and the first year of AEB delivery by the GLA to plot the direction of adult education in London for the next Mayoral term.

1.4 A draft Adult Education Roadmap has been prepared and it is proposed that a consultation paper is published on its proposed content in June 2021 which will put questions to the Further Education (FE) sector, businesses, civil society and London’s communities, identifying key policy areas related to the AEB and wider skills and employment programmes. The final Roadmap will be published in December 2021 and will set out changes to the AEB from the 2022-23 Academic Year.

1.5 A Mayoral decision is being sought as, under the legislative framework which permits the transfer of statutory AEB functions to the Mayor, he is not able to delegate those functions in the normal way. This is recognised as a matter reserved by law for the personal exercise of the Mayor only under the Mayoral Decision-Making in the Greater London Authority document.

1.6 MD2736 – Changes to AEB Decision-Making, signed in March 2021, approved changes to the AEB decision-making arrangements to streamline the existing process and reduce the number of decisions that must be reviewed by the Mayor twice. The MD approved that certain AEB decisions can be approved by the Mayor at the AEB Mayoral Board meetings. This includes decision-making that falls within the scope of any MD form setting the strategic direction or Mayoral priorities (and where these do not affect the basis of the original decision) and/or where a decision is not, according to the rules set out in Mayoral Decision-Making in the GLA, reserved to the MD process.

1.7 Further decisions related to the draft London Adult Education Roadmap i.e. that fall within the scope of this MD, can be made by the Mayor at future AEB Mayoral Board meetings, as long as they are (a) not matters that are reserved to the MD process according to the rules in the Mayoral Decision-Making protocol and AEB governance documentation, or (b) do not require amendments to any recommendations made in this MD, which would mean automatic referral to an MD form. The final Roadmap and any associated documentation will be submitted as part of the MD process ahead of publication.

1.8 The decisions set out in this form were endorsed by the AEB Mayoral Board on 7 June 2021, and there were no further recommendations.

2.1 The consultation process will enhance the evidence base available to the Mayor on which to base future decisions on AEB, and wider skills and employment policy. The consultation paper sets out 19 questions and outlines potential changes to AEB policy in the 2022-23 Academic Year and future years, as well as other areas of skills and employment policy related to adult education.

2.2 The consultation will run for seven weeks from w/c 14 June 2021 to w/c 1 August 2021.

2.3 The consultation will be carried out using an online survey software tool which will be published as a link on the GLA website to consult with the public and promoted through the GLA’s existing communication channels.

2.4 The consultation will also include a series of community conversations, where the GLA will directly engage Londoners, with an explicit focus on those Londoners disadvantaged in learning and the labour market and stand to benefit most from adult education, such as low-paid Londoners, those with no/low qualification level, disabled Londoners, older Londoners and those furthest from the labour market.

2.5 The GLA will commission consultancy services to log, collate and analyse responses to the consultation and community conversations and to produce a summary report to be published on the GLA website. The successful bidder will also be expected to produce an interim report within one month of the consultation ending, including presentation slides summarising the report’s content in an engaging and easy to read format.

2.6 Expenditure for this engagement activity on the Adult Education Roadmap was approved by the Mayor under MD2802 – AEB Financial Management and Annual Report.

2.7 Alongside the formal consultation process, the GLA will conduct other forms of consultation, including roundtables with key stakeholder groups and meetings with representatives from boroughs, employer representative bodies, colleges and independent training providers to discuss the potential policy changes identified in the paper.

2.8 Any changes proposed to the AEB Funding Rules as a result of this consultation will be brought forward through the established governance process for the AEB, including consideration at the AEB Mayoral Board, and a further MD form where required.

2.9 The summary report of the consultation is expected to be published by December 2021 alongside the final Adult Education Roadmap and when any AEB policy changes for the 2022-23 Academic Year have been approved.

2.10 If they arise, any further decisions that fall within the scope of this MD form will be made by the Mayor at the appropriate AEB Mayoral Board meeting(s). Any decisions made in this way will be recorded appropriately and reported back to the Corporate Investment Board for noting. If any decision is considered novel, contentious or repercussive, or where the AEB Mayoral Board requires amendments to any recommendations, the decision would be automatically referred to an MD form and submitted through the usual processes. The final Roadmap will be subject to approval through an MD form.

3.1 Section 149(1) of the Equality Act 2010 provides that, in the exercise of their functions, public authorities – of whom the Mayor is one – must have due regard to the need to:

• eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct that is prohibited by or under the Equality Act 2010;

• advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic 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.

3.2 Relevant protected characteristics are age, disability, gender re-assignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.

3.3 The Mayor’s Skills for Londoners Strategy sets out current disparities in employment and skills levels among different groups of Londoners. Young people, disabled adults, black, Asian, and minority ethnic (BAME) groups and women are all disproportionately under-represented in the labour market, especially in higher-skilled, better-paid jobs. City Hall is actively considering how the Mayor’s control over the AEB can help reduce some of these gaps – including through the potential changes and requests for input – as outlined in the attached consultation document.

3.4 An Equality Impact Assessment has been prepared setting out how the proposals in the consultation might impact on different groups including those who share protected characteristics, ahead of the development of a final Roadmap. The final Roadmap will be accompanied with a final Equality Impact Assessment, amended as appropriate in light of the responses to the consultation, to ensure that proposals in the document are fair and inclusive by analysing and addressing, with appropriate mitigations, the impact of the different proposals on people in equality groups, i.e. Londoners who share protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010 or are part of other vulnerable groups.

3.5 Any policy changes proposed as a result of this consultation will be assessed for their equality and diversity impact prior to a final decision and on an ongoing basis post-implementation.

Links to Mayoral strategies

4.1 The consultation is part of the implementation of the commitments made in the Mayor’s Skills for Londoners Strategy, to:

• empower all Londoners to access the education and skills to participate in society and progress in education and work;

• meet the needs of London’s economy and employers, now and in the future; and

• deliver a strategic city-wide technical skills and adult education offer.

Risks arising/mitigation

4.2 The principal risk associated with the Adult Education Roadmap consultation is that there will be insufficient engagement from the provider base and wider stakeholders. This risk will be mitigated by a seven-week consultation period and by ensuring input is received from providers and other key stakeholders through a planned programme of regular provider engagement meetings and proactive engagement with stakeholder organisations.

4.3 Personal data, for example name and contact details of consultees, will be collected through the online survey tool, presenting an information security risk. This has been mitigated through ensuring that the platform to be used complies with the requirements of the EU General Data Protection Regulation.

Other

4.4 There are no conflicts of interest to declare from those involved in the drafting or clearance of this decision.

5.1 There are no direct financial implications to the GLA arising from this decision.

5.2 Expenditure for this engagement was approved by the Mayor under MD2802 AEB Financial Management and Annual Report.

6.1 In preparation for the delegation of adult education functions from the Secretary of State to the Mayor of London, the Mayor established the AEB Mayoral Board and approved its Constitution in July 2018, under MD2328. Upon being satisfied as to these arrangements, the AEB powers and funding were delegated by the Secretary of State for Education to the Mayor of London under Section 39A of the Greater London Authority Act 1999 (GLA Act) from 1 August 2019. The Mayor is not permitted to delegate the discharge of these functions and must discharge them personally (section 39A (6) of the GLA Act). The terms and conditions of the delegation are contained in a letter, dated December 2018 (“the Letter”), delegating specified adult education functions from the Secretary of State to the Mayor. In exercising the delegated functions, the Mayor must have regard to the statutory guidance issued by the Secretary of State, as amended from time to time. The Mayor has also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Secretary of State for Education, dated January 2019, entitled “Delegation of Certain Adult Education Functions to the Greater London Authority,” which sets out the agreed understanding of how the delegation will operate.

6.2 MD2736 amended the Mayoral decision-making process (the AEB Assurance Framework, the AEB Constitution and the amended Mayoral Decision Making process) to provide that certain decisions can be made by the Mayor at the AEB Mayoral Board without having to proceed through the MD process, and paragraphs 1.6 and 1.7 set out that process.

6.3 Public bodies must have due regard to the Public Sector Equality Duty as set out in section 3. Section 3 of this report sets out how the Mayor will continue to pay due regard to his equalities duties when making decisions, and the factors he will need to consider in order to discharge his duty with regards this proposal.

6.4 The recommendation to the Mayor is for the draft Roadmap to be consulted on, and paragraph 1.4 provides more detail as to who will be consulted. The Mayor must take into account consultation responses received, when preparing a proposed final version of the Adult Education Roadmap.

6.5 Section 2 of this report indicates that the GLA intends to procure services. Section 9 of the GLA Contracts & Funding Code requires the GLA to engage with TfL Commercial and seek a call-off from a suitable framework where possible or otherwise undertake a formal tender process to procure such goods or services in relation to all contracts for services with a value of more than £25,000 and up to £150,000 before the commencement of such services.