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£12 billion - to help young people and adults get and keep jobs

DEPARTMENT FOR INNOVATION, UNIVERSITIES AND SKILLS News Release (075/2008) issued by COI News Distribution Service.

Ministers today challenged colleges to play a greater role in helping people and businesses deal with the current economic situation as they outlined how the Learning and Skills Council should invest its £12 billion Government-funded budget.

The funding announcement comes as the Education and Skill Bill reaches its final stages meaning that all young people will be expected to continue learning until they are least 18 from 2015.

In a letter to the Learning and Skills Council, Secretaries of State John Denham and Ed Balls made it clear they want the Council's work to focus on:

* boosting greater participation in education and training, so more young people and adults are best placed to get and keep secure careers; and

* empowering colleges to work more closely with businesses with urgent training needs.

Ministers confirmed that in line with commitments made last year, the overall budget for the LSC in the next financial year would increase to over £12.1 billion - an increase of £500m.

Ministers want to go further, making important changes to better direct this investment at the people and businesses that need it most. Funding for adult learning will increase to over £3.3 billion. This is £130m more than for the current financial year and is expected to support over 3 million adult learners.

To help colleges respond to these challenges, today ministers announced that they will be given greater freedom in the courses they offer below 'Level 2' (the equivalent of five good GCSEs) and in particular for those which help people get back into work such as literacy, numeracy and skills for employment.

In addition:

* New measures are being introduced to help people recently made redundant get the training they need to get new jobs and more funding will be directed at businesses to help them train their staff.

* Small businesses will get increased support to train their staff through Train to Gain. Overall the budget for this will increase to £925m - 16 % or around £130m above the budget for this year.

The publication of the grant letter comes as the Education and Skills Bill enters its final stages in parliament. This landmark piece of legislation will increase participation in learning for young people and adults, meeting the Government's ambition of achieving world class skills in the UK by 2020.

Investment in young people's participation in learning will rise to almost £6.7 billion in 2009-10 - an increase of nearly 5% compared with 2008-09.
The Learning and Skills Council will use this investment to increase participation post-16, raise attainment at 19 and reduce the number of young people not in education, employment and training (NEET). The Council will ensure that every young person who wants one has access to a suitable place in learning as well as working to reduce the proportion of young people NEET year on year. In particular:

* Funding will increase over and above the amount we expected last year providing places for an additional 10,000 young people and through the September Guarantee we will ensure every 16 and 17 year old will get the offer of a suitable place in learning;

* The LSC will work with colleges and other providers to continue to improve young people's attainment so that by 2011, at least 82% of 19 year olds achieve a level 2 qualification (the equivalent of 5 GCSEs) and at least 54% achieve a level 3 qualification (the equivalent of 2 A-levels);

* Apprenticeships will be promoted in different sectors including the public sector as the work-based learning opportunity of choice so that the economic downturn does not affect the ambition that by 2020, one in five young people is participating as an apprentice;

* The LSC will work closely with local providers as part of 14-19 partnerships, to make sure that in every area, every young person has access to a complete range of options to suit their needs including Diplomas.

The publication of the Letter and the LSC's Statement of Priorities coincide with a keynote speech by John Denham, the Secretary of State for Innovation Universities and Skills to the Association of Colleges conference. In it he said:

"The work of colleges is fundamental to many of our ambitions across Government. You will be an important part of our agenda to make Britain a fairer and a better society. Improving social mobility is a key ambition for us and the Government will be publishing a white paper drawing together the work of several departments in a few weeks time. I know that you have always been committed to this agenda, not least because you see it as shorthand for describing what you do.

"But we need to do more. Many people are worried about losing their jobs and many have already done so. This must be something we address through all of our resources not just through additional programmes around the margins.

"When someone is facing redundancy or, often these days, they are let go at the end of a contract, they need to know that colleges will be there to help them with advice and support as well as education and training. I want to free up mainstream capacity and funds from within the system so that you are able to help.

"Today more than ever, we need to be creative and flexible when thinking about delivering training under challenging conditions. This includes looking for ways of funding colleges for achieving sustainable employment for learners, and for working with companies who are temporarily moving to a four day week."

Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families Ed Balls said:

"The significant investment we are making in education and training demonstrates our commitment to improving and increasing the skills of all our young people to equip them for life and work.

The increase in funding we have announced will support greater participation and attainment needed to fully prepare young people for the competitive global economy and the challenges we face from the current economic climate.

This investment will help us meet the commitment set out in the landmark Education and Skills Bill which has reached its final stages in Parliament. For the first time in over thirty years, we are legislating to increase the minimum age at which young people can leave learning, changing the culture of expectations so that all young people are expected to continue learning until at least 18 in whichever way best suites their needs.

The increase in investment will support provision in the Bill to extend opportunity to both young people and adults, to meet the ambitions set out in the Leitch Review of achieving world class skills by 2020 and make that the country is in the strongest position possible as it comes out of the economic downturn."

Other key features of the grant letter include:

* Making £30m available to support colleges and providers to better respond and increase the work they do with local businesses to help them through tougher times and;

* Total Government investment for apprenticeships will increase to over £1 billion, £360m of which will be directed to adult apprenticeships (for over-19s).

Also today, the LSC launched the Capital Skills Prospectus which gives non-college providers of education and training access to FE capital funding for the first time. This important development gives a wider range of training providers access to new investment which will enable them to develop and deliver specialised services, so businesses can access the specific training opportunities they need both now and in the future.

The Government is currently investing record amounts in state-of-the-art buildings and facilities through its Building Colleges for the Future programme. Extending eligibility is further proof of the Government's commitment to ensure that LSC-funded providers are better equipped to meet the needs of learners and employers.

The Capital Skills Prospectus confirms the call on the contractors who access public funding to have formal plans in place that will maximise training opportunities for learners.

Notes to Editors

1. The Grant letter can be viewed at http://www.dius.gsi.gov.uk or http://www.dcsf.gsi.gov.uk

2. The Education and Skills Bill is expected to receive Royal Assent before the end of the current parliamentary session. This landmark piece of legislation will increase participation in learning for young people and adults, meeting the Government's ambition of achieving world class skills in the UK by 2020.

For the first time in 30 years, the Government is legislating to raise the education leaving age to 18. In doing this, young people will be given new rights to take up opportunities for education and training, and the support they need to engage in learning.

They will also have new responsibilities as part of a partnership between young people and parents, schools and colleges, local government and employers.

The Bill's provisions will put in place a right for adults to basic and intermediate skills, giving adults a second chance to gain the skills they need to thrive in society and throughout their working lives.

The Bill will also rationalise the regulation and monitoring regime for independent schools and non-maintained special schools in line with the Government's wider simplification and bureaucracy cutting agenda.

3. The additional £30m will be allocated to colleges and training providers so they can build their capacity to offer skills training through Train to Gain, the Government's flagship training programme which supports and subsidises staff training.

4. Research cited by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills shows that companies that do not train their staff are two and a half times more likely to fail than those that do. Training and Establishment Survival, SSDA, March 2007, found that more than one in four non-training establishments (27%) closed for business over the 1998-2004 period, while only about one in nine training establishments (11%) closed down. Copies of the full report are available at http://www.ukces.org.uk/Default.aspx?page=4639