1. After the White Paper: A Big Conversation Event Alastair Thomson June 2006

2. 2 2 Why a conversation?  Less choice  Higher fees  Fewer jobs  Fewer adult learners

3. 3 3  A successful economy  Loss of capacity  A new settlement  Constructive engagement

4. 4 4 Productivity + Competitiveness Social Inclusion The challenge for Lord Leitch How to get both?

5. 5 5 ‘We remain strongly committed to learning for personal fulfilment, civic participation and community development and are taking steps to strengthen the range, and quality of such provision … but there will increasingly be an expectation that individuals should pay for this kind of provision where they can afford to do so.’

6. 6 6 Learning for Personal and community development  £210 millionsafeguard (but only to 2008) includes:  £153 million for personal and community development learning  £38 million for family literacy, language and numeracy and wider family learning  £19 millionfor neighbourhood learning in deprived communities

7. 7 7 Worth paying for?  tap dancing/lap dancing  flower arranging (Conservatives 1992)  Australian cake decorating (Phil Hope 2005)  Indian head massage  Willow weaving  Pilates (Alan Johnson 2006)  Plumbing  Physics  History (Charles Clarke)  tai chi

8. 8 8 Who should pay what? 1 NIACE survey on fees: for every £10 of cost Tax payerEmployersIndividuals Skills for Life Level 2 Vocational Personal development 3.79 3.28 1.49 0.92 2.46 2.47 5.06 0.84 3.75 4.25 3.45 8.24 GovernmentEmployersIndividuals Skills for Life Level 2 Vocational Personal development 5.83 4.87 2.49 1.25 1.57 1.81 4.49 0.73 2.60 3.32 3.01 8.02

9. 9 9 Who should pay what? 2  current learners think individuals should pay a smaller proportion  older people think the individual should pay more  women think employers should pay a higher proportion  A/Bs want more taxpayer investment, except for personal development Yet under-represented groups report fees as a barrier to participation

10. 10 10 What’s the issue?  A flawed law?  Problems of success?  Tough spending round ahead?  Excesses of a target culture?  Wrong(ly applied) priorities  Loss of vision?  Unintended consequences?  What sort of a society do we want?

11. 11 11 What can we expect?  Queens’ Speech (November 2006?)  Leitch to report (with PBR?)(Late November/early December 2006)  FE Bill introduced (early 2007?)  Legislation passed (summer 2007?) + Labour leadership change? + Comprehensive Spending Review?

12. 12 12 LSC-funded FE 19 plus (excluding ACL) 2004/5out turn3,096,853 2005/6 LSC estimate out turn 2,760,000 2,601,979 2006/7 LSC estimate out turn 2,306,487 ?

13. 13 13 LSC funded FE Between 1 October 2004 and 1 October 2005  overall 5.3% reduction in numbers  under 19s up 4.4%  19+ down 9%  30 + every age cohort down  45-49 down 16%  55-59 down 18.4%  60+ down 23.8%  adults on full level 2 up 3.4%  adults on full level 3 up 6.8%  Skills for Life down 5.8%  part-time learners down 10%

14. 14 14 Current /recent participation in adult learning, by socio-economic class Base: all respondents

15. 15 15 Current /recent participation in adult learning, by age Base: all respondents

16. 16 16 Participation in learning, minority ethnic groups compared (adults aged 16+) Base: all adults 16+ = 100%

17. 17 17 The economic case

18. 18 18 UK population changes Source: Office of National Statistics, 2001 Age

19. 19 19 Source: DfES, Working Futures National Report 2003-04, IER, 2004 Recruitment requirements 2002 - 2012 13,504

20. 20 20 Future intentions to learn, by learning status Base: all respondents who have finished full-time education

21. 21 21 NIACE’s 8 groups  part-time and temporary workers  those employed in businesses which are “cool to training”  workers aged 45+ who are too often neglected when it comes to training and development  migrants  women – especially from ethnic minority communities culturally resistant to high levels of female employment outside the home  people currently on welfare benefits  ex-offenders  adults with literacy levels at and below ‘entry level 2’ and the existing workforce needs to strengthen skills

22. 22 22 The wider case

23. 23 23 Wider benefits  prolongs active citizenship  inhibits onset of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s  learners 13% more likely to give up smoking  learners 34% increase in racial tolerance  learners much less likely to be politically cynical  learners less dissatisfied with their lives

24. 24 24 Learning has these impacts  whatever your prior education  whatever your social class

25. 25 25 Four Questions What principles should determine how limited amounts of public funding are best used? What should employers pay for – and what should be the balance between regulation and persuasion? How much should individuals be expected to contribute to their learning? How much should this vary by level or subject? What has the government got right and where do you fear it’s going wrong?

26. 26 26 ‘As well as securing our economic future, learning has a wider contribution. It helps make ours a civilised society, develops the spiritual side of our lives and promotes active citizenship. Learning enables people to play a full part in their community. It strengthens the family, the neighbourhood and consequently the nation. It helps us fulfil our potential and opens doors to a love of music, art and literature. That is why we value learning for its own sake as well as for the equality of opportunity it brings’ David Blunkett

27. 27 27 How to help  Constituency MPs  Ministers  Local councillors  LSC regional directors  Chairs of local LSCs – and trade unionists on LLSCs  Journalists – print and broadcast  Bloggers  Unions and community groups 19 September 2006