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Informal Adult Learning Consultation

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TUC Submission

Introduction

1.1 The TUC welcomes the opportunity to submit comments to the consultation on adult informal learning being undertaken by the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS). It is very welcome that the Government has undertaken this consultation and that the Secretary of State acknowledges in the foreword that 'the emphasis the Government had rightly given to adult vocational education has led some to suggest informal adult education is not valued'.

1.2 While the Government wholeheartedly refutes this claim, it is positive that it has opened up a wide-ranging debate on this particular policy area in order to forge a new way forward. All stakeholders would undoubtedly agree with the Secretary of State's opening comments in the consultation document: 'All forms of adult learning are valuable. Whether vocational, or simply for personal enlightenment and fulfilment, adult learning contributes immeasurably to the well being and health of our society.'

1.3 This view is particularly relevant to the history and aspirations of the trade union movement, which has played a critical role in the growth of informal adult education during the last two centuries. The involvement of the trade union movement in adult learning has always been underpinned by the concepts of citizenship, equality of opportunity and the aspirations of working people. And this sense of purpose has been reinvigorated in the 21st Century through the pivotal role that union learning representatives (ULRs) are playing in engaging and supporting individuals to take up learning in the workplace, often for the first time since they left formal education. It is welcome that the consultation document acknowledges the importance of the trade union role in this respect.

1.4 The consultation has generated debate about the definition of 'adult informal learning'. DIUS describes it as 'learning for pleasure, leisure and personal development'. It is also suggested that most informal learning is not accredited, or where it is accreditation is not the main purpose. The TUC would assert that as well as personal development, informal learning also contributes to collective development and active citizenship.

1.5 The TUC submission focuses on what measures the Government could utilise to maximise the contribution to informal adult learning at the workplace level, whilst also recognising that trade unions have a crucial role to play in promoting and delivering adult learning across the wider community. For example, TUC-affiliated unions represent members in a wide range of organisations and institutions involved in informal adult learning and these unions will be submitting responses to the consultation with a more detailed input on these perspectives.

1.6 The TUC submission highlights the need to incentivise more employers to support informal adult learning as well as vocational training and stresses that involvement in the former often enables disadvantaged individuals to progress to skills training once they gain confidence. The submission also looks at how trade unions and ULRs could build on their existing activities to support more informal learning opportunities in the workplace and highlights union-inspired developments to achieve this, such as the ongoing Collective Learning Funds trials which are examining a number of ways in which a wide range of learning can be affordable to workers.

A welcome increase in skills investment

1.7 The TUC has welcomed the increased investment in learning and skills by the current Government and especially the increased spending on workplace skills training. For example, the TUC gave a positive welcome to the skills settlement in the latest Comprehensive Spending Review and in particular the focus on increasing government investment in work-based training programmes. However, the TUC also highlighted the urgent need for employers to significantly increase their investment in skills if the scale of ambition set out by Lord Leitch was to be achieved.

1.8 Key features of the Government's spending plans include a rapid acceleration in the expansion of Apprenticeships, a doubling of the Train to Gain budget and also a continuation of the large investment in Skills for Life provision. In addition the focus on a new demand-led approach will see the introduction of new Skills Accounts with the aim of using this mechanism to drive individual demand for skills in the same way as Train to Gain is being promoted as the demand-led approach for employers. While the TUC has supported the thrust of this skills strategy and welcomed the increased funding of workplace training programmes, it has also highlighted the need for employers to invest much more and to introduce policy mechanisms (e.g. a statutory right to workplace training) to achieve this.

Employer investment in informal adult learning

1.9 This is an important issue in the context of promoting informal adult learning because the Government's policy of prioritising 'economically valuable' skills has clearly impacted on the spread and quantity of adult provision in the FE sector. For example, NIACE claims that there has been a decline in the order of 1.4 million places over the past two years and that this has been driven by the new policy focus. The TUC believes that the Government should look more closely at the role of the workplace in promoting wider developmental learning opportunities within the current policy context.

1.10 For example, it is clear that the significant Government subsidy for training via the expansion of the Train to Gain programme, with full funding of eligible Level 2 qualifications and a substantial contribution towards many Level 3 qualifications, aims to address market failure by incentivising those employers to train who currently do not have the capacity to do so. However, in spite of efforts by Government to minimise deadweight, the reality is that some employers (larger employers in particular) will be receiving a subsidy for training which they previously would have funded from their own training budgets.

1.11 The TUC and affiliated unions have argued that it is vital to look at mechanisms for ensuring that employers route any such savings to support vocational training opportunities for employees who fall outside the eligibility criteria (e.g. employees with very old Level 2 qualifications) and also to fund wider developmental learning opportunities for the workforce. The challenge is that there are no policy mechanisms in place to achieve these objectives except where trade unions negotiate such arrangements in unionised workplaces. We also know from the analysis undertaken by the Leitch Review that employers will need to significantly increase their overall investment in training if there is any possibility in reaching the challenging 2020 targets.

Collective Learning Funds

1.12 Over recent years the TUC has lobbied the Government to instigate policy mechanisms to optimise contributions to broad workforce development that falls outside the direct responsibility of employers (e.g. job-specific training) or Government-subsidised provision (e.g. Skills for Life, Skills Pledge, Train to Gain). In line with this the TUC submission to the 2006 FE White Paper proposed the establishment of a Collective Learning Funds model designed to incentivise employer behaviour along these lines through a joint approach with trade unions. As a result of this policy initiative the TUC and unionlearn, in collaboration with DIUS, is currently taking forward a pilot project to further develop the concept of Collective Learning Funds.

