Issue details

Proposed decision

That the Cabinet Member for Education and Skills agree to:

a) APPROVE the sub-contracting of provision for vocational and specialist provision for adults.

b) DELEGATE authority to the Corporate Director for Children, Young People and Education, to take relevant actions, including but not limited to entering into relevant contracts or other legal agreements as required, including Service Level agreements (SLAs), to implement this decision.

Reason for the decision

The decision is required to support a broad delivery of education for young people and adults to meet needs, gaps in provision and new funding priorities.

Background

Community Learning and Skills (CLS) is KCC’s internally commissioned department to deliver Education and Training to adults and young people over 16. KCC CLS is responsible for delivering the Education & Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) Adult Skills Fund (ASF), Greater London Authority (GLA) budget and ESFA ‘Study Programme’ courses for NEET young people, which support the goals and objectives of Framing Kent’s Future.

Adults

ESFA Funding rules for Adult Education have changed and have redefined ‘partners’ as sub-contractors. This alteration requires a decision to sub-contract to both maintain and potentially realise business opportunities for growth against the delivery of previous specialist provision, for example for Deaf/deaf learners.

The decision will also support delivery of vocational courses across Kent. The focus of adult skills funding is now on progression towards, into, and within work, in particular to meet needs identified in the Local Skills Improvement Plan (LSIP). The Department for Education (DfE) have identified new learning ‘aims’ for grant funded courses, including a large range of vocational courses which CLS do not have the internal organisational capacity or capability to deliver.

Young People

There has been a reduction in provision available to 16-19 year old NEETs (Not in Education, Employment or Training) across Kent due to removal of the funding options including traineeships, the European Social Fund (ESF) and Reconnect funding, which largely supported delivery of alternative provision for young people for whom School or College aren’t the best route. This, along with the regrading of GCSE boundaries, has seen an increase in the number of NEETs across Kent, with an estimated 725 additional places needed in the 24/25 year. The Department for Education (DfE) has a requirement that KCC meet this demand under its statutory requirement for provision, through CLS as its provider.

Available provision for NEET young people has been held in a deficit position for several years, and recent changes have further impacted this deficit. At any one time, between 3 and 5 districts have no provision of this type available to the NEET population of Kent. Some of the provision which has lost ESF funding is very niche provision. There is little existing rolling provision, which hinders learners needing to access education later in the academic year, for example, from February onwards.

Summary of provision needed and priority level

The funding received for delivering ‘Study Programme’ courses to young people aged 16-19, is lagged by 2 years i.e. not paid until academic 2 years after the delivery takes place, and so does not allow providers of education and training to inwardly invest to keep up with growth of demand, thus making it unviable financially. The DfE can agree in year growth funding, and this would need to be assured to support any additional growth beyond any that CLS can viably support. The funding model and any restrictions on in-year growth funding from DfE could compromise KCC's ability to deliver its statutory duties, especially in relation to NEET young people.

How the proposed decision supports the Framing Kent's Future - Our Council Strategy 2022-2026 and Securing Kent’s Future.

Implementing the subcontracting proposals for specialist provision for both adults and young people will contribute towards the following priorities:

Framing Kent’s Future:

Priority 1: LEVELLING UP KENT:

·      To support the Kent economy to be resilient and successfully adapt to the challenges and opportunities it faces over the coming years.

·      To work with partners to develop a skills system for Kent that delivers skills that are resilient to changing workforce needs and opportunities and supports people to higher level skills.

Including supporting the identified actions of:

1. Develop the highly successful Employment Task Force, so that it has the capacity to identify and tackle barriers to high-quality employment across the county and convene action between partners that will drive economic growth.

2. Respond to and build on the Local Skills Improvement Plan

3. Regularly commission the Workforce Skills Evidence Base to provide information about the Kent economy, businesses and skills requirements and inform the Action Plan that will coordinate interventions to improve skills levels and seize opportunities for new jobs and skills.

4. Maximise the use of national skills funding, including the apprenticeship levy and the lifelong learning entitlement to create real opportunities for people to access training opportunities throughout their lives that lead to employment in vocational and technical fields.

6. Working with the skills sector, building on recent models of collaboration, to develop the post-16 education system to better meet the needs of young people as well as the local and wider economy.

Sub-contracting elements which CLS do not have the expertise or capability to deliver, will align with our Best Value duty, as outlined in Part 1 of the Local Government Act 1999, where Councils should “make arrangements to secure continuous improvement in the way in which its functions are exercised, having regard to the combination of economy, efficiency and effectiveness”.  Any new sub-contracts commissioned will be assessed in line with Best Value Duty.

Sub-contracting will also support Securing Kent’s Future, Objective 2 by supporting CYPE placement strategies and preparing young people for adulthood / transition with an outcome of greater independence in life.

Financial Implications

CLS is funded via a range of annually awarded Education & Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) contracts plus fee income when adults enrol on certain courses.

The funding agreements with ESFA allows CLS retain up to a maximum of 20% of the sub-contracted delivery amount as a management fee to support the procurement, selection, audit, and management of the sub-contractors ensuring that they adhere to contractual obligations and expected quality measures. We have reviewed our requirements and believe that retention of 15% would be appropriate.

The wider planned restructure of CLS delivery will ensure CLS is fully funded from both grants and fee income when completed (including any sub-contracted element) and there will be no expectation of contribution from the general fund.

Sub-contracting relates to the following CLS funding streams:

Adults

CLS receives a Tailored learning contract of £6,705,376 (24/25 allocation) as part of the funding line Adult Skills Fund which totals £8,791,434. There is no limited amount the LA may provide through subcontracting however, the ESFA have expressed a wish to see a reduction in subcontracted delivery in the sector. In the event of exceeding £100,000 of subcontracted delivery, the sub-contracting standard must be adhered to which is an additional level of rigour which includes an external audit to be undertaken at cost to CLS. The Adult Skills fund projected sub-contracting amount is expected to be £600,000 of which CLS will retain £90k to oversee service delivery.

Young People: 

CLS presently receives a 16-19 funding contract of £729,444 (24/25 allocation). This funding is 2 year lagged funding which means that delivery in 24/25 will not be paid until 26/27 academic year.

The DfE offer an opportunity for in-year growth funding, and this will be utilised to support delivery of any sub-contract opportunities, whilst ensuring viability of KCC CLS Study Programme offer.

Legal Implications  

Adult Learning: Sub-contracting adult provision - KCC does not deliver the CLS services pursuant to specific statutory powers or duties. KCC is required to deliver the CLS services in exchange for funding from the Education and Skills Funding Agency (“ESFA”).

Young People: KCC has a duty to secure sufficient education and training for persons in Kent aged 16-19 (and those aged over 19 with an EHCP) under section 15ZA of the Education Act 1996. KCC must have regard to various matters in complying with this duty (s. 15ZA(3)) and act in a number of different ways (e.g. with a view to encouraging diversity in the education and training available – s. 15ZA(4)).

KCC has “Raising the Participation Age”- related duties under the Education and Skills Act 2008, i.e. to:

• Make available to those aged 13 to 19 (and between 20 and 24 with SEN) services to encourage, enable or assist their participation in education or training (s. 68).
• Exercise its functions generally so as to promote participation of young people (those aged 16-18 without a level 3 qualification) in education or training (s. 10) and to identify young people who are not participating (s. 12).

Participation of young people in education, employment or trainingstatutory guidance which covers these participation age related duties, was issued in April 2024 to which KCC must have regard.