DD2672 Schools Programme/Planning for London Programme 2023-24

1.1    The Design Future London programme was established in 2021 to help to address the disparities in representation in the planning and built environment workforce. At the time Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) data showed that only 6 per cent of its membership came from a non-white background.
1.2    Through the programme to date, over 23,000 pupils across London have been able to learn about built environment careers and how they can be involved in shaping their own communities.
1.3    In years one and two of the programme a variety of resources for schools including worksheet materials, and a Minecraft Education package were developed. These resources continue to be available for users but we are intending this year to make some improvements, building on key lessons from previous years, including that:
•    teachers are more likely to use these materials if they are pre-packaged and require minimal work to prepare for lessons in the classroom
•    there are challenges with site-specific work where the location has little or no relevance to the communities in those schools
•    schools with high pupil premiums have additional barriers to participating in programmes such as this, with pupils from deprived areas or from minority groups less likely to be able to engage with these opportunities unless there is specific and more tailored support available
•    schools’ current financial challenges mean that accessing materials or resources incurs a cost it is likely acts as a significant barrier to uptake.
1.5    The Planning and Regeneration Unit is currently running the Planning for London programme, which is focused on identifying and understanding how Londoners see the challenges that the city faces. The programme needs to engage effectively with young people, and therefore it is proposed to use the third year of the Design Future London programme as a mechanism to gather young Londoners’ views on the needs of the city, given the access that it can provide into classrooms and universities. This will enable the voices of young Londoners to be heard more clearly in the development of future iterations of the London Plan.
Minecraft Education
1.6    Year two of the Design Future London Program included the rollout of Minecraft Education as a resource for schools – a major impact of this was to see the project extend into the classroom of primary schools, with significant take-up for pupils between the ages of five and 11 as well as younger students in secondary schools (11-18). This new element proved particularly popular, with over 23,200 licences having been issued to schools across London and the majority of submissions to the competition included some form of Minecraft model.
1.7    Minecraft recognises the benefits of exposure through the Design Future London competition and has therefore agreed to provide up to 5,000 free licences For this year’s programme, as part of its continued relationship with C40 Cities.
1.8    Unlike most public sector licensing, in the education sector in England each school (or group of schools) manages its own licensing arrangements for all software. The impact of this is that not all schools use Microsoft as the provider for the majority of their software, meaning not all students across London have Office 365 accounts. In order to avoid excluding some schools, this therefore means that the GLA needs to create an additional tenant to Office 365 and grant licences to that tenant (a licence environment to create users so that they can access and use the software). This function, which ensures that all schools who wish to can operate Minecraft effectively, is operated by a third party company on the GLA’s behalf at a cost of £30,000. .
1.9    Due to the nature of the licensing arrangements, the only route available to access a trusted provider of a tenant for Microsoft and Minecraft is through single source procurement. As such in accordance with the Contract Funding Code, the “complete absence of competition” exemption applies. This is because the licensing arrangements in place with Minecraft and Microsoft mean that the GLA needs to appoint a trusted supplier able who can operate across both organisations. Having interrogated the market it was clear that there are no alternative organisations able to operate this arrangement at this scale who would fall within the category of trusted supplier to both organisations.
School Interventions 
1.10    During year two of the programme, we trialled the impact of school support in the classroom. This specifically included using an experienced third-party supplier to partner with schools to bring industry into the classroom as well as provide support for teachers. This was targeted at schools with a high pupil premium, with evidence from the trial indicating significant success in enhancing submissions from pupils who traditionally are underrepresented. 
1.11    This year the aim is also to make it significantly simpler for teachers to involve their pupils in the Programme through the development of a six-eight week set of classroom resources, providing students with the opportunity to learn from the wider programme of skills for built environment roles.
1.12    Because of the specialist nature of this work an external provider will be used to produce classroom materials building on successful work undertaken by suppliers last year.
1.13    The direct school interventions in high pupil premium schools had a positive impact and resulted in significantly more students expressing interest in built environment careers than was otherwise achieved in schools of a similar nature. As such for this year it is proposed that the programme includes 15 interventions in schools to provide around 300 students with direct access to built environment professionals and classroom support, in order to raise their awareness of options open to them to be involved in shaping their own communities through planning and the built environment.
Other costs
1.14    Due to the scale and impact of this initiative, and the significant work required to judge entries, additional external support will be procured to support the delivery of the competition element of the programme. Feedback from previous years shows that the competition delivers significant benefits for participants, with the opportunity to participate in the events at City Hall motivating many individuals to choose subjects related to the built environment (and with a number now at university pursuing studies in these areas as a direct result). The external support will focus on managing the competition element of the programme, including managing volunteers to undertake the judging and events during the program and preparation of materials and certificates.
1.15    Given the nature of this project it is also proposed to include contingency of £5,000 to cover cost increases or additional costs that have not yet been identified. This may include costs relating to catering for the final event as well as support for events at the Building Centre, which is providing a home for the Design Future London exhibition until March 2024.  
 

