General Council Report 2002: Chapter 8

General Council Report

• learning and skills
• 8.1 Introduction
• 8.2 Developing the workforce
• 8.3 Learning Services

learning and skills

8.1 Introduction

During the past Congress year, the General Council have been pro-active in developing policy strategies aimed at increasing the skills of the workforce, with a particular emphasis on those with no or low qualifications. Under the Chancellor of Exchequer’s ‘productivity initiative’ the TUC-CBI Working Group on Training produced a report which greatly influenced the Budget announcement on skills. The General Council established a Learning and Skills Task Group chaired by Tony Dubbins which is developing a progressive strategy for workforce development aimed at influencing the next Manifesto.

The capacity of unions to assist their members to access learning opportunities has been greatly increased through the expansion of the Union Learning Fund and statutory recognition of Union Learning Representatives (ULRs). Union involvement in the Information, Advice and Guidance service has been secured through a Department for Education and Skills (DfES) project. At sectoral level, union learning activities have been much strengthened through the TUC EQUAL project.

The General Council continue to influence national policy through TUC representation on the Learning and Skills Council (LSC), the new Sector Skills Development Agency and the boards of the University of Industry (UfI), the Basic Skills Agency and Investors in People UK. The TUC continues to support union members of local LSCs and Regional Development Agencies (RDAs).

There has also been increased dialogue between the TUC and Ministers and their officials on many aspects of learning and skills.

8.2 Developing the workforce

The Learning and Skills Task Group

In taking forward some of the key issues highlighted in Composite 15 carried at last year’s Congress, the General Council established a Learning and Skills Task Group.

Its remit is to develop and promote the TUC‘s policy on learning and skills at the workplace by:

· developing policies on workforce development with a view to influencing the DfES, LSC, and other relevant bodies

· providing policy support to TUC Learning Services to help unions increase their capacity to deliver the learning and skills of their members.

General Council: Tony Dubbins (chair), Gwenda Binks, Barry Camfield, Marge Carey, Danny Carrigan, Jeannie Drake, Paul Kenny, Pat Hawkes, Mick Leahy, Mick Rix, Peter Smith, Keith Sonnet, Ed Sweeney, Paul Talbot and Jenny Thurston.

Co-optees: Paul Mackney, (NATFHE), Tony Chandler (UNISON) and Mark Corney (MC Consultancy).

TUC Staff: Frances O’Grady, Liz Smith and Bert Clough (Secretary).

The Task Group has considered the low demand for skills in the economy and the lack of training opportunities for those with low or no qualifications. These deficiencies have been highlighted in recent government reports including that of the Cabinet Office Performance and Information Unit In Demand: Adult Skills in the 21st Century.

The Task Group had a very positive discussion on a wide range of workforce development issues with the then Minister for Adult Skills, John Healey. These included the need for a universal statutory entitlement for those without a level 2 qualification to paid time off for training and greater training provision for women and ethnic minorities to help tackle skill shortages. Members of the Task Group also pressed the Minister to ensure that unions were well represented on the new Sector Skills Councils and involved in sector skills strategies. The discussion also covered the need to improve the supply side to meet increased demand for learning and skills.

The Task Group has developed various models on how to effect a universal right to paid time off for training. These were informed by the outcomes of a policy seminar convened by the Task Group to consider rights over training. They have been discussed with the Chief Economic Adviser to the Treasury and the DfES. Work has also been done by the Task Group on developing a strategy for providing statutory rights to negotiate over workforce development. The aim is to influence the Government’s Employment Law Review.

TUC - CBI Productivity Report

Training was an important part of the Chancellor’s TUC-CBI Productivity Initiative. The Working Group on Training was chaired by the general secretary with John Roberts (CBI) as Vice Chair. The resulting report identified the following priorities:

· tackling the basic skills problems of individuals

· increasing the proportion of the adult workforce qualified to level 2

· increasing take-up of Investors in People by small organisations

CBI TUC Recommendations

· a training tax credit for employers providing support for employees to achieve their first level 2 qualification including basic skills; targeted towards small organisations.

· a tax credit for small organisations to obtain the Investors in People Standard

· study incentives for individuals without a level 2, including free tuition to take them up to that qualification level.

