Funding and Contracting A briefing by ALP Stewart Segal

Agenda Welcome and introductions Payment on actuals – Period 4 Contract issues for 2008/9 Funding changes 2009/10 Contracting 2009/10 Other Issues Questions and Answers

Other Issues Capital Fund – Investing in Specialisation Capacity Building for Providers Introduction of QCF Adult Careers Advice Service Financial Controls SAR Skills Accounts World Class Skills Machinery of Government Vacancy Matching System Fee Generation and Income targets Framework for Excellence

May be different for sub contracted provision. Payments on Actuals 2007/8 Contract Period 15 Final reconciliation Payment on 8th December 2008/9 Periods 1-4 Payment on 15 December May be different for sub contracted provision.

Payment on Actuals(2) Q1 payment on profile 50:25:25 Claim by working day 4 Payment on working day 11 – December 15th Full reconciliation of periods 1 –4 to date Payment of cash outstanding or claw-back of over-payment

Payment on Actuals Possible Issues Profiles Data Uploads System faults External software issues LAD values incorrect Coding changes Reduced timetable for submission Accuracy of PFR reports

Transition Arrangements Apprenticeship completers who started in 2007/8 and finish in 2008/9 Learners where the Technical Certificate and Key Skills is a higher funding in 2008/9 Higher of the total payments between 2007/8 and 2008/9 Manual adjustments following completion Non- completers not covered – case studies ‘Rules’ on the LSC web site

E2E Part of the 16-18 provision so paid differently Paid on profile – no reconciliation of prior quarters Profile ‘adjusted’ automatically every quarter Profile reduced if volumes not met Adjustments can be made to contract by the LSC to pay for over delivery. Requires sensible, open and transparent contract management

Timetable 8th 4th 15th Claim for period 4 Payment for 2007/8 Payment for 2008/9 4th working day 11th working day Q. When is an emergency payment not an emergency payment? A. When it takes 30 days.

Contract Issues 2008/9 Letters of intent and contracts still not issued? Profiles not accurate nor agreed?Access to profiles Over performance – additional volumes TtG Contracts 3/5 years? Apprenticeship/TtG contracts Geographic restrictions Audit issues – 15 hours, 6 week starts

More Flexibilities ‘Short/thin’ courses Based on QCF provision Funding? Guidelines published 5th December? Second level 2/3. More flexible split? Management and leadership

Employer Responsiveness and the Economic Downturn Excluding redundancies from the ‘real’ achievement rates - tracking Retaining learners on programmes Apprenticeship providers delivering PLA/E2E Links with employment skills programmes New initiatives World Class Skills

Current Position UKCES Difficulties of accessing the system Complexity, new initiatives, constant changes Restrictive constraints leading to unmet employer needs Excessive bureaucracy for employers Complexity of organisations all communicating with employers Constant change meaning employers cannot keep track of what is on offer Proposals by the UKCES have been accepted by the Government

Strategic Commissioning 2009/2010 Prioritise negotiations with providers who deliver successful high performing provision. We will not seek to limit the growth of providers who have the capacity to expand. We will ensure that the operation of the TtG can respond quickly and efficiently to changing employer demand.

Contracting in 2009/10 ‘Intelligent Commissioning’ Negotiated commissioning is the primary route including provision displaced by MLP Removal of artificial caps in terms of size and geography Tendering used to ‘fill gaps’ – January/May/September Impact of MoG changes? 3 year contracts

Funding changes 2009/10 5% increase in employer contribution in 19+ Apprenticeship and co-funded TtG Single rate for TtG? Changes to weightings? Review of specific NVQs

Qualified Provider Framework (Preferred Supplier Programme?) Open to all providers throughout the year All existing providers will transfer to list Nationally agreed scoring criteria Qualified to receive tenders Shifting focus to improve current provider base Suspension issues – FfE, financial health, contract breech

Increases from 45% this year. MLPs for 2009/10 Apprenticeships 50% Advanced Apprenticeship 50% Train to Gain (Development) 65% Increases from 45% this year.

Changes for 2009/10 Combined framework success Performance at SSA level Data presented by age Guidelines not rules Review the performance ‘holistically’ BUT failure to meet MLPs could result in removal of provision and rights to re tender

Applying the MLPs Where SSA exceeds 50% frameworks below 50% will have to be addressed as part of SAR Where SSA is between 45 –50% frameworks below will have contractual improvements and LSIS support Where SSA is below 45% all frameworks below 50% will be reviewed and may be withdrawn Local interpretations and applications

Contract Management Single contract management – is this different from today? National Contracts for 9 largest providers Geographical flexibility for all from 2009/10 More programme flexibility – apart from 16-18 Impact of MOG changes?

Other Issues Skills Accounts World Class Skills Machinery of Government Vacancy Matching System Fee Generation and Income targets Framework for Excellence Electronic signatures Capital Fund – Investing in Specialisation Capacity Building for Providers Introduction of QCF Adult Careers Advice Service Financial Controls SAR

Questions and Answers Feedback Stewart_segal@hotmail.com Mobile: 07970 524022