Case study 8
Forging a partnership of diverse providers: National Skills Partnership
Overview
In response to Minimum Contract Levels (MCL), Enterprising Opportunities CIC (Community
Interest Company) wrote to all work-based learning providers below the MCL threshold to invite
them to become a partner. It is now lead contractor for five diverse providers.
Why read this case study?
This case study describes the early stages of a new partnership of five organisations that represent
different sectors and geographies, and that also have different business rationales. It will be of
interest if you are considering strategies for building common purpose and practice.
“It’s good to be part of a larger organisation. It’s a network, best practice is shared, it’s a
fresh pair of eyes. It’s nice to talk to people.”
Scott Anderson, Training and Quality Manager, National Bakery Training
The interviews for this case study were in early 2012 with the lead contractor and two of the five
partners.
Partnership profile
The new ‘National Skills Partnership’ is formed of five organisations with Enterprising Opportunities
CIC (Community Interest Company) as the lead contractor. One of these organisations, ‘Learn to’,
is the training arm of Enterprising Opportunities. The companies are diverse sectorally (domiciliary
care, baking, engineering, road transport, management) and geographically (Kent locations, South
London, Edinburgh and West Midlands) with some trading regionally and others with national
reach, and a combination of training providers and employer training divisions of. Current contract
value is £1.7 million with about two thirds from the Adult Skills Budget.
Enterprising Opportunities CIC was spun off from a charity, Kent Enterprise Trust, as a separate
legal group. This allowed Enterprising Opportunities to develop a wider range of profitable trading
activities without the restrictions of being a charity, while ensuring that as a CIC the original
charitable ethos of putting profits back into the community was maintained.
All CICs are regulated by the CIC Regulator, and have to submit an annual report demonstrating
their commitment to the community and their CIC objectives. In the case of Enterprising
Opportunities, this is done by supporting people back into employment through projects like the
Future Jobs Fund, supporting apprentices and apprenticeship training, and by working in
partnership on a number of different projects to support the local community.
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Developing new contract arrangements
1.
What type of contracting arrangement has been set up?
Enterprising Opportunities owns and supports a number of companies operating as social
enterprises that work with disadvantaged groups, primarily in the sector of domiciliary care. Its
training arm is ‘Learn to’ which in 2010 had a contract value below the MCL threshold. In 2010,
Enterprising Opportunities made contact with all learning and skills providers affected by MCL
and those who responded positively were invited to events which aimed to describe the
organisation’s social purpose and offer. Several entered into negotiations.
The two partners interviewed for this case study both used similar criteria in looking for a lead
provider or contractor. Both were approached by and considered a number of contractors such
as colleges and providers larger than themselves but they felt that their businesses would not
be valued and the levels of management fee proposed were too high. Their key criteria were
that:
 the proposed organisation reflected partner principles, philosophy, values and ethics;
 funding was fair and would work;
 partners would keep their own staff and retain their own identify;
 partners would have a say in how things operated;
 there would be no conflicts of interest between prospective partners;
 the organisation appreciated partners’ business rationales and any plans for their training or
growth.
The outcome was a partnership of four providers subcontracted to Enterprising Opportunities
CIC, plus ‘Learn to’. Service Level Agreements were drawn up with legal help. A Partnership
and Quality Manager was employed to manage the contract.
2.
How will it work?

Shared leadership and strategy
A management committee that comprises senior representatives from every company
meets quarterly as a minimum. Agendas cover aspects such as: sharing information based
on analysis of management information; considering what is happening overall on the
contract and whether any shifts need to happen related to underperformance; discussion of
approaches to quality, particularly what is working well, and how to best move forward;
operational plans such as tools and schedules for employer and learner surveys; and
strategic scanning - for example, looking at ESF bids and bidding processes and possible
issues and opportunities coming from the Skills Investment Strategy including reductions of
funding.
The spirit is one of sharing views and experiences, identifying effective methods and how
they might be implemented by everyone to achieve continuous improvement and evaluating
and setting future direction. Everyone’s agreement is sought but there can be situations
where Enterprising Opportunities has to take an executive decision.
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
Operations
The Partnership and Quality Manager is the main resource dedicated to the National Skills
Partnership. He is supported by two administrators, IT support and his line manager.
Adequate time is allocated during difficult situations to ensure emerging issues are
resolved. The most recent example was some intensive work to get learner data clarified
and on the system for quarter 2.
Partners tend to be in constant communication over day-to-day running of operations,
sharing information and data, and exchanging practice methods, recently, for example,
about induction.
Data is collated weekly with the same submission deadline each week of 10.00 am
Monday. The manager undertakes to get partnership data back by 10.00 the next day and
this is appreciated by partners. All have adopted the same management information
system.

Financial arrangements
The management fee is set at around half The Agency recommended maximum.
Enterprising Opportunities are using the funding to cover costs related to contract
management and compliance but are also committed to drawing on it to improve quality of
all partners by sharing best practice. Any surpluses will be invested in providing work
opportunities within the community in accordance with Enterprising Opportunities’ CIC
remit.