· improvements to the supply side including more accessible vocational qualifications, one-stop-shops to give support to small employers and improved advice and guidance for individuals

The Chancellor in his Pre-Budget Report responded positively to the recommendations. He indicated that the ‘voluntaristic system was not working’ and announced a number of incentives aimed at increasing the number of employees obtaining qualification up to level 2 including basic skills.

Paid time off for training

The General Council welcomed the Employer Training pilots announced in the Budget. The pilots will test free tuition and employer subsidies as incentives for employees to take paid time off for training up to level 2 qualifications including basic skills. The pilots will test different models and be run in six local LSC areas from September 2002 and employer involvement will be voluntary. The LSC is working with TUC Learning Services to ensure that unions contribute to their success. As stated above, the General Council are pressing the government for the pilots to open the way for paid time off for training to be universalised through a statutory entitlement.

Learning and Skills Council

The General Council continue to be represented on the LSC by the general secretary who is Vice Chair of the Council and Chair of its Adult Learners Committee. Tony Chandler of UNISON is also a member of that Committee. Bill Connor, who has represented the General Council on the LSC Young People’s Committee has had to resign, and a replacement is being considered. The TUC continues to brief union members on the boards of the local LSCs.

The TUC has made a response to the LSC’s draft Workforce Development Strategy up to 2005. The submission welcomed the more interventionist approach and stressed the need for individual entitlements to learning, frameworks for sector funding and collective rights to negotiate and consult on workforce development underpinned by statute.

Sector Skills Councils

The DfES is establishing a network of Sector Skills Councils (SSCs) to increase the effectiveness of sectors in delivering skills and providing labour market information. The General Council have pressed successfully for union representation on the new SSCs and a number of ‘trailblazers’ have already been established. A Sector Skills Development Agency has been set up to fund and monitor the network. Jeannie Drake represents the General Council on the Agency.

Individual learning accounts

Trade unions have continued to ensure that individual learning accounts (ILAs) are targeted at their members who could benefit from them most and have provided them with front/line advice and guidance. The ILA scheme was closed in November 2001 as a result of evidence of misuse and fraud by some private providers. The General Council gave both written and oral evidence to the House of Commons Education and Skills Committee who conducted an inquiry into the circumstances. The Committee’s report was critical of the way the scheme was run but highlighted the positive role of unions.

'We recommend that the successes of trusted intermediaries, such as trade union learning representatives, should be taken fully into account in designing an ILA successor scheme. Education and Skills Select Committee Report 2002.

A TUC DfES seminar has been held to identify and learn from union good practice in the delivery of ILAs and the TUC has been consulted over the development of a new model for the future.

Investors in People

The General Council continue to support and promote the Standard and are represented by Ed Sweeney on the Board of Investors in People UK. The TUC is a member of its IIP Partner Forum which is discussing both how to develop extra modules to the Standard and help IIP organisations to benchmark themselves against others with the Standard.

Another objective is to increase penetration in small organisations. In the Budget, the Chancellor announced £30 million to support small employers to achieve Investors in People as proposed in the TUC-CBI productivity Report. Both the TUC and CBI are involved in discussions on how the funding should be effectively disbursed.

The TUC has had discussions with unions in the school sector on union involvement in the standard and commissioned a report which has made recommendations on the feasibility of a project.

14-19 Education and Training

The General Council submitted a response to the Government Green Paper 14-19: Extending Opportunities, Raising Standards. The TUC convened meetings with unions representing employees in the school and further education sectors in order to consider the document. The

resulting submission welcomed the challenges set out in the Green Paper although stressed the need to ensure that the reforms led to parity of esteem between the general and vocational routes and avoided a two-tier system. It stated that such significant changes cannot be delivered on the cheap and will require extra resources.

The General Council have continued to influence the development and relaunch of Modern Apprenticeships. Frances O’Grady represented the General Council on the DfES’s Modern Apprenticeship Advisory Committee and is now a member of the LSC’s advisory Modern Apprenticeship Board.

8.3 Learning Services

TUC Learning Services completed its first year in April 2002 having successfully established a national team and regional teams in each of the TUC English regions, with Wales setting up its own TUC Learning Services.

