Agenda item

[Joanne Keatley, Head of Adult Education, to present report]

Cllr Dr Michael Hardacre, Cabinet Member Education and Skills, introduced the main sections of the report and outlined the key findings. The Cabinet Member commented on the progress made by the Adult Education Service in meeting its priorities and the plans for the City Learning Quarter.

The Cabinet commented on the work planned to identify people within more prosperous wards where there are pockets of deprivation to encourage and support them to consider adult education learning opportunities.

Joanne Keatley, Head of Adult Education, invited panel members to comment on the strategy document and to share views on future challenges to the service.

The panel welcomed the achievements of the service and the excellent progress made to support adult learners as detailed in the Outcomes for Students section of the report. The panel suggested that more information was needed to understand how the demographic detailed in the report should be interpreted.  The panel suggested that comparative data should be included to provide information about the impact of actions to improve basic skills and knowledge of residents. The Head of Adult Services commented on the challenges facing Wolverhampton in closing the performance gap between Wolverhampton and regional and national levels. The Head of Adult Services advised the panel that the demographic data detailed in the report is based on Census data and other sources published over timeframes which make it difficult to show trends over time. The panel wanted more details to show rate of progress and also help identify areas of poor performance where action is needed. The Head of Adult Services agreed to review the presentation of data and consider how to respond to the concern about wanting to see patterns of progress.

The Head of Adult Services commented on the importance of partnership working with community groups to help support adult learners and the success of current initiatives. The panel expressed concern about the equalities implications statement in the report and the lack of information about the work done to support adult learners from the LGBT+ community. The panel added there was a need to show which services are being accessed also to monitor trends and to evidence that their needs are being met. The panel suggested that future report should include a breakdown of different groups and greater efforts to collect data on LGBT+ issues. 

The Head of Adult Services advised that there are a number of equalities questions on the enrolment form and people are encouraged to complete the information. The responses are analysed to assess how the service is meeting the needs of underrepresented groups. The Director of Public Health supported the approach of Adult Education and outlined the benefits of working with partners on place-based initiatives to achieve better outcomes. The panel accepted the offer by the Director of Public Health to present a report on place-based initiatives to a future meeting.

The panel queried how the service is linking with the Wolves at Work programme to support adult learners to improve vocational skills and knowledge. The Head of Adult Services confirmed that there were good working relations and commented on a recent example of joint working which was included in evidence given to Ofsted during the recent inspection.

The service has specific performance targets for the unemployed. The Head of Adult Services highlighted examples of work done with residents in nine target wards which is supported by local community groups to give opportunities for residents to learn new skills and knowledge. The Head of Adult Services explained that the service is engaging positively with members of the third sector to provide support on entry level maths and English courses, with the hope that they will progress to courses offered by Adult Education.

The panel discussed the implications for the provision of adult education as a result of the review commissioned by West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) into Community Learning funding. The panel agreed for a report to be presented to a future meeting if any changes to the funding for community learning are being proposed following the review.

The panel welcomed the report and congratulated the Head of Service on the performance of the service and the progress made against the strategy objectives.

Resolved:

1.    The Director of Public Health to present a report on place-based approach with partner agencies to improve population outcomes to the panel in 2021.

2.    The Head of Adult Services agreed to review the presentation of data to include LGBT+ and also trend data to show patterns of progress against key performance measures in the next annual report.

3.    The Head of Adult Services to report on the outcome of the funding review commissioned by WMCA at a future meeting to consider any proposals which may impact on the current budget for community learning.