Issue details

Proposed decision:

i)                To CONFIRM approval  of the sub-contracting of specialist provision for adults as set out in Decision - 24/00085

ii)               To confirm delegated authority to the Corporate Director of Children’s, Young People and Education, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Education and Skills, to take the relevant actions as necessary to implement the decision, including future review of performance and Best Value alignment as set out in Decision - 24/00085

iii)              To APPROVE the commissioning approach to procure a two year contract with an option to extend for 12 months.

iv)              To DELEGATE authority to the Corporate Director of Director of Children, Young People and Education, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Education and Skills, to exercise relevant contract extensions and enter into relevant contracts or legal agreements; and

v)               To DELEGATE authority to the Corporate Director of Children, Young People and Education, to take other relevant actions, including but not limited to, finalising the terms of, and entering into required contracts or other legal agreements, as required to implement the decision.

Reason for the decision

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

Background

Community Learning and Skills 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. The following decision is to look specifically at the Adult element of provision.

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 internally.

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 adults 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 ESFA dictates that providers can only sub-contract a maximum of 25% of each funding stream, without exceptional agreement. The ESFA has also 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 management fee that may be retained by CLS is a maximum of 20% of the sub-contracted delivery amount. We have reviewed our requirements and believe that retention of 15% would be appropriate.

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.  The Adult Skills fund projected sub-contracting amount is £600,000 of which CLS will retain £90k.

This will be offset by savings released through the planned restructure of CLS delivery. There is no expectation of contribution from the general fund. 

The financial envelope retained from these proposals at 15%  would be utilised to manage the procurement, selection, audit, and management of the sub-contractors ensuring that they adhere to contractual obligations and expected quality measures.

Commissioning:

The proposal is to commission a two year contract with an option to extend for 12 months.(insert start date and end date)

Future considerations which align to the sub-contracting of provision for Adults :

The investigation into adding a second ‘Lot’ of sub-contracting of provision for the delivery of the 16 to 19 year olds Study Programme for Community Learning and Skills, and Post 16 provision for those aged 19 to 24 with an Education, Health and Care Plan through an evidence based commissioning programme will be undertaken to ensure alignment of delivery with the sub-contracting of provision for Adults. The sub-contracting of provision for the delivery of the 16 to 19 year olds Study Programme for Community Learning and Skills, and Post 16 provision for those aged 19 to 24 with an Education, Health and Care Plan will be subject to separate decision making.