Almost 60 staff including regional co-ordinators, development and project workers are engaged in delivering these services.

Key Objectives

· to provide the strategic framework and support for the union contribution to workforce development and lifelong learning

· to raise awareness of the importance of the union role in lifelong learning amongst unions, employers, employees and other key stakeholders

· to build union capacity for sustaining this role in the longer-term

· to coordinate union activity in lifelong learning and develop strategic partnerships to ensure full integration of the union contribution

· to promote and disseminate good practice on union activity to support learning

Outcomes: TUC Learning Services 2001/2

· 1,344 union learning representatives trained

· 17,998 union members on learning programmes

· 2,266 union members on basic skills learning programmes

· 143 new activities based in workplaces with union learning representatives

The core funding of Learning Services is

provided by the DfES with additional funding from other external sources such as ESF and local LSCs.

An extensive range of national and regional events including conferences, seminars, briefings and road shows have been organised to promote union work on learning and to provide information and a forum for discussion on key issues.

Union Learning Representatives

Almost 4,000 union learning representatives (ULRs) have been trained and accredited since 1999 (see chapter 12). The Government has recognised the great impact they have already made on workplace learning.

'Union learning representatives have made a real difference in opening up learning and training opportunities for their colleagues at the workplace.

Legal recognition will go a long way towards raising the profile of these representatives and reinforcing the job they do'.

John Healey MP, Former Minister for Adult Skills

The General Council have successfully pressed the Government for such representatives to be given statutory recognition. The Employment Act gives ULRs similar rights to paid time off for training and duties as other union representatives in recognised work places.

Statutory Roles of Union Learning Reps

· analysing learning or training needs;

· providing information and advice about learning or training matters;

· arranging learning or training;

· promoting the value of learning or training; and

· consulting the employer about carrying on any such activities in relation to such members of the trade union

These rights will be enforceable when the ACAS Code of Practice for Time off for Union Duties has been duly amended. The TUC is working closely with ACAS and the DfES who are drafting the changes. The TUC, with DfES support, is planning regional workshops to raise union awareness of the new statutory rights.

The TUC is working with unions to ensure that ULRs are effectively supported, once their training is complete. This will be through TUC and union networks including regional meetings and events, access to the ULR section of the TUC website and information provided through a national database. A quarterly publication The Learning Rep has proved highly popular with unions and other partners.

Union Learning Fund

This DfES fund is now in its fifth year and in total £24 million has been invested on over

300 union-led projects. During Year 4 (April 2001 - March 2002) a total of 121 projects

were run by 39 unions. During Year 5 a similar number of projects have been supported. Of these a number are strategic national proposals from unions which will roll out pilot work (particularly in establishing ULRs) across their organisations.

In Year 4, the most common activities were the development of ULR networks. An increased number of projects sought to establish learning centres linked to learndirect and the Trade Union Sector Hub, reflecting the importance union attach to the use of ICT for learning.

'Unions are, in general, exceeding performance targets set in projects and have become much more able to access additional resources (and more willing to contribute internal resources) to maintain and enhance the core ULF project activities. To this end, the Fund is proving successful and the trade unions have responded well to the challenges presented in taking advantage of the Fund’s offer of support.'

A Fourth Evaluation of the Union Learning Fund: York Consulting 2002

Access and equality continue to be key themes, and a high proportion of activities are integrated and/or focussed on basic skills. A significant amount of additional funding for the ULF projects was levered in by unions from external sources including LSCs, RDAs and employers.

Outputs: Union Learning Fund Year 4

· 13,043 learners took part in learning

· 1,540 union learning representatives were trained

· 478 of these union learning representatives took further training

· 402 accredited courses have been developed or customised

· 5,485 ILAs were opened

The focus of the Union Learning Fund work is increasing union capacity building with the objective of embedding sustainable activity into unions and partners’ mainstream programmes.

The TUC has worked closely with the Government to establish interim arrangements to secure a smooth transfer of responsibility for the Fund from the DfES to the LSC in the near future.

Basic skills

The General Council have continued to be a key player in delivering the national strategy to raise the literacy and numeracy levels of the workforce. During the year there has been a shift in emphasis from virtual ‘stand-alone’ basic skills projects to activity within which basic skills is an integral part.