1.13 During 2007 and 2008, unionlearn in the North West, supported by DIUS, have been trialling the establishment and development of CLF models in the region. At this stage it has been agreed to continue with the trials in the north west and also to extend the trials to a second region on the basis that there is scope not only to develop the project more broadly within the north west region, but also in other regions that have different sectoral compositions. It is anticipated that a progress report will be published in summer 2008 to inform lessons learned to date. As the project develops, a key aim will be to look at how the CLF model can be integrated with key government programmes, such as Train to Gain, the Skills Pledge and the new Skills Accounts.

1.14 This would provide a key means of looking at how workplace-centred informal adult learning could be maximised via the operation of the Government skills programmes. The major challenge will be to achieve leverage on employers to support and deliver more broad workforce development opportunities via their engagement in government programmes such as Train to Gain.

Other Collective Workplace Measures to Promote Learning

1.15 The TUC has also lobbied Government that the extension of dialogue on learning and skills between employers and unions could do much to increase the incidence of both vocational and broad workforce development learning in the workplace. The TUC has continued to support policy reforms to strengthen collective approaches to learning and skills in spite of the Government's previous decision to rule out, for the time being, including training as a collective bargaining issue in the statutory recognition procedure. In addition, the TUC has pressed for a statutory procedure to underpin the drawing up of learning agreements and the monitoring of such agreements by workplace learning committees.

1.16 Two research reports [1] commissioned by unionlearn in 2007 from academics at Leeds University Business School have highlighted the benefits of collective approaches on learning and skills from both a qualitative and a quantitative perspective. The forthcoming national survey of union learning representatives commissioned by unionlearn will also indicate similar findings. The TUC remains convinced that strengthening the union voice on learning and skills at the workplace level would have a major impact on employer behaviour, including engendering a culture of lifelong learning and a greater involvement in non-vocational adult learning.

Building on the role of Union Learning Reps

1.17 The consultation document acknowledges the crucial role of ULRs in 'supporting their peers to participate in both formal and informal learning' and also the supporting roles of unionlearn and the Union Learning Fund. Some of the informal adult learning that unions are involved in include:

  • employee development programmes (like the well known Fords EDAP initiative)
  • workplace libraries and book groups
  • courses for personal development/interest run by colleges/adult education centres/WEA
  • taster sessions attracting new learners
  • visits/activities with museums/galleries/libraries/theatres
  • course/activities that develop knowledge/skills for citizenship and participation in society
  • hobby/interest clubs

1.18 In order to obtain a fuller picture of the work ULRs do to support informal learning in and through the workplace, unionlearn placed a call for information on it's website asking unions to provide information about their work in this area. Within a four week period almost 300 responses were received, mainly from ULRs. These responses confirmed the wide range of activity ULRs provide for their members; for example courses covering anything from languages to genealogy, taster provision, book groups and workplace libraries, return to learn programmes, science cafes, activities linked to museums, galleries and libraries.

1.19 ULRs involve a range of members in this informal learning; almost all work with full and part time staff, with almost a quarter involving agency or other contract workers, and a similar percentage involving workers with ESOL needs.

1.20 The main support from employers for this work comes in the form of accommodation and other facilities [identified by just over a quarter of respondents], although 17% of respondents said that their employers provided time-off, and a smaller number [8%] said a financial contribution was made.

1.21 It was apparent from the responses that ULRs draw creatively on the help of a range of organisations to deliver this varied and imaginative provision, particularly providers, their unions and unionlearn.

1.22 To help identify the wider impact of this form of learning respondents were asked to identify the benefits to individuals and employers. Respondents felt that the biggest benefit to individuals was more confidence and higher morale, followed by access to skills and qualifications. The main benefit to employers identified was a better skilled workforce.

Equality of access

1.23 As highlighted above, ULRs are playing a major role in engaging and supporting disadvantaged groups into learning in the workplace, often for the first time since they have left formal education. This role has been widely recognised and the reality is that many of these learners are initially engaged in the learning process via non-vocational informal adult learning opportunities in the workplace. Very often these individuals are ultimately enabled to progress to work-based vocational pathways by acquiring a degree of confidence through their engagement in informal learning. In the unionlearn survey 80% of respondents said that learners had progressed to other learning, and almost 60% to learning leading to accreditation or qualification.

1.24 This highlights the need for Government to be aware of the importance of the progression from informal learning to vocational learning in the workplace and the links between this and promoting equality of opportunity for those groups who are too often denied access by employers. Delivering more informal adult learning opportunities in the workplace, especially via the role of trade unions and ULRs, ultimately will benefit the ambition to support these employees to take up vocational training that will improve their job prospects and life chances.

Conclusion

1.25 The main thrust of this TUC submission focuses on what measures the Government could utilise to maximise informal adult learning opportunities at the workplace level and how this would positively impact on the job prospects and life chances of adults. Incentivising more employers to engage with trade unions on both vocational training and informal adult learning provision is a win-win situation.

1.26 As well as building a culture of lifelong learning and enhancing working life for employees, involvement in informal adult learning in the workplace is often the bridge to accessing vocational training and achieving accredited qualifications for workers who have lacked the confidence to engage in any kind of learning. The Government should carefully consider how programmes such as Train to Gain could embed a dual approach of this kind and how initiatives such as Collective Learning Funds could facilitate this.

[1] Research Paper 3, A Collective Learning Culture: a qualitative study of workplace learning agreements. Research Paper 4, Training, Union Recognition and Collective Bargaining: findings from the 2004 Workplace Employment Relations Survey

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