Quality assurance and quality improvement arrangements
The Manager is visiting each partner twice per year to conduct a quality audit based around
the Common Inspection Framework. His focuses include:
 developing an understanding of the organisation’s purpose, sector and trading
environment, including employers’ interests and demands;
 checking procedures related to compliance, for example learner registration and plans,
and ensuring data and funding compliance;
 reviewing evidence of commitment to information, advice and guidance and
progression;
 discussing learner achievement and associated issues.
There is no teaching and learning observation process at present. This would present
difficult issues due to the limits of Enterprising Opportunities’ knowledge of the different
sectors and the restricted access requirements for some premises. The Manager is
currently researching approaches, including a learning visit organised by an LSIS adviser to
look at another partnership’s audit process.
3. What do you see as the challenges and risks?
A key challenge for everyone is to establish commonality and coherence across the
partnership and become a collective entity – “not just a financial game”. This is proving
complex. Enterprising Opportunities’ roots are in social enterprise while for other partners
increasing profits has been the main driver. The task is to establish the common ground to
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which all partners can contribute and achieve “like-mindedness”. One partner phrased this
in terms of Ofsted requirements and felt it would be difficult to justify the current range of
different partner approaches and procedures.
“Our aim is the best experience for learners. We want to become a grade 1 provider, but
this may not be the main strategic goal of other partners.”
Grant Langfield, Partnership and Quality Manager, Enterprising Opportunities CIC
Enterprising Opportunities would like to increase delivery to under-represented groups of
learners, but the partnership is reliant on employers’ openness to employing and then
supporting the training of these staff: “it is out of our control”. Other partners have ambitions
for growth that identify different driving factors, such as extending geographical reach.
The lead contractor articulated significant risks:
 keeping the level of control that is required, given that the Manager has to develop a
working understanding of new and disparate occupational sectors and their training
preferences and constraints. He is reliant on partners’ assessment of their business
environment and employer needs rather than being able to draw on his own
experiences. The scattered nature of partner premises and those of the employers with
which partners work means that the Manager cannot “drop in”; he can feel remote;
 assurance that each provider is doing what is requested and needed. The weekly data
submission is now operating reasonably efficiently, for example, but there were
problems at the beginning as it was new to some partners.
All partners are hoping that there will now be continuity of staffing at Enterprising
Opportunities. Both felt that the complete change of personnel that happened shortly after
contracting was finalised had a damaging effect on relationship building and on establishing
mutual understanding based on a ‘partnership’ ethos.
One partner identified problems with potential changes in Skills Funding Agency funding
rules:
 reductions in or cutting of 25+ apprenticeships. This will cause training difficulties in
sectors where traditionally entrants are older;
 minimum 12-month apprenticeship programme for 16-18 year-olds. The experience of
one partner shows that some individuals may be able to complete in less time.
The Partnership and Quality Manager’s intention is to manage the contract more
proactively rather than have to be reactive as in the “quarter 2 scramble”. Often he is asking
partners to do something they haven’t done before. The challenge as he sees it is to work
on building relationships and be able to identify and articulate benefits.
4. What do you see as the benefits of this type of contracting arrangement?
Performance to date has been impressive, particularly of 19+ ring-fenced apprenticeship
delivery with an out-performance rate of 69%, and there has been an increase in contract
value for 16-18 Apprenticeships of 21%. The partnership has set a target for 6%
performance above the national success rate and a case for growth has been presented to
the Skills Funding Agency at each quarter. Working in partnership has enabled the contract
value to be maintained through shifting allocations across the partnership. If providers had
remained as individual organisations, some may not have been able to maintain the value
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of their contract. The partners interviewed confirmed that this flexibility is a benefit as “the
one contract facilitates movement to everyone’s advantage”. It ensures targets will be hit.
Sharing experiences has great potential. What is obvious in one sector may not be so in
another and yet may offer transferable insights. An example from one partner was the use
of employer surveys. The partner knew that they would have to implement these but had
not yet made a start, whereas other members of the group had already developed a survey
format and had experience of using them.
“Where interests match, there can be benefits of cross fertilisation. There’s a quid pro quo
on expertise – we can help each other.”
Mike Dutton, Bam Nuttall
The partnership is also committed to sharing processes and procedures with a view to
establishing some standardisation where relevant. The current aim is to produce a
document matrix for the learner journey. Each organisation is presenting its own documents
which will be collated and then evaluated. The intention is to assess which works best for
each stage and whether it is possible – and desirable – to settle on a uniform approach with
learner interests at its heart. Initially it has been frustrating but the outcome should benefit
everyone as the process and documentation will be comprehensive and as effective as it
can be.
Partners like being part of a larger single group and feel the National Skills Partnership is
working like a consortium: “It’s a constructive working partnership rather than imposed
rules”. One partner highlighted the value of the cross links that are emerging, for example,
his organisation includes transport and administration functions to support their core
business and these areas are the core businesses of other partners.
All interviewees felt that overall the partnership is working and performing really well and
set for more growth.
Contributors were: Grant Langfield, Partnership and Quality Manager, Enterprising Opportunities
CIC; Mike Dutton, NVQ Funding Coordinator at Bam Nuttall and Scott Anderson, Training and
Quality Manager, National Bakery Training.
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