The priority has been to ensure projects consider ways to embed basic skills within organisations. This includes determining how basic skills should effectively underpin learning and training opportunities as a whole and be integrated into workplace learning agreements and also human resources strategies.

The TUC is now regarded as a key partner for delivering workplace basic skills by national bodies including the Basic Skills Agency (BSA), the DfES and other major stakeholders. Frances O’Grady continues to represent the General Council on the Board of the BSA. During the year, the TUC has contributed to many joint initiatives with organisations including the BSA and CBI.

The TUC has developed materials with partners where gaps have been identified in the basic skills market. For example, an additional module on basic skills awareness has been designed and is used as part of ULR training or as a stand-alone module. Work is underway to ensure that basic skills issues are integrated into other areas of TUC work, particularly health and safety, new unionism, equal rights and union representatives training.

UfI/learndirect

The General Council have continued to be involved with Ufi/learndirect throughout the year. Roger Lyons represented the General Council on the UfI Board up to June 2002 when he resigned. Frances O’Grady has replaced Mr Lyons on the Board.

The main focus of TUC activity has been to establish a hub for the Trade Union Sector. Three staff were appointed in January 2002 to run this activity.

Currently a network of 11 TUC learndirect or access points are operating in a mixture of union offices, workplaces and Trade Union Studies centres. A further 10-20 in various stages of planning are scheduled to open this year. A unique feature of the Trade Union hub is the key role played by ULRs in establishing centres and supporting learners.

In the period August 2001 - May 2002 the hub had enrolled almost 3,000 learners, with numbers increasing rapidly on mainly ICT courses. Quality assurance and financial management of the hub is carried in conjunction with the College of North East London. In May 2002 the Adult Learning Inspectorate inspected the hub. The report will reflect well on the progress made by the TUC and unions in a very short time.

A priority for 2002/2003 is the TUC strategy for the Skills for Life programmes, which will maximise the take up by and assure the quality and progression of basic skills learners. In conjunction with Ufi/Learndirect, the TUC is developing dedicated materials ‘Essential skills for Work’ and is encouraging and supporting general union engagement in learndirect.

Information, Advice and Guidance

The General Council in their recent policy documents have consistently stressed the value of Information, Advice and Guidance in informing demand for learning. This includes front-line advice by ULRs as well as provision by Information, Advice and Guidance Partnerships and other agencies. TUC Learning Services are currently working on a national project ‘Bringing Information, Advice and Guidance to the Workplace’ with the DfES. The project is aimed at strengthening the information, advice and guidance element of trade union work by establishing effective working relationships between IAG Partnerships, unions and employers.

TUC DfES Project on Information, Advice and Guidance

· undertake development work with IAG Partnerships, TUC regional Learning Services teams and targeted employers/trade unions

· promote the ‘matrix’ quality standards for learning and work to these targeted employers/unions

· work with the DfES and the Guidance Council to develop support structures to enable unions and employers to work towards accreditation to the quality standards

· brief 300 union officers/learning representatives on the standards, the role of IAG Partnerships and how to establish links and work effectively with them.

EQUAL Project

The TUC, with Ufi, the Basic Skills Agency and the LSC has secured resources from the ESF EQUAL Programme for a project, ‘Building Opportunities for Workplace Learning’ which will run until May 2005. The TUC with unions and partners will develop ladders of opportunity for low skilled workers and also workers in general who are at risk of redundancy due to changing skill requirements. The project will target key sectors including transport, public services, retail, hospitality and print. Its objective is to facilitate participation, progression and impact on both the individual and the workplace. The process will involve developing innovative approaches to workplace learning using ICT.

Learning Services Website

The web site was launched in November 2001 to support and encourage union members to make the most use of the learning opportunities that are on offer and to improve their skills. The site provides continuing support to ULRs through a variety of practical resources, briefings and case studies as well as promoting course and Learning Services events. Since its launch there have been 50,000 visits to the site and from the beginning of 2002 it has helped to deliver nearly 600 online learners to the new Trade Union Education online course programme. In February, TUC learning Services was presented with an award from Union Network International in recognition of the quality of its website.