This Report will be made public on 12 March 2015

Transcription

1 This Report will be made public on 12 March 2015 Report Number C/14/104 To: Cabinet Member for District Economy Date: 27 February 2015 Status: Non - Key Decision Head of Service: Katharine Harvey, Head of Economic Development Cabinet Member: Councillor Susan Carey, Cabinet Member for the District Economy SUBJECT: GRANT SUPPORT FOR ROMNEY RESOURCE CENTRE SUMMARY: This report proposes that the Council offers the Romney Resource Centre (RRC) a grant of 13,300 towards the cost of providing education and training at RRC, while it secures a longer term sustainable financial position. It has recently lost funding previously provided by learndirect and the grant will help to meet the current funding shortfall they are facing. REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS: The cabinet member for the District Economy is asked to agree the recommendations set out below because this will: a) support the Corporate Plan action to Support further education provision in the district to create an educated workforce ; b) support the draft Economic Development Strategy priority of Improving education and skills attainment ; and c) enable RRC, as a key provider of post-16 education and training on the Romney Marsh, to continue while it seeks to secure further funding from other organisations. RECOMMENDATIONS: 1. To receive and note Report C/14/ To agree to a grant of 13,300 for the Romney Resource Centre to contribute towards the costs of providing education and training services.

2 BACKGROUND 1.1 Romney Resource Centre (RRC) was established in 1994 at Mountfield Road Industrial Estate, New Romney, and is a registered charity providing education and training for people aged 14 and over. RRC also manages the New Romney Business Incubator Centre (NRBIC) which hosts start-up businesses and other support, including business advice workshops run by Enterprise First funded by Shepway District Council. 1.2 The Council has had a long involvement with RRC and owns the three buildings (Units 3, 4 and 12 Mountfield Road) from which RRC operates. The Council has often participated in projects with RRC to improve opportunities for residents and businesses on the Marsh. Previous joint working with RRC has included, for example:- securing funding for property refurbishment and major IT upgrades through the Channel Corridor Area Investment Framework; securing Magnox funding for a RRC-led jobs brokerage scheme which matched local employers needs with potential employees; provision of socio-economic evidence to RRC to support their bidding for training contracts; and the establishment of the New Romney Business Incubator Centre. 1.3 RRC is also a member of the Romney Marsh Partnership and its involvement with the Council and other partners has been instrumental in securing the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority and Magnox s support for investment in the area. 1.4 RRC is the principal provider of further education located on the Romney Marsh and its local importance is accentuated by the difficulties that Marsh residents, particularly those on lower incomes, have in accessing alternative training providers in Ashford and Folkestone. RRC also works with local employers and aims to raise awareness of the importance of skills development and training, thereby helping employers to develop their businesses by retaining qualified staff and increasing productivity. 1.5 RRC s Prospectus shows the range of services provided which cover three main areas: Education for NEETs (young people Not in Employment, Education or Training). Further education for adults. Management of the NRBIC. 1.6 The management of the NRBIC is grant funded by Magnox, Kent County Council and Shepway District Council (see Cabinet Report C/12/36), and the centre is fully occupied with seven start-up businesses operating from the centre. 1.7 However, RRC s training service is under threat because the Adult Skills Budgets in Kent/East Sussex are currently exhausted, and learndirect withdrew services from the Romney Marsh in August The loss of the

3 learndirect contract was due to their strategic decision to issue only large contracts, and was made despite RRC being recognised as one of the top five providers in the Network. This had a particularly severe impact on RRC, as the contract was worth approximately 100,000 and equivalent to some 20% of RRC s annual income from training contracts in 2013/ With regards to support for NEETs, RRC currently has 12 students on its programme, many of whom have multiple issues under multi-agency care (e.g. Social Services, Police, Probation Service, Children s Centre and Midwifery Team). The programme offers 540 Guided Learning Hours of training over a 6 to 12 month period, and includes qualifications such as Maths and English up to GCSE (A-C) or L2 equivalent; ICT up to Level 2 (where appropriate); Work Skills; Vocational Qualifications, and a minimum 10 day placement into work experience. 1.9 The service provided to locally resident NEETs is particularly important as this group has difficulties accessing training and education away from the Marsh due to the distances which need to be travelled and the cost of public transport. The importance of working with NEETs has also been highlighted in comments received on the draft Economic Development Strategy and it has been recommended that we monitor these as one of our target indicators With regards to adult learning, RRC provides a wide range of free, subsidised and fully paid for courses. Free courses offered include:- Computers From Scratch Basic Beginners, Digital Imaging, Family Tree, Web Page Publishing, Desktop Publishing, Internet & Maths & English IT Level 1 ECDL Essentials ITQ Flexiqual (ECDL) Level 2 Work Skills 1.11 Courses for which charges are made (though these may also be accessed at subsidised rates or free of charge depending on personal circumstances) include:- Health & Social Care Level 2 Diploma Health & Social Care Level 3 Diploma Business Administration Level 2 Certificate Customer Service Level 2 Certificate Business Administration Level 3 Diploma 1.12 In order to ensure that the NEETs and adult training programmes can continue, RRC is working to secure new funding and contracts. To date RRC: Has secured an 8,000 contract with Sussex Downs College to run an Opt-In programme for 8 young people and is expecting to receive an additional 6,000 from the Education Funding Agency towards this. Has applied to the Marsh Million Economic Project Scheme for an 80,000 grant to support the costs of training/working with local employers to ensure that training is relevant to local needs. If

