Learning for the 21st Century - Part 4: Section 11

The Role and Responsibilities of Local Authorities
Learning for the 21st Century - Part 4: Section 11 - Point 14

11.48 Local authorities continue to play a vital role in local communities. They still constitute the only major local bodies with democratic accountability and they reach into the lives of all individuals, households and communities locally. They provide Ł60 billion worth of services every year to local residents and employ over 12% of the country's labour force. In each of the services that touch people's lives there is scope for lifelong learning to make a contribution.

11.49 Guided by Government, local authorities should consider the impact of all of their other policies and priorities on the lifelong learning needs of specific social groups currently under-represented in learning. We have in mind people from unskilled and semi-skilled backgrounds, the long-term unemployed, those with learning difficulties and disabilities, the elderly, members of minority ethnic and linguistic groups, offenders and ex-offenders. Local authorities should ensure cross-authority joint initiatives are targeted especially at those who are traditionally excluded or who are poor, unqualified or who have little access to traditional forms of lifelong learning and learning support.

11.50 A new national strategy to develop a culture of lifelong learning for all should recognise the key role of local authorities, as strategic planners, co-ordinators, partners and providers. This should be recognised in Government guidance and in the allocation of resources.

11.51 Local authorities have a statutory duty to 'secure adequate facilities' for the education of adults, including all of the groups set out above, in paragraphs 11.33-47, but provision has not grown or strengthened in recent years, nor is it always clear what authorities understand by 'adequacy' in this context. Government should clarify this. Going further, and building on the proposals in Excellence in Schools, we believe that local authorities should be given responsibility to develop local strategic action plans for lifelong learning for all. Such strategic plans should be couched within the parameters laid down in the Government's strategy, taking account of local needs and provision and working in partnership with other key local stakeholders. As a development of greater transparency and public accountability, consideration could be given to the publication of greater detail about standard spending assessments and local authorities' expenditure on adult learning.

11.52 We recommend that Government issue a circular on local authority secured adult education, following consultation with the Local Government Association. This should define adequacy broadly, highlight good practice in provision of local authority secured adult education and require each local authority to publish a Development Plan for lifelong learning. Each local authority's Development Plan should:

Explain how it has assessed adequacy
Set out how it plans to secure adequate provision
Propose how it intends to audit existing learning provision and map need, in partnership with other local organisations and interests
Identify its targets for participation (including targets for under-represented groups), curriculum range and levels offered
Include its strategy for family learning
Explain the roles and relationships of the elements of lifelong learning - relating the adult plan to youth service, early years, and school-community link plans, and to the lifelong learning impact of other local authority services
Describe its mechanisms for quality assurance, staff development and for monitoring success
Identify what resources, and especially communications and information technology resources, are available to learners
Indicate its Standard Spending Assessment allocation and planned expenditure on adult education.

11.53 In the interests of increasing both public understanding and greater public accountability, we propose that Government should consult with the Local Government Association on appropriate ways to publish league tables of Standard Spending Assessment allocations and expenditure to highlight the practice of local authorities. There should be a review the success of these arrangements after three years.

11.54 We also recommend that Government charge each Local Authority, in collaboration with its local TEC and other groups, to carry out an audit of local learning needs and communications technology resources, to feed into local development plans.

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