7. Developing a strategy for learners of English for speakers of other languages 7.1 Clearly there are a range of problems which need to be tackled if we are to ensure that individuals with ESOL needs can benefit fully from the Government's policies on access and wider participation in learning set out in a range of recent publications such as Learning to Succeed and the Learning and Skills Council Prospectus and Funding Consultation documents. 7.2 The Government's response to meeting the needs of learners who speak English as a Second Language will be one clear test of the effectiveness of its commitment to widening participation. An inclusive approach to ESOL entails creating more learning opportunities which more closely reflect the needs of learners. This demands a delivery system which is flexible enough to offer timely and local learning opportunities to ESOL learners when and where they are most motivated. 7.3 Although ESOL learners have many needs distinct from those of basic literacy and numeracy learners - and those needs should be specifically addressed - there are many issues common to both. We therefore judge that it will be to the advantage of ESOL learners if provision for them is developed as part of the Government's wider strategy to improve adult basic skills. The Department's new Adult Basic Skills Strategy Unit should have responsibility for leading the strategy on ESOL in partnership with other key players. The group suggests that at least one member of the new Unit should have specific responsibility for championing ESOL and taking forward the ESOL agenda. Recommendation 1: All developments in the national adult basic skills strategy must address ESOL needs alongside but distinct from basic literacy and numeracy and this should be a specific responsibility of the Adult Basic Skills Strategy Unit . 7.4 Any strategy to improve ESOL will need to : offer high quality information, advice and guidance; offer effective arrangements for assessment of the very diverse needs of these learners; provide a greater range of learning opportunities to reflect the wide diversity of needs, including language support for those on mainstream courses, and to stimulate learning in the workplace; be supported by a flexible funding regime which enables FE, LEAs and others to be responsive to need; ensure programmes on offer are of high quality; ensure higher levels of achievement and attainment by learners gather more robust baseline data and monitor improvements continuously. 7.5 This last point is particularly important in the early days of developing a strategy. In this report we have only been able to use estimates of the numbers of people whose first language is not English and who might benefit from further education and training. The DfEE Adult Basic Skills Strategy Unit should ensure that research to establish benchmarks for basic skills also includes equivalent baselines for ESOL, including language support. Over time, the use of the (FEFC) Individualised Student Record in a wider range of provision should enable more accurate records of all students undertaking learning. Recommendation 2: The research planned for 2001 to establish both national and local baselines for literacy and numeracy should also establish equivalent baselines for ESOL needs, including language support. 7.6 One particular area on which we hope the Adult Basic Skills Strategy Unit will make progress is the development of workplace programmes in partnership with the national training organisations and, once it is established, through the Learning and Skills Council. The Department already has in place a strategy which involves a number of developments, including: building public sector workplace capacity for basic skills; developing and promoting models of basic skills programmes in small and medium sized companies; supporting the Workplace Basic Skills Training Network, the BSA and others in delivering basic skills education in the workplace; and working with trade unions and the TUC to develop union-based projects and promote good practice. We think it essential that they 'mainstream' the needs of ESOL learners into this strategy and consider what further specific initiatives may be appropriate for employers and learners alike. 7.7 Fundamental to the implementation of an effective strategy is the way in which learning is organised at local level and the way in which it is funded both locally and nationally. We see an excellent opportunity through the new post 16 arrangements under the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) to rationalise funding and set national guidelines whilst allowing maximum responsiveness to local needs. 7.8 One specific issue to be addressed is Local Education Authority (LEA) provision. Much of their work has been underpinned by the Adult Ethnic Minority Achievement Grant which is currently limited to a minority of LEAs. Protection needs to be secured under the Learning and Skills Council for those providers who have been able to draw on these resources to support the quality of their provision and additional funding should be allocated to extend this type of support to all LEAs who have significant ESOL needs to meet. 7.9 The LSC should set targets in its first year to ensure that local learning provision is effective at reaching those with ESOL needs - for example, by building on the Learning Age target to educate 500,000 individuals a year in basic skills by 2002. We would wish to see clear evidence in its annual report on equal opportunities that specific action is being taken by the LSC and local LSCs to ensure that the needs of learners with ESOL are being met alongside those of basic skills learners; and that local LSC staff have the expertise and background to work with partners to develop and plan ESOL provision in a way which is sensitive to other cultures. Recommendation 3: The Learning and Skills Council should - a) set clear participation and achievement targets for ESOL nationally and locally in order to drive up the quality and effectiveness of provision; and b) provide an adequate, coherent and flexible funding regime for ESOL provision which will permit it to meet those targets across their work with employers and education and training providers. 7.10 In the short term there is a clear need for additional ESOL provision and support, especially in those areas where demand clearly exceeds supply and in those places where significant numbers of refugees are being settled for the first time. The DfEE should provide funding for the FEFC and LEA's to further develop outreach work and for an expansion of voluntary sector community based provision, building on current good practise and the experience gained from projects such as the Adult and Community Learning Fund and the recent FEFC non-schedule 2 initiative. It should also commission the development of an information and support materials pack for organisations providing ESOL for refugees. Recommendation 4 The DfEE/LSC should look to an expansion of ESOL provision through colleges, Local Education Authorities and the voluntary and community sector - focusing on those areas with especially high demand or with specific refugee issues. Recommendation 5 The DfEE should commission the production and distribution of an information and support materials pack for the tutors and support workers of organisations providing ESOL to refugees.

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