The Plan

In March 2020, West Yorkshire agreed an ambitious devolution deal with the Government, which will see our region have a directly-elected mayor from May 2021.

The agreement, which is the biggest ever of its kind, unlocks more than £1.8 billion in investment to drive up living standards through better transport, improved skills and stronger businesses, while tackling the climate emergency. This means that West Yorkshire will have control of the £63m annual Adult Education Budget (AEB) for the area enabling us to align spending on skills more closely with the opportunities and needs in the local economy.

The main purpose of the AEB is to provide adults with the skills needed for entering and sustaining employment, an apprenticeship, a traineeship, or other further learning. The funding pays specifically for learning programmes (predominantly qualifications) and provides an element of learner support funding for those with learning difficulties and disabilities.

The AEB Strategy has been developed in order to ensure that we are ready to deliver the Adult Education Budget by 1 August 2021. The plan builds on our existing strategies and the needs of our area, providing a clear foundation upon which we can build the skills of people and businesses within West Yorkshire. The timescales set out by the Government mean that it is necessary to develop the plan prior to the election of the West Yorkshire Mayor.

Click here to view the AEB Strategy.

Devolution of the Adult Education Budget will only proceed if the wider devolution deal is agreed and implemented. If you are interested in knowing more about the West Yorkshire devolution consultation, please 

Click here to visit our West Yorkshire Devolution webpage.

Have your say

As part of our engagement activity and transparency around devolution across West Yorkshire we would like to invite you to provide feedback on the AEB Strategy via an online survey using the link below.

This survey will be open from 25 May to midnight on 12 July 2020.

You can access the survey here.(External link)

Next steps

Following the consultation period, the survey results will be analysed and your feedback will be considered in the development of the final AEB Strategy. This plan will be considered by the Combined Authority to ensure that we are able to meet the required timelines for the delivery of the devolved AEB for the 2021/22 academic year.

ERSA has been asked to collect information for the DWP.

Please note that this is in addition to the Sector Resilience survey. Responses are anonymous and requested from ALL organisations.

The DWP is considering the timescales for when to go out to market for the Employability and Health Related Services Umbrella Agreement (EHRSUA), this will replace the current Umbrella Agreement.

Depending on the structure of your organisation, this survey should be completed by a Chief Executive, Managing Director, Business Development or equivalent.

Please allow 5-10 minutes to complete the survey, by 29 April, 5pm

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/ERSADWP

The Employability Sector Resilience Survey – deadline extended to 30 April, 5pm

Please set aside 20 minutes to complete the survey – every question in the survey is relevant and will gather information that will be used.

Responses will be anonymised. The data collected is being analysed by ERSA with Oxford University.

ERSA will be using the survey information to inform on how Covid-19 has affected the sector, organisations that have furloughed staff, innovation in delivery, capacity to take on additional work and organisations struggling to survive.

We are also populating a UK map showing who delivers where, to develop partnerships in localities.

Please complete this to inform employability commissioners and funders of the current situation and the sector’s readiness to respond.

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/NNY6HNX

DWP would like to invite you to complete a short survey designed to support the development of an exciting new service called the Employment Data Lab.

The Employment Data Lab will be a service provided by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and is designed to enable the evaluation of employment related interventions carried out by third party organisations, such as yours. 

The survey asks for information about the people your organisation works with and the interventions you carry out in order to ensure that the service best meets the needs of you, its users.  It should take about 5 to 10 minutes to complete, and you have the option to keep your responses anonymous.  

The survey is open until 31 May 2020. A link to the survey can be found here:

https://getinvolved.dwp.gov.uk/analysis-divisions/cb562cb9/consultation/subpage.2019-09-16.7625813652/

UNISON has released a comprehensive report on its research into public service workers’ experiences, hopes and fears around learning, training, and the future of work.

The Skills For The Future survey was undertaken by the University of Exeter’s Marchmont Observatory on behalf of UNISON. With over 38,000 responses, the survey was the biggest of its kind, beating UNISON’s own record of 27,000 responses in its 2011 Skills For Life survey.

Survey respondents were overwhelmingly keen to learn, with half stating that training had improved the way that they did their job, and over four fifths saying that they were ready to learn new skills.

Respondents fear that they are not being provided with the training they need to keep up with advances in technology and other changes in the workplace. They are also worried about the risk of redundancy, with over a third believing that it was ‘very likely’ that their position would be made redundant within the next three years, and three fifths believing that automation is putting public sector jobs at risk.

