Sector Skills Council (SSC) and Youth Work/Community Learning and Development

Background to Sector Skills Councils

Sector Skills Councils were formed under the last government as a follow on to Training Boards, National Training Organisations and Industry Training Organisations. Sector Skills Councils have responsibility as bodies led by the sectors they serve for determining National Occupational Standards and Sector Qualifications Strategies in partnership with the sectors they cover across the UK in order to meet both current and future skills needs of, in this case, youth work and community learning and development.

 Additionally, Standard Setting Organisations (SSOs) have been able to hold contracts in order to develop standards and qualifications products on behalf of the sector they work with. Qualifications cannot be funded by the Skills Funding Agency or National Apprenticeship Service without approval by a SSC or an SSO.

 The previous government aspired to ensuring that all sectors of the UK workforce were covered by an appropriate SSC: however, the current government has already indicated that this may not be a hard and fast rule, and employers in each sector should be allowed to determine the most appropriate way to ensure relevant qualifications and skills for their sector.

 Community learning and development including youth work joined LLUK at the start of 2005 from PAULO as a part of the lifelong learning sector in reflection of the informal learning processes at the heart of the knowledge and skills of the workforce.

 The current position

In March 2011, Lifelong Learning UK, the Sector Skills Council (SSC) for the post-16 and community learning sector, including youth work, closed down after failing to secure approval to continue from UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES). The LLUK ‘footprint’ was transferred to Learning and Skills Improvement Service (LSIS), a sector led body for the post-16 sector, largely funded by DBIS in England. The intention was that the FE/Work Based Learning sector would remain with LSIS permanently, while the Community Learning & Development Sector, which includes youth work, family and parenting education, community development and community education in Scotland, would be housed with LSIS for a year (until March 2012), pending consultations on an appropriate final destination in another SSC or sector led body.

The latest proposals

On 29^th June 2011, LSIS heard that only licensed SSCs will be able to develop National Occupational Standards (NOS) and Sector Qualification Strategies (SQS), meaning LSIS cannot play this role after March 2012.

 In addition, they heard that UKCES was in discussions to move youth work (and parenting education) to Skills for Care and Development. This is the SSC that covers social care, and with which CWDC has partnership arrangements for England.

There appears to have been no consultation with the youth work field or employers on this matter in any of the nations of the UK.

Why we need your views:

Youth work has always been seen as a profession with its routes in education, using informal education as a key foundation of its success with young people. Employment of youth workers is split between local authorities and voluntary sector providers, so any consultation on a destination would need to ensure that:

• Each of the UK devolved authorities continues engagement, to enable youth workers to transfer their qualifications across UK borders
• Employers and professional bodies in all UK devolved authorities had their views taken into account

• Employers in the local authority, voluntary and faith sectors were consulted

Before any decisions are finalised we are seeking from UKCES a process of meaningful consultation with the sector so that youth work, and indeed community learning and development, are not placed in a destination which does not share the ethos, values and principles of the sector. Lack of knowledge and understanding of the workforce and employer needs may result in decisions on the destination of youth work and CLD which are relevant only to a part of the sector.

 Alternatively, leaving youth work and community learning and development without a fixed destination but supported by any of the SSCs with whom it chooses to bid, may not offer a time and cost effective solution – each time work on standards and qualifications was required by the sector, new relationships would need to be forged with an SSC (who may or may not have capacity) and who may or may not have knowledge and experience of the needs of the workforce in order to quickly be able to support the process.

There is a great risk of losing UK-wide buy in if youth work is moved to a final destination without exploring other options and undertaking a full consultation. As we move to more community based approaches to youth work, the proposal to split youth work from community development and community education is likely to be counter-productive at this time.

Please take the time to complete this short survey. Without evidence from representatives of key stakeholders across the UK that a meaningful consultation process is an essential prerequisite to decisions, CLD and youth work could in effect be left as orphan workforces unable to adequately be represented and supported in the work they do by UK-wide standards and qualifications for all workforce development and underpinning the processes of professional recognition.

 Please find below the links for survey monkey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/D52887K