WIDER POLICIES
Welsh Education and Skills Policy

Key policies:

Policy on education and skills development (generally referred to as ‘learning') is fully devolved to the Welsh Assembly.  Its approach involves providing access to learning for all groups and for all purposes (rather than simply for academic or other recognisable qualifications).

• Wales - the learning country: Is the Assembly's learning strategy, and specifically identified homeless people as a group of concern.
• Education and Learning Wales (ELWa) is the Assembly main delivery organisation for learning.  The Assembly made ELWa responsible for delivering the Welsh learning strategy.  ELWa was repalced by the Department for Education Lifelong Learning and Skills (DELLS) in April 2005.   
• The Learning Community Account, launched in Summer 2005, will be the main initiative to help homeless people to develop their skills.  It is noteworthy in two respects: it is the first homeless learning programme to be part of a sustained funding stream and it will not be focused on achieving ‘traditional outcomes'.

The Welsh Assembly's overall approach

In 2002, the Welsh Assembly commissioned research into the basic skills and employability needs among homeless people^[1].   The research reported that learning needs were both high and varied across the homeless population.  It recommended that learning and skills pilots be carried out by a number of housing associations.  One outcome of the research was the Guide to learning and work in supported housing projects - a tool to help those working with homeless people to provide a consistent level of support across Wales.  It was produced by Tai Dysgu a Gwaith Cymru (TDG) - the housing, work and learning organisation.  This guidance is being updated following additional experience on homelessness learning projects in 2004.

The Welsh Assembly has made Education and Learning Wales (ELWa) specifically responsible for education and learning among homeless people.  In its 2004/05 remit letter, it states that ELWa must "work closely with local authorities and other social partners to address the learning needs of groups with particular needs including those in homelessness projects...those who are seeking or have been granted asylum, and with young offenders".

According to The National Homelessness Strategy, the Welsh Assembly and ELWa will:

• Research gaps in training, pre-training, pre-vocational and employment skills, which are appropriate to homeless people.
• Work with ELWa and the Basic Skills Agency to foster schemes that prepare homeless people for training and employment.

In April 2005 ELWa was replaced by the Department for Education Lifelong Learning and Skills (DELLS), however, it is unclear whether the department will undertake all of ELWa's responsibilities relating to homeless people. 

Learning Community Accounts

Learning Community Accounts aim  to enable communities to identify learning needs and to support them in developing and engaging in learning activity.  The idea is that they are linked to national priorities, and thus that they will have an emphasis on basic skills and employability skills. 

A ‘community' can either be a geographic community or a specific group of people who share one or more characteristics.  Homeless people are one such community and will be subject of an ELWa pilot starting in 2005.  It is understood that:

• Inputs will be measured.  The emphasis will be on quality of programme provided, with providers having to reach a certain ‘quality' standard to ensure funding, rather than proving added value through traditional outcomes.
• Traditional outcomes will not be measured.  The pilot has distanced itself from targets and outcomes on the basis that they are too hard to measure among homeless people and, in any case, an attempt to do so would miss the main point of the scheme.
• It will be based on ‘learner commissioned purchasing', like the other learning accounts in Wales.^[2]   This means that people will be given a cash allowance which they can use with their chosen service provider.
• It will be a long-term programme, funded through a sustainable stream within the Assembly.  This compares to the current sporadic and often short-term provision.

The long-term vision is to merge the homelessness Learning Community Account with the Supported Housing Funding stream.

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End notes

[1] Opinion Resource Survey, Swansea 2002. Back to text

[2] Learning Community Accounts are part of a suite of learning accounts run by ELWa on behalf of the Assembly.  Back to text

Page last modified on 30/06/2006 at 12:52