CWaC – Skills and Employment
Adult Education Budget
Guidance Notes
Invitation to Learning Provider Organisations
Funding For Delivery
of
Adult Education Provision 2016 – 2017
In Cheshire West and Chester
Cheshire West and Chester Council is funded by the Skills Funding Agency to secure
adult education opportunities in the borough of West Cheshire and Chester. The main
focus of the Skills and Employment team is tackling unemployment and particularly long
term unemployment across the borough. During 2016/17, a large proportion of our
funding will be targeted for delivery through external organisations to support outcomes
for adults aged 19+ who face a range of challenges/barriers to securing sustainable
employment.
Throughout 2016 -17 we will be commissioning provision that will provide adults with the
skills, support and confidence to enable them to secure employment. To meet this aim,
we are particularly interested in funding bids from partners specifically tackling the
barriers people face when trying to secure employment and/or progress at work
including:
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Work related skills eg IT, English, maths and work-related personal skills with a
focus on progression into further learning and/or work.
Job Clubs looking at CV development, interview techniques, job search, personal
impact etc.
Provision that tackles health issues and promotes healthy lifestyles and/or positive
mental health in priority wards eg Healthy Eating, Work Fit, Developing Personal
Resilience, Mindfulness with links to employability
Setting up and running your own business.
English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL)
Community capacity building provision eg volunteer development provision,
increasing civic participation and mentoring.
Vocational sector specific provision that provides a gateway to local employment
opportunities including Sector Based Work Academies in partnership with
employers and DWP.
Skills and Employability Development within Work Zones
As well as provision to be delivered through partner’s own venues, we are looking to
commission provision to run in our Work Zones. Work Zones are council run centres
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providing a range of integrated support alongside employment related curriculum to help
unemployed adults get back into work. We have Work Zones in Ellesmere Port,
Northwich and Winsford and Chester.
We are looking to commission provision that targets employment sectors that are
currently recruiting. These may be locality specific and we are looking to develop an
holistic approach to becoming work ready.
A definition of work ready would be someone with:
 English, maths and ICT skills at a functional level;
 A relevant vocational unit/qualification.
 Interpersonal skills such as team work, problem solving, confidence skills and
appropriate attitudinal skills
 Work Ready skills – CV preparation, presentation skills both oral and written
In addition to the Functional Skills of English, maths and IT, vocational programmes that
we are particularly interested in developing (though not exclusively) are:
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Warehousing
Manufacturing
Construction
Health and Social Care
Retail
Administration
Customer Service/Call Centre
Construction
Hospitality and Catering
Leisure and Tourism
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Adult Education Budget Funding available through the Local Authority
The Adult Education Budget is a new budget stream for 2016-17 and rolls up our
previous Adult Skills Budget and our Community Learning budget into one Adult
Education Budget. Within the Adult Education Budget (AEB), there are three ways of
funding learning provision:
1. Formula funded regulated accredited provision – these are accredited learning
aims (either qualifications or units), with a unique learning aim reference,
registered on SFA Hub’s Learning Aims database
(https://hub.imservices.org.uk/Pages/default.aspx and click on Learning Aims
tab).
2. Formula funded non-regulated provision – these are non-accredited learning
aims and are funded according to the number of guided learning hours delivered
and are funded according to the same formula funding methodology as
accredited regulated aims ie the provider earns the funding as the learner moves
through the programme. This provision will incorporate the RARPA assessment
methodology. Funding for formula funded non-regulated provision will be
according to the extract from The Single Activity Matrix as set out below:
Funding Band - Hours
Up to 2 glh
3 – 4 glh
5 – 6 glh
7 – 12 glh
13 – 20 glh
21 – 44 glh
45 – 68 glh
69 – 92 glh
93 – 100 glh
Above 100 glh see values in
full SAM
Unweighted Value
(per learner)
£14
£21
£35
£50
£100
£150
£300
£450
£600
* for a complete copy of The Single Activity Matrix, see SFA – Funding Rates and
Formula 2016-17.
As an example, a class of 10 learners on a short 13 glh programme would draw
down £1000 in total.
3. Grant funded non-accredited Community learning – this is non-accredited
provision not subject to formula funding methodology. This provision includes
non-accredited Family Learning.
The full SFA Funding Rules for AEB Provision 16-17 can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/sfa-funding-rules
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What We Will Fund
We will be looking to commission Entry level – Level two accredited provision in all 3
funding streams as listed above. There are units of qualifications that can be funded for
unemployed adults. Please refer to The Learning Aims database for details of funding
eligibiity. It is your responsibility to check whether the provision you are seeking funding
for is eligible for funding for your target cohort.
Providers can apply for one or all of these streams of funding and use them to
innovatively build a programme that seeks to engage adults and then progress them to
a vocational outcome. There is just one application process to bid for AEB funding but
you will be required to define your programme for each aspect of the AEB funding you
are requesting.
