Family, Adult and Community Learning (FACL)

Family, Adult and Community Learning (FACL)

Grant Award Specification2015/16

1.SUMMARY OF REQUIREMENTS

Sunderland City Council receives funding on an annual basis from the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) to deliver learning under its Community Learning budget and its Adult Skills budget. This funding is managed by the FACL service area, which is looking to deliver its SFA contract by awarding grants to third party providers with specialisms in the following areas:

• Community Learning which comprises of the following elements:

-Personal and Community Development Learning (PCDL)

-Neighbourhood Learning in Deprived Communities (NLDC)

-Wider Family Learning (WFL)

-Family English, Maths and Language (FEML)

• Accredited Learning which comprises of the following elements:

-English, Maths and ICT provision, including functional skills

-Foundation Learning (Entry level/Level 1 qualifications)

-Level 2, Level 3 andLevel 4 qualifications

-16-18 Traineeships

Through its Community Leadership role, Sunderland City Council aims to help support and sustain the viability of its Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) and social enterprises. The Council recognises that these Third Sector organisations can play a valuable role in engaging and supporting ‘hard to reach’ priority groups within Sunderland’s communities through the delivery of FACL courses. In light of this, FACL aims to award grants primarily to organisations that fit into this category, to maximise such engagement.

Bidders should be aware that Sunderland City Council aims to ensure:

• The procurement of high quality provision that maximises the use of public funding. The Council aims to achieve best value in the use of public funds and providers are advised to employ an innovative approach to service delivery, in order to maximise impact with the resources available.

• Provision meets local need and is responsive to relevant strategic priorities, particularly those stated in the following documents:

• Draft Education and Skills Strategy (Appendix 5)

• Health and Wellbeing Strategy

• Economic Masterplan

The relationship between the above strategies is described by the following diagram which shows the inter-dependencies between the 3 strategic areas. FACL is keen to support provision that can potentially fall within the centre section of the diagram, with outcomes that are seen to deliver a positive impact in all 3 strategic areas.

• Provision supports the priorities of Sunderland’sArea Regeneration Committees and is responsive to the needs of local communities. The Area Committees’ most recent Annual Report can be accessed via the following hyperlink, which will provide a useful overview of local priorities at a community level:

Guidance set out by the SFA stipulates adherence to the following objectives:

• Focus public funding on people who are disadvantaged and least likely to participate, including those on low incomesand with low skills.

• Collect fee income from people who can afford to pay and use this where possible to extend provision to those who cannot.

• Widen participation and transform people’s destinies by supporting progression relevant to personal circumstances.

• Develop stronger communities, with more self-sufficient, connected and proactive citizens.

• Commission, deliver and support learning in ways that contribute directly to these objectives.

Sunderland City Council will ensure that all organisations seeking to receive grant award through this bidding process, understand and support the achievement of the above objectives.

FACL may from time to time, issue variations to this specification to reflect the need for provision to potentially meet changing local, regional and national priorities. Providers are required to respond appropriately to all reasonable requests to vary delivery if such changes are needed.

1.1LOCATION OF PROVISION

Programme delivery must take place within the local authority area of Sunderland.

FACL is keen to ensure that provision is delivered in the heart of local communities and, as such, would encourage providers to deliver in suitable, easily accessible locations across the city for example community centres, libraries, schools, museums, Children’s Centres, or other locations easily accessible by members of the public. FACL will not fund any service delivery that takes place outside Sunderland, unless prior written agreement has been received.

Of particular interest is provision that can be delivered within the city’s Children’s Centres and libraries, to address their customers’ requirements.

• Children’s Centres are tasked with meeting the needs of parents with young children. Courses such as English,Maths and ICT, health & safety in the home, money management, courses to build personal confidence, ESOL, healthy cooking and lifestyles are frequently requested, although bidders would be expected to have researched current requirements before submitting proposals.

• Libraries are keen to ensure courses including ICT, family and local history, English, Maths and employability(including support to access Universal Credit) are scheduled to take place within their premises. Bidders are encouraged to submit proposals which have been developed in conjunction with the Libraries Outreach and Development Manager, to meet the libraries’ predicted strategic need.

Providers should be able to evidencehow they have determined the need for their courses to be delivered in the specific location named in their proposal.

Following notification of grant award, providers will be asked to complete and return a Location Health and Safety Assessment Record for every venue intended to be used to deliver FACL courses. Following Procurement we are no longer asking for this form as the Register and Business Questionnaire covers what we need.

1.2TARGETING PROVISION

In line with SFA Guidance, FACL provision is intended to primarily support Sunderland residents, to help them gain more skills, help them achieve their potential and toimprove the social cohesion of our communities. The provision will:

• Maximise access to learning for adults, bringing new opportunities and improving lives, whatever people’s circumstances.
• Promote social renewal by bringing local communities together to experience the joy of learning and the pride that comes with achievement.
• Maximise the impact of learning on social and economic well-being of individuals, families and communities.