4 successful the funding will support enrolments, (approximately equating to individuals) to upskill and access employment or improve their current professional position, in English, Maths, ICT, NVQ s and Work Skills. The decision is expected in April/May Is a partner in the 1.9 million HLF supported Fifth Continent Landscape Partnership Scheme. The main programme is due to commence in April 2016 and will provide funding to RRC for land-based apprenticeships operated in partnership with Kent Wildlife Trust and the Marsh Academy. RRC will also benefit from a 20,000 Marsh Million EPS grant recently awarded to Kent Wildlife Trust to run a pilot scheme for the apprenticeship project beginning this autumn In the meanwhile, RRC has requested financial support from the Council to help it to operate in the short term by overcoming a current funding shortfall. The request is for financial support as a one-off grant of 13,300 that will be used to fund: rent for one year on Unit 3 (which is used to run the NEETs programme) valued at 9,840; and 20% business rates relief for units 3, 4 and 12 valued at 3, Although the RRC operates some degree of cross subsidisation of its programmes, it is likely that it would be the NEETs provision that would need to be withdrawn, should this funding request to Shepway District Council not be successful. 2. LOCAL IMPACT AND STRATEGIC FIT AND 2.1 As the main provider of further education on the Marsh RCC also directly impacts on problems of low educational and skills attainment on the Marsh and in the last four years there have been over 3,000 learners studying with RRC. These problems are illustrated in the following table which shows the high proportion of no or low level of qualifications on the Marsh and the low proportion of higher level qualifications locally. Qualification attained England Shepway Romney Marsh No qualifications 15% 16% 19% Level 1 qualifications 15% 18% 19% Level 2 qualifications 17% 21% 21% Level 3 qualifications 14% 14% 14% Level 4 qualifications and above 30% 23% 18% Apprenticeships and other qualifications 9% 8% 8% Source Census Support for RCC will fit well with a number of the Council s objectives in its own strategies or those that it has signed up to, including:- the Council s Corporate Plan priority to Boost the local economy and increase job opportunities and in particular the Corporate Plan s action to Support further education provision in the district to create an educated workforce ;

5 the draft Economic Development Strategy priority of Improving education and skills attainment ; and the Romney Marsh Partnership s Romney Marsh Delivery Plan generally and in particular Priority Area 1: Access to Employment which has as its objectives:- o Developing the labour market, so that people of all ages have opportunities to improve and make full use of their skills o Strengthening skills to support growth in key sectors o Ensuring that young people have access to employment, work experience or other meaningful activity which will increase their employability 3. RISK MANAGEMENT ISSUES 3.1 There is not a great deal of risk management involved in this issue. The small element of risk is as follows: Perceived risk Seriousness Likelihood Preventative action Grant is insufficient to secure the continuation of service High Low The sum to be offered is as requested as by RRC. 4. LEGAL/FINANCIAL AND OTHER CONTROLS/POLICY MATTERS 4.1 Legal Officer s Comments (AK) It will be necessary for the Council and Romney Resource Centre (RRC) to enter into a grant agreement before the grant funding is released. 4.2 Finance Officer s Comments (JG) This grant will be funded from within existing budgets. 4.3 Diversities and Equalities Implications The grant offered will help to ensure continued provision of education and training services for a wide section of the local community. 5. CONTACT OFFICER Katharine Harvey, Head of Economic Development Telephone: katharine.harvey@shepway.gov.uk