Opportunity Scotland: A Paper on Lifelong Learning

Opportunity Scotland: A Paper on Lifelong Learning

15. Funding Learning

15.1 Resources from the taxpayer are limited and must be carefully targeted. We are committed to targeting those resources at areas of greatest need; to supporting the overall system and learning frameworks; and to funding initial development of initiatives such as the Scottish University for Industry and National Grid for Learning which will transform learning opportunities for the future.

15.2 In moving towards the goal of a society where learning through life is the norm for the vast majority of citizens we must recognise that Government will not be in a position to pay for all these learning opportunities. Individuals will need to invest more in their own learning where possible. Employers will need to recognise the business benefits of a skilled and learning workforce and be willing to offer financial and other support to employees to take up learning opportunities. There is also an important role for Government and other partners in ensuring that funding systems are a means of supporting learners in achieving their goals and not a barrier to opportunity.

15.3 The Government has through its Compre-hensive Spending Review, assessed and announced its spending plans and objectives for the medium and long-term. The main focus will be investment in an agenda of modernisation and reform. Underlying these priorities is the desire to widen opportunity, to achieve a fairer society, to tackle social exclusion and to secure and enhance employment opportunities, investment and growth. Lifelong learning will increasingly contribute in various ways to the attainment of these goals and the funding of further education colleges is critical to this. In other areas too policies are being developed, for example

under the New Deal and in relation to tackling social exclusion, which will overlap with and take forward our aims for lifelong learning. We will ensure that the policies set out in this paper for lifelong learning are at the heart of decisions regarding the distribution of future funds announced in the context of the Comprehensive Spending Review.

FE College funding

15.4 We are determined to raise standards in, and improve access to, the further education sector. The funding methodology for distributing Government grant to the FE colleges has in recent years delivered significant benefits in the form of improved efficiency and a real leap in student numbers. But there has also been a downside. There has been a climate of intense competition between colleges in which they have tended to see each other as rivals rather than partners in providing further education. This has had an effect on the range and pattern of courses offered. Last year we instituted a thorough review of the way colleges are funded and made a start on implementing changes.

15.5 The objective is to move away from a methodology which produced extreme volatility of growth in student activity and hence grant from one year to the next, towards a situation where growth is managed and there is much greater stability year on year. This will assist colleges in sensible planning for the future. Students will benefit from that. We are also introducing links between funding and measures of quality or student achievement. That is definitely a step in the right direction. Ł1.7 million is also being used this year to promote a series of college specific widening access initiatives and to encourage colleges to consider further co-operative and collaborative ventures which will have visible benefits to students, such as access to wider opportunities and support services. We will also be embarking on a review of the way the colleges use the Ł44 million which is available this year for bursary support for students. Our intention will be to ensure that bursary resources are put to best use to widen access to further education by helping those who, without some assistance, would be excluded from participation in the lifelong learning experience.

15.6 Further and higher education students will benefit from the Government's decision to double the amount of the Access Funds given to universities and colleges. In 1998/99 the total amount of funds distributed to publicly funded universities and colleges will be Ł8.7 million. The Access Funds are intended to offer assistance to students who, for whatever reason, may face financial difficulties or whose access to further or higher education might be inhibited by financial considerations. Part-time students will be eligible for assistance from the Access Funds for the first time from 1998/99. Universities and colleges are responsible for deciding which students should receive payments and how much each payment should be.

Funding of Higher Education in Scotland

15.7 The Government spends almost Ł1 billion per year on higher education in Scotland. In per capita terms Scotland spends considerably more on HE than other UK countries. However, as elsewhere in the UK, the expansion in student numbers under the previous administration was not matched by sufficiently increased funding.

15.8 The Government and the Dearing Committee recognised that higher education must have the funding it needs to sustain teaching standards, and to allow more students to go into higher education. Dearing proposed that full-time students in higher education should pay some of the cost of their tuition. The Government agreed and decided to ask future graduates - those who benefit most from higher education - to share a part of the costs by contributing to their tuition fees. However, students from lower income families (about 40% of Scottish students) will not pay tuition fees and their parents will not be asked to contribute to their living costs. Others will find that their parents will not have to contribute more towards tuition fees and living costs combined than under the previous system.

15.9 As part of the Comprehensive Spending Review, the Government announced on 15 July an additional Ł230 million for higher education institutions (and Ł214 million for F E colleges ) over the next 3 years. This will keep annual efficiency gains by H E institutions to 1% as recommended by the Dearing Committee.

15.10 Students with dependants and those who are lone parents will continue to receive additional assistance through grant, in recognition of the responsibilities carried by them. From 1999/2000, eligibility for loans will be extended to those aged 50-54 who are planning to return to employment. This will enable those in this age group who wish to improve their employability by retraining, for example after redundancy, to benefit from the Government's new arrangements for loans.

Finance for training

15.11 The Government allocates resourcing to Scottish Enterprise (SE) and Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) each year - about Ł180 million - for training and employment creation measures. This substantial investment within Scotland helps many individuals to realise ambitions in lifelong learning. All concerned - the Government, SE, HIE, LECs, training providers, employers, colleges and others - are working together to maximise the opportunities and to ensure value for money.

15.12 The main resource allocation to adult training is that for Training for Work. Training for Work provision in Scotland in 1998-99 is Ł64 million, a reduction of 11% over the previous year, reflecting the decline in long-term unemployment and new eligibility criteria, due to the New Deal, which has removed 18-24 year olds from the client group. Provision for Skillseekers, the main programme for young people, in 1998-99 will be Ł90.6 million, a similar level to the previous year.