Programme Design Guidelines
1. All sector specific vocational provision will be delivered through formula funded
regulated learning aims (stream 1 as listed above). In broad terms, all the
certificates that an employer would want to see at interview for the job in
question.
2. All generic employability type provision eg CV development, presentation skills,
job search skills will be delivered through formula funded non-regulated learning
aims (stream 2 as listed above). In broad terms, all the skills that an employer
would want to see demonstrated at interview.
3. All health and wellbeing provision will be delivered through grant funded, nonaccredited Community Learning provision (stream 3 as listed above). In broad
terms provision that is designed to impact positively on quality of life, health and
wellbeing with specific focus on those with most need and currently underrepresented in learning
We want to ensure our provision is inclusive and meets the needs of all members of the
local population in Cheshire West and Chester and we have targeted the following
learner groups and are looking for partners who will target these groups to engage in
learning and to impact positively on quality of life:
 Neighbourhoods with participation rates significantly below the local average and with
high levels of basic and other skills needs (Priority Wards) including Family Learning
designed to have learning outcomes for both parents/carers and their children
 Rural areas
 Provision for people with learning difficulties and/or disabilities including adults with
mental health conditions
 Older adults aged 75+
 Adults from Black and Minority Ethnic backgrounds
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In order to measure the effectiveness of our curriculum offer in meeting needs, we
measure enrolment levels from the above groups of adults as well as impacting on
levels of unemployment across the borough.
IMPACT MEASURES – 2016/17
Population of Cheshire West and Chester – 329,608*
*Source: Office for National Statistics 2011 census. Crown Copyright material is
produced with the permission of the Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI). ONS
website www.statistics.gov.uk.
We are looking to impact on the levels of unemployment across the borough with a
particular focus on key hotspots as can be seen for areas with claimant counts above
the CWaC rate:
The Number of people who are claiming long term unemployment benefits ie
unemployed for longer than 6 months is 570 (NOMIS - January 2016). We are keen to
use our provision to minimise preventable long term unemployment.
If your proposed project(s) fits with these priorities, please download the Stage 1 –
Supplier Response Questionnaire from the Council’s procurement portal – The Chest.
This Stage 1 form needs completing and submitting in accordance with the date
schedule as stated. If your organisation passes this stage, you will be placed on our 4
Year Framework and be invited to move to Stage 2 and bid for any AEB funding we
commission over the following 4 years. To access this AEB funding, you will complete
the AEB Bid form aligned to the tender requirements as fully as possible and submit
through The Chest according to the date schedule given. Bids will only be accepted if
submitted through The Chest.
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If you would like a preliminary discussion with us before making an application, please
contact:
Skills and Employment Manager on 0151 356 6767 or email us at
[email protected]
Considerations
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Funding is for adult learners aged 19 and over, who are not being funded for the same
activity by another source. Learners have to be 19 or over on the 31st August 2016 to
be eligible for any provision taking place in the 2016-17 academic year.
All the work we fund must relate broadly to engaging learners and producing learning
outcomes. We will advise you if your work is not eligible.
Any tuition fees or any other learner contributions requested must be in line with our
Cheshire West and Chester Council Tuition Fee Policies 16-17 for AEB Provision.
For all AEB provision, it will be the providers’ responsibility to ensure learner eligibility
for public funding and for AEB Regulated provision that you have the required awarding
body approval to deliver and accredit the qualifications you are seeking funding for.
We will fund work to be completed by 31 July 2017.
We have a limited amount of funding but we aim to have funding available throughout
the academic year to be able to support in year projects as they arise. Once the
funding has been allocated, we will maintain a register of submitted projects that meet
our criteria but are in excess of current funding capability. You will be notified of all
progress on successful but deferred bids.
We will top slice the funding allocated to partners at source and in line with our Supply
Chain Management Fee Policy. This charge is to cover the management and quality
assurance of the whole AEB programme and all reporting requirements to the Skills
Funding Agency. Details of all charges made can be seen at our website www.cheshireadultlearning.org/Funding/ Supply Chain Management Fee Policy.
If you are interested in Making a Bid for Adult Learning and Skills Funding:
There are two stages to our bidding process:
Stage 1 – Company Information. This is the basic criteria we need to assess an
organisations’ suitability to become a sub-contractor. Once this stage has been passed,
an organisation can remain on our Framework and bid for any future funding
opportunities.
Complete Stage 1 proforma – Supplier Response Questionnaire available alongside this
document on the Council’s Procurement Portal, The Chest.
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Each applying organisation must possess a constitution, management committee
and bank account. We will need to check on your financial standing to ensure that
there is no risk to our funds.
