Arwyn Watkins, CEO Ntfw - Closing Speech Conference Members, Colleagues, Sponsors I Know

Arwyn Watkins, CEO NTfW - Closing speech conference
Members, Colleagues, Sponsors I know that there are some in the room who question what role and function I carry out on behalf of the Board of NTfW you’re regionally and nationally elected representatives.

I am not going to stand on this platform today to justify the role but what I will set out today are a number of actions that I would like to see members and stakeholders follow up on post conference:

Firstly please attend your regional meetings your elected representatives have taken considerable time and effort to create an agenda that you can all contribute too and it is very important that you do contribute to this agenda.

The intelligence that you all have on the ground in Wales is the evidence base that can and will inform policy and delivery decisions going forward.

and on that very point it is regularly reported at Board meetings that attendance at regional meetings is very low in number but high in quality.

Members you are all very welcome at the regional meetings and there are no different levels of membership within NTfW for members that are delivering on the work based learning commission.

Members you have heard today of the drive towards a Regional Employment and Skills policy for all delivery that sits outside of national core programmes.
As a network over the last 2 rounds of European funding we have remained consistent in our message that there are far too many projects and programmes duplicating core programmes targeting the same beneficiaries.
This is the perfect policy opportunity for you to put this right you can only do this by being an active member of your region, supporting your elected representatives to take your intelligence and knowledge of market failure forward within a regional structure.
We have the advantage in NTfW that we are already established as a pan Wales organisation with a regional structure that aligns. That has a membership who engages on a daily basis with more employers than any other network has or could ever achieve in Wales.
This alone is a massive asset for the Regional Employment and Skills policy driver as well as the safeguard of the recognition that we are a quality assured network with an infrastructure that has a proven track record of taking a policy out of the box and delivering a product that makes a huge difference to the lives of individuals, productivity of employers and a sustainable future for your communities.
On this regional policy priority this is not a road to travel as an individual organisation ploughing their own furrow.

This has to be taken forward as a network based on our existing and well established regional footprint, to avoid duplication of effort to maximise employment and skills opportunities where there is evidence based market failure.
As a well-established network I am sure we can have that mature debate on a regional basis that could result in the regions taking forward Employment and Skills solutions where there is an evidence based need.

Utilising the existing ESF quality assured administrative infrastructure so that the bulk of any additional investment secured from Europe is invested in delivery and not wasted on the establishment of duplication in the administration infrastructure.
If there is anyone still left in conference today who does not recognise the aspiration in Wales to grow the number of apprenticeships on programme in Wales. To raise the level, to open up apprenticeship opportunities in new sectors.

Then you are sleep walking into a future where all the evidence suggests that there will be far less public funds available to invest, co-investment will be required.

Our colleagues in Further Education institutions have already received notification from the Minister for Education that in the budget year of 2014/15 there could well be a 5% reduction in the budget available in real terms that equates to somewhere between £15-£20 million reduction in cash available to invest in Education and Skills in Further Education institutions.
For this network to deliver on the aspirations in work based learning we will over the duration of the WBL4 commission need to secure alternative cash revenues into the mix.

Not as is often the case in England currently where that alternative investment is secured but not in real cash but kind.
We in Wales will have to secure this cash from either the employer, the learner or from a corporate sponsor who sees it as their social responsibility to reinvest a % of their profits into the skills aspirations of this countries youth.

No one underestimates the challenge to make this a reality.
We all know that there are ways that we can take action to make the public investment go further but that requires joined up action very often outside of our control as individual providers but I believe something that we should demand as a Federation.

I call on all Awarding Bodies to work with this network to have a common agreement on the recognition of prior learning so that we are not delivering skills and knowledge that has already being achieved it is not good for learners, employers or public finances.

I call on the officials within DfES to remove a lot of the bureaucracy that currently exists within the system.

Build on the excellent work that we have already achieved in the cost of delivery model and deliver a funding mechanism that only funds the areas of skills delivery that need to be funded and not the whole programme irrespective of any prior achievements.
As a network we know we are excellent in delivering the core aspects of our worked based learning commissions our framework achievement success rates are amongst the highest in the United Kingdom and we even stand out amongst the best in the wider world.
We also have to admit that on the wider themes that are currently embedded in the common inspection framework we struggle there are some examples of excellence but this is not a common thread running through work based learning inspection reports.
So we have to collectively ask ourselves even more so at a time when we are seeking to secure third party investment in apprenticeship programmes.What will this third party fund, what do they value and more importantly what will they not fund or do not value.