Objective 4

15.13 The European Regional Development Fund and the European Social Fund provide extensive assistance towards the creation of training facilities and the provision of training activity. Many of the initiatives already mentioned receive support from the funds. These include FE Colleges, Scottish Enterprise, University for Industry, University of the Highlands and Islands Project, National Training Organisations and the New Deal. For example, European funding has been secured to add to funds already made available by a range of local partners in Grampian to set up a network of study centres which will be housed in a variety of different locations e.g. colleges, employers' premises, community centres etc. The two-year programme will address ways of ensuring access to learning in remote areas and from sections of the community who have not previously been attracted to learning.

16. Learning Partnerships

16.1 Collaboration between institutions and different partners is of vital importance in making sure that learners have the best possible opportunities. Alliances have been forged between users, providers and other professionals in a position to support the learner. They have helped people understand each other's needs and priorities and resulted in more co-ordinated and refined approaches from which all involved stand to benefit. There are many excellent examples of partnership in Scotland, some of which have been mentioned earlier. More recently we have seen partnerships formed which aim to be inclusive, strategic at a local level and with the aim of encouraging lifelong learning in their areas. They are important in building a lifelong learning culture from which learners, providers, employers and communities all benefit.

Local Learning Partnerships

16.2 A Scotland-wide network of Local Learning Partnerships(LLPs) has now been established. Some are still in the early stage of development but, in other areas, particularly where good partnership arrangements already existed, LLPs have been making excellent progress, with partners working in a way which benefits the individual learner and their individual organisations. We decided to operate a challenge fund for bids: it is encouraging that Scottish Office funding has, in almost every case, been matched or exceeded by local organisations making contributions to ensure the success of their LLP.

16.3 We made a conscious decision not to be overly prescriptive about how LLPs should operate but to allow partnerships the flexibility to mould them to meet local needs and circumstances. Some partnerships have made excellent progress, particularly in developing innovative practical ideas and in involving the private sector.

Glasgow Learning Alliance

The creation of a Learning Alliance which brings together key stakeholders with a common vision. The Alliance sets local learning targets and is developing a framework for a learning culture which will ensure the area's contribution to the ASCETT targets. A priority has been to ensure that the Alliance is fully inclusive with a common purpose built on mutual understanding and commitment. The Alliance has agreed a range of key tasks and priorities which cover a wide age and ability range, both employed and unemployed.

16.4 While allowing for local variation, we believe that the creation of learning plans for communities should be one part of the development of partnerships. Without an appropriate analysis of learning needs at this level and a clear allocation of responsibilities to the providers best able to meet particular requirements, some of the purpose behind the creation of LLPs is at risk of being lost. We will consider in the light of experience whether there should be a standard set for the quality of community learning plans.

16.5 The aims of Adult Guidance Networks (AGNs) and LLPs are close; we will encourage these groups to work increasingly to a common agenda, and to make the best use of common resources, so that both are well prepared for the role they can play as the Scottish University for Industry grows. Some AGNs and LLPs may decide they could best take forward their agenda by merging.

17. Childcare

17.1 The Government's recent Green Paper Meeting the Childcare Challenge: A Childcare Strategy for Scotland set out how the Government intends to develop a childcare strategy for Scotland. The Government has already announced almost Ł5 million to develop childcare in Scotland in 1998-99. Following the Comprehensive Spending Review a further Ł91 million extra will be available in Scotland for this purpose over the years 1999-2002. It is also estimated that the resources going into childcare through the tax and benefits system will increase tenfold when the new Working Families Tax Credit is introduced in 1999. Although not educational in a narrow sense, good quality childcare can have very positive effects on children's personal and social development, helping to tackle problems like under-achievement and lack of self-esteem. It can also be vital in enabling parents, and particularly lone parents, to enter education and training. Specific help towards childcare costs is available to further education students from college bursaries and the Further Education Access Funds, and to higher education students from the Higher Education Access Funds.

17.2 A particular priority for the Government is the development of out of school provision. That is why Ł400 million of Lottery money - including Ł46 million for projects in Scotland - was announced last December for out of school hours activities. The money will be disbursed by the New Opportunities Fund which is being created by the Lottery Bill which is currently before Parliament. Ł23 million will be used to stimulate good quality after-school childcare for those attending school or pre-school education. A further Ł21 million will be used to develop out of school hours learning activities - also known as study support (with a further Ł2 million specifically for projects combining both childcare and study support). Such projects are important to both our initiatives to tackle social exclusion, and our drive to raise standards in schools. The target is for the New Opportunities Fund to fund projects involving at least half of all secondary schools, a quarter of all primary schools and half of all special schools. The principal aim is to provide learning activities which serve to encourage and motivate pupils, build their self-esteem and help them to reach higher standards of achievement.

18. Conclusion

18. We have set out a distinctive and wide-ranging agenda for lifelong learning in this paper. We are committed to doing our part to raise awareness, improve access, extend participation, encourage progression and ensure quality. But lifelong learning requires a partnership - between individuals, employers, trade unions, education and training providers, and Government. Partnership and collaboration is the basis of the Scottish University for Industry, the National Grid for Learning, Individual Learning Accounts, Higher Still and much else. We now look to everyone to respond to this paper, and to work with us so that lifelong learning encompasses all citizens, especially those who previously felt excluded from learning. That way we can make a reality of "Opportunity Scotland" - educational opportunity for all.