You must be able to satisfy insurance and health and safety requirements and show
how you will comply with standards for the safety of young or vulnerable learners if
these are in your target group. You will need effective insurance arrangements to
cover all liabilities and cover in respect of claims for personal injury or death needs to
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be a minimum of £5 million for contracts under £10k and £10m for contracts over
£10k.
Submit and await the pass/fail result. If your organisation passes this stage, you will
be placed on our 4 year Framework and eligible to bid for our AEB funding.
Stage 2 – Application for Funding. This is the specific detail relating to the skills and
learning provision you are applying for funding to deliver.
Complete Stage 2 proforma – Invitation to Tender for AEB Provision and submit to us
through The Portal.
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You will need to be listed on the UK Learning Providers register and be in receipt of a
UKPRN number. https://www.ukrlp.co.uk
For any sub-contracts valued at over £100k, a training provider will be required to be
registered on the Register of Training Organisations. There are generally two
opportunities per annum to register on the RTO. Please refer to
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/register-of-training-organisations for
guidance.
You will need to have qualified teaching staff (or working towards fully qualified status
and/or Assessors and Internal Verifiers depending on what learning programme you
are providing. You will also need to ensure you have Awarding Body approval to
deliver any accredited provision you are seeking funding for and comply with the
Awarding Body’s requirements regarding the expertise and experience required of
delivery staff.
You will need to be able to meet our reporting and quality requirements, including
course documentation; recording learner enrolment and attendance, proposed
guided learning hours and learning outcomes. You will be required to comply with
our Quality Assurance framework including the observation of teaching and learning
and complete an annual self-assessment report on the learning that has taken place
under the contract. Our Quality Assurance Framework can be seen in Appendix C in
our Master Contract. We can provide any support needed to be able to comply with
our Quality Assurance requirements.
You must demonstrate a commitment to equal opportunities, including compliance
with the requirements of the Single Equality legislation. You should have a written
Equal Opportunities Policy and a Safeguarding policy and procedure but we can
support you with developing one.
All tutors and staff working with learners will need to comply with statutory
regulations as required regarding health and safety.
This learning provision will be subject to Ofsted inspection. Our last Ofsted was in
March 2015. Our report is available on the Ofsted website – www.ofsted.gov.uk
Bidding Schedule
You can complete and submit the Stage 1 of the process at any time in the year and
organisations who are successful at this stage can then go on to complete Stage 2 of the
bidding process – Application for Funding. Stage 2 needs to be completed and
submitted by:
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 Stage 2 – Application for AEB Funding closure and final submission date Friday 10th
June 2016 at 4pm
 Funding Panel – outcome notification and offer letters issued by 24th July 2016
 Contracts issued by 31 July 2016 to run from 1st August 2016-31st July 2017.
 Your bid will be appraised by our Funding Panel members with advice taken from other
council teams where appropriate for example, we may seek views on a particular bid
from the relevant Locality team. We will give you feedback on our decision within 1
week of the Funding Panel date.
 If we are able to fund the work, a contract will be issued, and reporting requirements
and payment schedules agreed. Payment arrangements will be different for Community
Learning and the other regulated and non-regulated AEB in line with the way we receive
our funding from The Skills Funding Agency.
The main difference is that Community Learning comes in to the council as a grant
contribution to fund Community Learning at the beginning of the academic year.
Regulated and non-regulated AEB provision (streams 1 and 2) are formula funded and
is drawn down as learners start on programme, stay on programme and achieve their
learning outcome. If a learner drops out of this provision prior to achieving their learning
outcome, funding will be proportionately reduced. A learner not retained or achieving
on formula funded provision will also inform our nationally published Qualification
Achievement Rates (QAR) and our future funding will depend on these rates being in
line with national benchmarks. See overleaf for minimum standard thresholds for 2015
– 16 (current at time of publication).
Minimum Standards thresholds for 2015 to 2016 –
(16/17 has not been published yet)
Qualification Type Threshold for the Provision we sub-contract:
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Award 80%
Certificate 80%
Diploma 70%
ESOL 70%
Basic Skills Maths and English 63%
Other non-Regulated 85%
Other Regulated 70%
QCF Unit 85%
(NB Simply put, a Success rate is the % of learners achieving compared to the number of learners who
started. So a class of 10 unemployed adults enrolled on a QCF unit with 3 leaving before the end and
only 6 of the remaining 7 learners achieving the unit would result in a Success rate of 60% which would
be below minimum standards)
As stated, it will be a provider’s responsibility to ensure a learner is eligible for AEB
provision. If a learner is enrolled who turns out not to be eligible for public funding, the
council will not be able to make any payments against that particular learner. For
overarching eligibility rules, please see SFA Funding Rules for 2016 – 2017 at
https://www.gov.uk/.../publications/sfa-funding-rules-2016-to-2017. Eligibility is also
detailed on our Tuition Fee Policy for AEB provision that is available on The Chest as
part of our documentation suite.
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