All of us in conference today have to continually self-assess all of our actions with the question what value does it add. If it does not add value we have to question the action.

In any post 16 environment it is very challenging to deliver excellence. In most post 16 education and skills environments delivery is reliant on commitment and dedication from 2 parties the institution and the learner.

We are the only post 16 sector delivering employment and skills where this commitment and dedication is not a simple institution learner relationship.

At the heart of our delivery environment is an employer and without that third party commitment there would be no Traineeship progression and Apprenticeship delivery as we know it today.

So I also challenge our colleagues in Estyn at a time when they are considering the drafting of the next common inspection framework.

Please take into consideration the views of employers within the work based learning environment an ever changing environment that is work based learning and to give serious consideration to the re-introduction of inspecting the specific skills that are understood by employers, valued by the learner and championed by this network.

We need an inspection framework that enables us to benchmark skills that are required to carry out the job as defined by the National Occupational Standards competently.

I am really concerned that during this current cycle of inspections in work based learning we are paying the price for taking our eye off the ball in pre-16 Literacy and Numeracy over the past decade.

We need to be very careful that we have not during this cycle focused too much of our delivery on the Literacy and Numeracy agenda important as it is and not on the ability to build a wall, to cut hair to the customer’s requirements, to plan and design a menu that is going to realise a 70% gross profit to the menu specification and to plumb a house to building regulations and so on.

I know we as a network do not capture CPD investment in our workforce, I am sure that individually we measure our level of investment in our succession plans and talent mapping within our own workforce but I know from all of the vacancies posted on the NTfW Moodle a focus on the key requirements of ESDGC, Numeracy, and Literacy.

There is a void of key requirements such as the skills required to carry out a craft or skill within the last 5 years.

If we are to achieve the higher level apprenticeship ambitions these key requirements are a must within our workforce.

You have all heard today the various challenges that we all face in delivering high quality work based learning employment and skills.

Devolution is creating additional challenges but also excellent opportunities with the establishment of Qualifications Wales, the specification and standards of apprenticeships Wales on a statutory footing, the development of learning area programmes in further education institutions we have the real opportunity to deliver on progression opportunities for all, irrespective of ability.

With the recommendations on Apprenticeships in England by Doug Richards I have it on good authority that a major announcement is imminent on the path England will travel. If they announce as they have previously indicated they accept his recommendations we could well see a significant divergence in Apprenticeship frameworks and one I believe we should not follow in Wales. The importance of Qualifications Wales and SASW will be critical to us all.

The consultation on the future of funding Apprenticeships in England has recently closed and there is a strong feeling that UKCES prefer the model of funding linked to a tax rebate, if that is adopted in England what potential impact could that have for Wales.

I believe we should be glad that Education and Skills is devolved to Wales and support Welsh Government’s approach to deliver on this agenda.

With the next tender round from April 2015 to March 2019 live on Sell 2 Wales, knowing that this round of ESF investment at the higher level has to make a real difference for this country, let us all work together to deliver what is valued, jettison what is not valued and remove duplication.

Secure additional investment where there is clearly evidence based market failure outside of core programmes. Stop at source the approval of delivery that duplicates core programmes.

Maintain a quality assured delivery network and together let’s focus all of our energies on raising our aspirations so that Wales does not qualify for a fourth round of ESF higher level investment to raise the skills base of the Welsh workforce.
That alone is a huge performance measure for all stakeholders to aspire to achieve but none of us can achieve that performance measure in isolation it requires a strategic partnership at the highest level and today we are setting out our invitation to all stakeholders to engage with us on this hugely ambitious but necessary performance measure.

The focus of conference today -

Nurturing talent: Building the workforce of the future in Wales

Starts with our own workforce we have to utilise our network to nurture talent across our workforce so that we are in a strong position to build the employment and skills of the workforce that will be the future of Wales.

Thank you for attending and contributing today.

For those of you who are heading home have a safe journey and for those of you who are joining us tonight for the Apprenticeship Awards Cymru you are in for an excellent evening with outstanding finalists that are the real life evidence of the impact that you the work based learning providers have on the lives of individuals and employers in Wales.

Diolch yn fawr thank you.