Bidders must clearly describe in their Method Statement (Appendix 2), how their provision will specifically address the needs of one or moreof the following types of learners:

• People who are looking for work and wish to improve their level of skills, confidence and motivation to help their recruitment prospects.
• People who are unemployed and in receipt of work-related benefits.
• People with multiple and complex personal issues/lifestyles (for example ex-offenders, people who have caring responsibilities, people who are homeless, or with substance mis-use problems).
• People with mild to moderate learning difficulties/disabilities.
• People who are part of the city’s BME community.
• People who suffer from social isolation, including older people.
• Families with children aged 0 – 16.

As well as the above, FACL is also keen to support courses which:

• Target and assist in increasing participation rates of males.
• Engage learners who are disadvantaged by personal circumstances.
• Are offered at weekends and/or evenings.
• Are aimed at supporting a reduction in obesity levels and enabling learners to make healthy lifestyle choices.
• Support key economic growth sectors of Sunderland.

Providers should indicate within their proposal, how they intend to target their recruitment and sustain the engagement ofpeople within one or more of these cohorts.

1.3COURSE TITLES AND LEVELS

For provision that falls within Community Learning (which generally does not lead to external accreditation or qualifications) it is very important that providers accurately describe the courses on offer. The title of a course should enable learners to gain a clear impression of what they can aim to achieve. Similarly, the level of a course is an important indicator of how difficult it will be.

Providers should be specific and clearly state the subject area to be covered. A list of potential Sector Subject Areas (SSAs) is provided as Appendix 6. FACL will not accept courses proposed that are not clear in terms of the subject area on offer.

As a means of monitoring progression and identifying the level at which the learning is aimed, FACL suggests that the following descriptors are used in course titleswhere appropriate:

• Taster – a sample of learning that a subsequent course may offer; a taster must have a progression route to further learning
• Beginners – for those will little or no knowledge/experience of a subject area
• Intermediate – for those with some knowledge/experience of a subject area
• Advanced – for those who know a lot about the subject area and want to further enhance their skills

1.4LEARNER ELIGIBILITY

The SFA sets clear rules about learner eligibility. To be eligible, on the first day of learning a learner must be aged 19 or older on 31 August within the funding year in question. The exception to this is a Traineeship, where the FACL contract is to deliver Traineeships to learners aged 16-18. Learners under 19 can be supported by Community Learning funding only if they are a parent/carer on a family learning programme.

Full details of the eligibility criteria are set out in the Skills Funding Agency Funding Rules 2015-2016 (version 2) which can be accessed on the website below:

Full details of the eligibility criteria for Skills Funding Agency Funding Guidance for Young People 2015-2016 (Traineeships, page 31) can be accessed on the websitebelow:

FACL will only award grant to pay for courses for eligible learners. Providers must be able to demonstrate how they will check learner eligibility prior to enrolment on FACL-funded courses.

1.4.1FEES

The majority of FACL provision will be delivered at no cost to the learner. The exceptions are for some learners on PCDL courses (see para 3.1 for details) and learners aged 24+ who are studying for Full Level 3 qualifications, who must apply for an Advanced Learning Loan. Full details about 24+ Advanced Learning Loans can be found in the SFA Funding Rules 2015-16 detailed above, pages 110-121.

1.5MINIMUM LEVELS OF PERFORMANCE

FACL recognises that the SFA has national minimum standard thresholds for various qualification types. There are also published national success rates for education and training. In order to ensure provision remains compliant with these standards, FACL willmeasure performance across all areas of Community Learning and Adult Skills Provision and aims to achieve an average of 80% for allprovision.

1.5.1RETENTION, ACHIEVEMENT AND SUCCESS (RAS) RATES

Maintaining the quality of FACL provision is paramount, as the service area is subject to rigorous Ofsted inspection. One measure of quality is our retention, achievement and success rates (RAS), therefore providers are required to specify their target RAS rates for all learners enrolled onto their courses.

-Retention is defined as the number of learners who complete a course divided by the number of learners who started a course. For example if 10 learners started a course and only 5 learners completed, then the retention rate would be 50%.

-Achievement is defined as the number of learners who achieve all of the learning aims on their Individual Learning Plan divided by the number of learners who completed. Using the example above, if all 5 learners who were retained achieved all of their learning aims, then the achievement rate would be 100%.

-Success is defined as the number of learners who achieved all of the learning aims on their Individual Learning Plan divided by the number of learners who started a course. Using the examples above, if 10 learners started a course and then only 5 learners were retained but they achieved all of their learning aims, then the success rate would be 50%.