2.1    The overarching objective of the schools programme is to attract a more diverse workforce into the planning and built environment industry. Whilst initially this was focused purely on planning, it is clear that the wider built environment sector has the similar challenges and could also be supported through this work, helping to secure broader benefits.
2.2    The key outcomes that are sought from year three of the programme include:
•    a dataset of issues that young people feel are important for the future of London, together with some analysis and discussion of their proposed solutions to support the Planning for London Programme
•    increased take-up of teaching of built environment skills in the classroom
•    further diversity in the pool of entries to the Design Future London competition, and generating a more diverse future pool of talent expressing interest in built environment careers.
2.3    As highlighted, information gathered as part of the year three programme will be used as part of the Planning for London Programme, to support engagement with young people and to help inform evidence and policy recommendations for the next iteration of the London Plan.
2.4    These outcomes will be measured and reported upon at the end of the programme.
 

3.1    The GLA is subject to the public sector equality duty (PSED) under section 149 of the Equality Act (Act) 2010. The Act requires the identification and evaluation of the likely potential impacts, both positive and negative, of GLA decisions on those with protected characteristics.  The Mayor is to have due regard to the need to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation as well as to advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not. This may involve, in particular, removing or minimising any disadvantage suffered by those who share a relevant protected characteristic and taking steps to meet the needs of such people. In certain circumstances compliance with the Act may involve treating people with a protected characteristic more favourably than those without it.
3.2    The “protected characteristics” are age, disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation and marriage/civil partnership status.
3.3    In line with the Mayor’s ambitions, the Design Future London Programme is aimed at improving all young Londoners understanding on how they can be involved in shaping the future of their city, and particularly providing opportunities for them feed into the key areas of work for the next London Plan. The overall ambition of the programme is to make the workforce more diverse and representative of all Londoners.
3.4    Less than seven per cent of the membership of the Royal Town Planning Institute come from a Black, Asian or minority ethnic background and this disparity, albeit to a lesser degree is reflected in other built environment professional body memberships. This means that the lived experience of the professionals who shape the future of the London’s neighbourhoods and new development rarely reflects that of London’s diverse communities. This programme seeks to move towards a place where this inequality doesn’t exist.
3.5    The Kerslake Review is one of many reports that has flagged the future workforce capacity issue across the sector. Limited research exists on why built environment careers are not considered attractive, but while actions have been taken to address some barriers to in the industry, with all built environment careers now having access routes, such as apprenticeships, that do not require a graduate or post-graduate qualification, other challenges remain. A critical one of these is the need to raise the profile of careers inside the sector with a broader range of young people to attract a more diverse workforce. 
3.6    In addition to the high level objective of addressing under representation in the industry, throughout the programme itself the principles of the public sector equality duty are considered at all stages of the development and implementation. 
3.7    The schools intervention element of the programme is focussed specifically on schools with high pupil premiums. In the first year of the programme, schools engaging with the competition element tended to be fee-paying or from more prosperous areas, or fee paying schools. By targeting schools with high pupil premiums, 15 schools who may otherwise not be able to engage in the programme will benefit from it, including through bringing a broad range of industry professionals, including individuals from diverse backgrounds, into the classroom. 
 

