Warwickshire County Council’s Cabinet has approved the county’s Adult Community Learning Agreement, ensuring that Warwickshire’s adult learners can be supported by a £1.6m Adult Skills Fund grant.
The grant is Department for Education funding which supports the activities of the council’s Adult Community Learning service. As the DfE grant is more than £1m, Warwickshire is required to produce an annual accountability agreement.
The service operates over 20 inclusive learning environments in community venues across Warwickshire. Many of these venues are in Local Super Output Areas (LSOAs are made up of groups of Output Areas and comprise between 400 and 1,200 households and have a usually resident population between 1,000 and 3,000 people) and have been identified as having the highest need for educational support to access employment opportunities.
Courses include key skills such as English and maths, English as a Second Language, arts and crafts and courses for adults with learning disabilities. The learning programme is designed to address skills gaps that might present a barrier to employment or to accessing services and living independently.
Warwickshire’s agreement highlights five priorities including:
Supporting a strong local economy: Helping individuals to improve employment opportunities with a particular focus on those in deprived neighbourhoods and the unemployed.
Support better opportunities and outcomes for adults living in Warwickshire and their families: Developing independent living skills and active learning programmes for adults with disabilities and/or learning difficulties to support independence and employability.
Enable residents to live healthy, fulfilling and independent lives: Supporting learners whose first language is not English, adults who intend to progress to an apprenticeship, and adults not currently in learning to build confidence and promote well-being.
Support local communities to be inclusive and engage those with highest needs: Completing courses will be a priority. To support this, courses will be provided at times and locations (such as community centres, libraries and Family Centres) that meet family needs and will also be targeted at families caring for refugees,
Support the development of a greener and more sustainable future: Working with stakeholders to build pathways to greener qualifications and raise awareness of ‘green’ careers.
Cllr Kam Kaur, Warwickshire County Council’s portfolio holder for education, said: “The agreement outlines our priorities for adult education in Warwickshire and sets out our plans to reduce barriers to employment or participation in community activity. Our primary focus is on creating opportunities for those residents in most need.”
More information about Adult and Community Learning can be found online at: https://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/adult-community-learning-5