This week, Cumbria County Council's Cabinet agreed to change the contracting arrangements for providing adult education across the County designed to ensure that new targets set by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) continue to be met.
Currently, the county council receives funding from the LSC to provide adult education services. The county council has contracts with a number of partners for the management of this service. This includes a contract with the Cumbria CREDITS Company who deliver adult education through community development centres (CDC's) based throughout the area.
Cumbria Adult Education Service was inspected in 2004 and was reported to have achieved a dramatic improvement over 12 months. 70% of the teaching and learning is considered to be good or very good. This is a big confidence vote in the quality of provision by all providers and by the leadership of managers and tutors who have assured this improvement in quality.
To continue this improvement programme, the provision is now being re-shaped and modernised to meet the demands of the Government's new learning and skills agenda. The county council has set up five area provider forums for adult and community learning based in Barrow, Carlisle, South Lakes, Eden and West Cumbria. This is intended to allow for an extension of local planning to meet local need and to use resources more efficiently.
Cumbria CREDITS will, under these arrangements, continue to work in partnership with the County Council to secure a smooth transition of responsibilities to Adult Education, including transfer of the responsibility for management and development of the CDCs. The County Council, through its Economy and Environment department and Cumbria CREDITS will continue to work in close partnership to jointly develop new regeneration initiatives to serve Cumbrian communities. Cumbria CREDITS will receive £50k to facilitate these new arrangements.
County Councillor, Joan Stocker, cabinet member for education said:
"Our plans should see an increase in funding for front line services ensuring all areas of the county has a broad curriculum for adult education. Cumbria CREDITS has done an excellent job in managing these services through the CDC's, however they will now be handing over responsibility for adult learning to the county council from the end of July. The £50k for CREDITS will help them cope with the new arrangements and find new funding streams as well as continuing its regeneration work in partnership with us and others."
Mike Postle, Chair of the Cumbria Credits Board said:
"Cumbria CREDITS is proud of its achievements in partnership with the CDC network. It has demonstrated the effectiveness of community led regeneration and the place that adult learning can have in such regeneration. The new arrangements will present a challenge to all parties to build on a decade of pioneering activity.
There is a considerable desire on the part of Cumbria CREDITS to now get on and make the new arrangements work. Central to this is the desire that we can build a real working partnership with the county council and the expectation that these efforts will be supported at the highest officer and political level."