Agenda item

Report from the Strategic Director of Regeneration and Environment

Recommendations

That Cabinet:

1.    Approve the acceptance and planned spend of an annual Multiply grant of £408,000 from SYMCA, for each of the years 2023/24 and 2024/25.

2.    Delegates authority to the Assistant Director of Planning, Regeneration and Transport in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Jobs and the Local Economy, to agree grant awards, within the terms and conditions of the funding, to colleges, community organisations and other training providers to deliver the agreed learning activity and outputs for the Programme.

The Chair welcomed the Assistant Director for Planning, Regeneration and Transport, the Economic Strategy and Partnerships Manager and the Multiply Manager to the meeting.

The Multiply programme was a national scheme to improve numeracy skills, focusing on supporting people aged 19+, who currently do not have a Level 2 Maths qualification.

Multiply funding was allocated through the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA), to arrange delivery in each local authority area. The Council received £194,000 for 2022/23, which was granted to voluntary and community organisations for local delivery of predominantly engagement and confidence building work.  SYMCA was providing a further £408,000 per annum to the Council for each of the years 2023/24 and 2024/25.

The report set out proposals to use grant funding including commissioning organisations such as the college and community groups to deliver the training. It was outlined that there were 5 priority areas to deliver which included:

·       Innovative numeracy programmes designed to cover numeracy skills required in the workplace;

·       Courses aimed at people unable to apply for certain jobs because of lack of numeracy skills;

·       Numeracy activities, courses developed in partnership with community organisations aimed at engaging disadvantaged learners;

·       Numerous activities, courses or provision aim to develop numeracy life skills;

·       Courses for parents wanting to increase their numeracy skills in order to help their children and help with their own progression.

Mapping had been undertaken against the indices of multiple deprivation to target areas with learners with low skills and high levels of unemployment. Engagement activity had also taken place with employers and community groups who could deliver the programme.

The Multiply Manager outlined that the programme was a unique opportunity for learners in Rotherham as funding for non-accredited learning was rare. The benefits of the programme had been identified nationally with participants achieving maths qualifications, improvements to their functional skills level and labour market outcomes. It was noted that anyone in the Borough aged 19 plus would be eligible to apply if they did not have a grade 4 at GCSE level or equivalent.

The Assistant Director for Education and Skills noted that the timescales provided a challenge and therefore community engagement would need to be strong across the different aspects of the programme. There had been a significant gap in community learning and therefore this opportunity should be welcomed.

The Chair invited questions from the Board and a discussion on the following issues ensued:

Clarification was sought on the process for the initial assessment of learners. It was outlined that community providers would have the training and support to enable them to undertake initial assessments to align the needs of the learners alongside the functional skills curriculum. By aligning the learning alongside this curriculum, community groups were given clear learning aims so that the progression of learners could be monitored. Providers could deliver the learning model flexibly which would be quality assured by the programme manager through performance review meetings to ensure consistency across. In addition, the programme manager would deliver training around the functional skills curriculum.

Further details were asked about how the programme identified potential learners to ensure that people were not left behind. It was noted fat the programme was targeting providers that were working within communities as this gave a strong starting point to understand learners and potential target groups. Using the data from year one, post codes were analysed to see where learners were based but also where they travelled from. This enabled a wider analysis of trends, habits and potential barriers. It was clarified that the Multiply Manager was working alongside neighbourhood teams, including developing broad data sets.

Clarification was sought on anticipated take up and how this would be measured. It was outlined that in the first 8 weeks of the programme, 500 learners were engaged. It was felt that this demonstrated that there was a real need for this programme. Once a learner had successfully finished a programme, they would be signposted to other learning, which may include other multiply courses. Data sets would be analysed to review if there were emerging needs or if more provision was required.

Information was requested on how this project could be embedded in the Council’s recruitment and selection process. It was outlined that learners will have information, advice and guidance about next steps and opportunities that were available within South Yorkshire. It was noted that whilst this was not an accredited qualification, learners could include details of their achievements on their CV.

Members requested a briefing on the impact of the programme and its rollout.

Further details were requested about family learning and links with secondary schools. It was noted that one of the priorities was to support adults to upskill their own understanding of numeracy and how was taught in school. Schools were encouraged to bid for funding.

It was noted that many English as a Second Language providers were engaged in this programme, with good uptake from ESOL learners.

Resolved:

1)    That Cabinet be advised that the following recommendations be supported:

That Cabinet:

1.    Approve the acceptance and planned spend of an annual Multiply grant of £408,000 from SYMCA, for each of the years 2023/24 and 2024/25.

2.    Delegates authority to the Assistant Director of Planning, Regeneration and Transport in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Jobs and the Local Economy, to agree grant awards, within the terms and conditions of the funding, to colleges, community organisations and other training providers to deliver the agreed learning activity and outputs for the Programme.

2)    That consideration be given to how the Council’s recruitment and selection processes recognises and promotes successful completion of the Multiply programme as evidence of an applicant’s numeracy skills.

3)    That further updates of the programme’s progress be submitted to OSMB.