More than one in every ten survey respondents said that a lack of skills or confidence in literacy or numeracy had stopped them applying for a promotion, taking on extra responsibilities at work, or asking to attend training.

But the research also suggested that the main problem was one of under-utilisation and that most workers had skills greater than those needed for their job, but were prevented from progressing in their careers by a lack of in-work training.

Two thirds of respondents thought that their computer and digital skills needed improving, and nearly half identified a need for training in managerial or supervisory skills.

The report has been released in the same week as the Labour Party’s commitment to paid time off for employees to access education and training, and its promise to improve careers advice for adults.

Teresa Donegan, head of learning and organising services, said, ‘The most precious asset that any employer possesses is its staff, and that’s an asset that should be invested in. We often hear what industries and employers want from the workforce. What makes this research unique is the fact that this is the voice of the workers. Staff have told us what they need. Now it’s up to the government and to employers to listen.

‘UNISON is justifiably proud of the learning we offer our members, and we support thousands of people every year through free learning opportunities. But we shouldn’t be filling the gaps left by employers shirking their responsibilities.’

Roger McKenzie, assistant general secretary, said, ‘Cuts to further education and adult education have meant that too many people are barred from progression at work and in everyday life. This research shows that it’s causing real damage.’

Skills for the Future: Executive Summary

Skills for the Future: Full Report

Skills for the Future: Presentation

The Department for Education (DfE) recognises the vital role the workforce plays and has commissioned the Education and Training Professionals (ETP) survey to help build their understanding of the workforce and the issues it faces.

• The further education sector is exceptionally important in developing a skilled workforce and ensuring everyone has the opportunity to achieve their potential.
• In this survey, DfE wants to hear from sixth form colleges, independent training providers and adult and community learning providers.
• This work is being carried out on behalf of the DfE by IFF Research, an independent research company. IFF Research has developed the survey with support from the Sixth Form College Association (SFCA), the Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP) and HOLEX.
• The first phase of research is running throughout summer and autumn 2019, with reporting in early 2020.

Find out more about the survey here: http://ow.ly/PNHy50w6Cgf

The Government Education Committee is looking into the benefits of adult skills and lifelong learning to the individual, society and the wider economy.

They are also exploring the level of support available to learners, and the role played by local authorities/combined authority areas in providing adult education.

They would like to hear your views and experiences of adult learning.

On average this survey takes around 3 minutes. Follow the link below to access the survey.

You can access the short survey below to find out!

Jobs have always changed

Since the beginning of time, the type of jobs we do and how we do them has changed with the world around us.

Imagine we used to harvest wheat with sickles. It took lots of people a very long time!

New technology creates new tools

But we have always used technology to create tools that help us do our jobs better and faster. These tools also free up time, so that we can spend less time working and more time living.

The invention of the combustion engine led to the creation of cars, heavy-duty vehicles and airplanes.

New tools change how we do our jobs

These new tools change the way we do our jobs on a day-to day basis. For some jobs these changes are minor but other times they are significant.

The engine makes harvesting easy compared with using a sickle. Farmers today drive a harvesting machine, which harvests more in less time. Less people are involved in harvesting, which allows them to focus on other tasks. Entirely new jobs are created such as making, selling or repairing harvesting machines.

What does this have to do with me?

Today, there is much discussion about the effect of robotics and artificial intelligence on our jobs. There is no doubt that these advanced technologies will change how we work, what we do and which jobs will be available to us. This means that our jobs will evolve, just as they always have. 

Some people will see their jobs change more than others, depending on the tasks they involve. Certain jobs might disappear completely. But new jobs, some of which we can’t even imagine yet, will be created. We might also be able to spend less time at work and more time doing other things.

Take the survey to find out the chance of your job changing because of automation. Understand what this means for you and explore your options for the future.

Click on the link below to access the survey.

https://oecd-futureofjobs.org/start

Careers England, supported by NAHT and the WorthLess? Campaign, with technical input from Dr Deirdre Hughes OBE, has created a short survey for school leaders and careers professionals.

With yet more emphasis from Ofsted and others on the importance of careers advice for young people, the survey aims to see what support, if any, is being given to schools to help them provide careers advice and guidance for young people.

The following link takes you directly to the survey:

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/National_Survey_School_Leaders_and_Careers_Professionals

The ESFA has released a survey as part of continuing work to look at how they could improve the apprenticeship funding rules.

They would like to hear from employers, employer-providers and training providers.

The survey closes on 14 March 2019.

Access the survey HERE