Funding
4.1    Given that this third year of the Programme is in part designed to directly support the Planning for London Programme, the costs of the Minecraft licensing and the school interventions will be met through the Planning for London Programme budget for 2023-24. This is built into the current budget presumptions for the financial year.
Risks and issues
4.2    The key risks relating to the delivery of this programme are set out in the table below.

Links to key strategies

4.3    No one involved in the drafting or clearance of this document has any conflicts of interest to declare. 

5.1    Approval is requested for: 
•    expenditure of £30,000 on supporting the licensing arrangements for Minecraft as a teaching resource in schools
•    expenditure of £45,000 for the development of materials to be used in the classroom and targeted support in the classroom of schools across London with a high pupil premium.
•    expenditure of £20,000 on supporting the operation of the competition through partnership arrangements 
5.2    All expenditure will be funded from the London Plan budget within the Planning Unit’s approved budget for 2023-24 financial year, and all expenditure will be incurred in 2023-24 financial year. 

6.1    Section 334 of the Act requires the Mayor to prepare and publish a spatial development strategy (known as the London Plan). Section 339 of the Greater London Authority Act 1999 (the ‘Act’) requires the Mayor to keep the London Plan under review, especially matters which may be expected to affect the development of Greater London or the planning of its development. In this case, the decision proposed within this DD will form part of the evidence base for reviewing the London Plan and support the work of the GLA in addressing its growth and regeneration agenda. 
6.2    Under Section 30 of the ‘Act the GLA, after appropriate consultation, is entitled to do anything that will further the promotion, within Greater London, of economic development and wealth creation, social development and the improvement of the environment. 
6.3    The Mayor also has a subsidiary power pursuant to Section 34 of the Act to do anything which is calculated to facilitate or is conducive or incidental to the exercise of any of the statutory functions of the Authority. This decision may reasonably be regarded as facilitating, being conducive or incidental to, the exercise of the Mayor’s power under section 30, 334 and 339 of the Act. 
6.4    In formulating the proposals in respect of which a decision is sought, officers have complied with the Authority’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
•    consult with appropriate bodies.
6.5    In taking the decisions requested, the Director 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 and foster good relations 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 (section 149 of the Equality Act 2010). To this end, the Director should have particular regard to section 3 (above) of this report. 
6.6    Section 9.1 of the Contracts and Funding Code (the ‘Code’) requires the GLA to call-off services with a value of that concerned here from a suitable framework, where possible, or if not, to undertake a competitive process which managed by TfL Procurement in respect of the services required. However, the Director may approve an exemption from this requirement under section 10 of the Code upon certain specified grounds. One of those grounds is that a contract may let without competition where there is a complete absence of competition for the services in question. Officers have indicated that this ground applies. On this basis the Director may approve the proposed exemption if satisfied with the content of this report.
6.7    In the event that the Director makes the decisions sought officers must ensure that: 
•    to the extent that any of the expenditure concerns the award of grant funding, it is distributed fairly, transparently, in manner which affords value for money and in accordance with the requirements of the GLA’s Contracts and Funding Code and grant funding agreements are put in place (or varied as applicable) between and executed by the GLA and recipients before any commitment to fund is made
•    to the extent that any of the expenditure concerns payment for services: that those services(save for those from Terawe noted below) are procured in liaison with TfL Procurement and in accordance with the GLA’s Contracts and Funding Code; and that contracts are put in place between and executed by the GLA and contractors before commencement of such services
•    a contract is entered into and executed by the GLA and Terawe before the commencement of the services.
6.8    To the extent that the proposals in respect of which decisions are sought involve the making of commitments which extend beyond the current mayoral term, officers must ensure that the terms of all agreements entered into in respect of the expenditure do not have the effect of fettering discretion of any successive excessive administration, considering in particular London elections taking place in May 2024. Accordingly, officers must ensure that all agreements which involve making such commitments include a GLA right to terminate at any point for convenience (at no cost to the GLA) and all such agreements are managed in such a manner, and any deliverables come up milestones and or outputs requirements are structured so as to mitigate risk of the GLA incurring abortive expenditure (which might be reasonably taken to fetter, practically, the exercise of such discretion).”