Providers’ performance against RAS rate targets will be closely monitored during the grant award period. Any provider experiencing difficulties achieving their targets will be required to meet initially with the FACL Development Officer responsible for their area of delivery, to devise and implement a plan of remedial action. If after this there is no improvement in the performance, then FACL will consider reducing or withdrawing current grants and will affect the likelihood of awarding future grants.

1.6PROGRESSION AND TRACKING

Success within FACL is acknowledged by the social and economic ‘impact’ created as a result of FACL-funded provision. One impact measure is the subsequent progress made by learners upon completion of courses. Providers must clearly explain in their Method Statement how they will encourage progression and demonstrate the strategies they use to progress learners once they have completed their learning programme. This could be either to a higher level FACL-funded course or other provision relevant to the learners’ ambitions. We are particularly keen to hear how you will work with learners to support them in identifying suitable employment or volunteering opportunities.

There is an aspiration that 80% of learners will progress into either work or further learning upon completion of their initial course. This will be tracked using destination data supplied by providers.

There is a requirement for providers to have systems in place to track the destination of their learners. FACL will provide each organisation with a list of learners who have completed their courses at 3 points in the academic year (in January – after the Autumn term, in April – after the Spring term and in August – after the Summer term). Providers must undertake to complete and return the tracking information within 3 weeks. Note: there may be instances where courses run right up to the end of the contract year – in these instances, providers will still be required to return destination data to FACL during August 2016, even though their 2015/16 contract year has ended.

No additional payments will be made in 2015/16 to cover tracking. Providers should consider this whilst calculating their administration costs for provision which does not draw down set funding amounts.

1.7PAYMENT PROFILE

FACL will make payments against the terms issued to successful bidders in theGrant Award Conditions. Payments will be subject to evidence of satisfactory delivery, the submission of enrolments and completed course paperwork,and/or the outcome of Monitoring Visits and Business Case Reviews. These will be carried out at specified intervals during the grant award period.

The total amount paid to the Provider will not exceed the maximum contract value.

Funding will include payment for all development work to support recruitment, tutor costs, materials, venue hire, resources and destination tracking.

Payment for accredited provision will be based on the national rates set for qualifications approved for public funding by the SFA, minus 18% which will be deducted by FACL to cover management, co-ordination and provider support costs. Full details of the Simplified Funding Rates Matrix can be accessed using the link below:

In the case of accredited provision, payment will be made on receipt of copies of the certificatesor other evidence of achievement from the awarding body (particularly at year end when certificates may not arrive before the end of the accounting period).

For family learning and non-accredited provision, payment will be made oncourse completion, subject to receipt of necessary paperwork that evidences attendance,achievement and progression against learning aims. Alternative arrangements may be considered, following discussion and agreement with FACL management.

FACL reserves the right to defer and/or withhold payment or part payment, based on the outcome of a Monitoring Visit or Business CaseReview and provider performance against the grant award delivery schedule.

FACL has a vision to support learners into work and aspiresto target 40% of learners into paid employment. To support this, should a learner withdraw from an accredited learning aim to go into employment, 10% of the valueof the relevant learning aim will be paid to the provider. (Paid employment must be for 16 hours or more a week for at least 4 weeks in a row). To claim thisjob outcome funding for learners who are receiving Jobseekers Allowance, Employment Support Allowance, or Universal Credit, providers must receive a declaration from the learner that they have stopped claiming benefits related to unemployment and have entered work of 16 hours or more per week. To claim job outcome funding for unemployed learners receiving wider benefits, providers must receive a declaration from the learner that they have started work.

1.8RESOURCES

Providers must ensure they have access to appropriate, high quality teaching and learning resources to effectively deliver the courses they propose. Providers should also be able to accommodate learners who may have additional learning needs relating to a learning difficulty and/or disability.

The SFA, in support of the Further Education Learning Technology Action Group (FELTAG), is encouraging all providers to adopt a greater ‘blend’ of delivery to include online learning e.g. time when learners learn online, interact with other learners online or use online content, systems, tools and services with little, if any, direct tutor support. This will provide learners with improved access to learning outside the classroom, increase their ability to learn and to assess themselves at their own pace, as well as to develop new digital skills and networking opportunities to enhance employability. Providers must be able to demonstrate they have access to digital and/or e-learning resources to support the delivery of online learning.

Note:the Council has a limited supply of IT equipment which can be loaned to providers upon request, should that be necessary.

2. QUALITY ASSURANCE AND IMPROVEMENT

2.1RECOGNISING AND RECORDING PROGRESS AND ACHIEVEMENT (RARPA)

Courses must be planned to have a range of teaching styles and motivational learning materials to enable all learners to participate and achieve. Providers must use the RARPA approach to evidence progression and achievement particularly within Community Learning. Further information may be obtained on the Excellence Gateway: