Future procurement rounds for the devolved adult education budget need to have greater transparency, reward providers with a proven track record and prioritise contracts that meet local skills needs. 

That’s what private learning providers have told the Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP) in a new survey.

In March this year, £630 million of the adult education budget was given to seven mayoral areas across England as part of the first wave of skills devolution. Currently, 50 per cent of the budget is the responsibility of the mayoral combined authorities and the Greater London Authority, while the other 50 per cent is under the control of the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA).  

Background: £630m in adult education funds handed to mayors

News: Sadiq Khan calls for skills devolution in London to be extended 

Opinion: ‘Adult education devolution is creating a postcode lottery’

According the AELP, 93 providers gave a “reasonably positive verdict overall to the series of adult education budget tenders that the mayoral combined authorities and Greater London Authority held during the past year”. But a fifth of respondents said that procurement and the devolved authorities’ engagement with interested providers could be improved. 

 Providers suggested six areas for improvement: 

1. Greater transparency on the bidding process
   Providers complained that they would not have bid if they had known that only a few contracts were being awarded.
2. Rewarding providers with a proven track record
   Unproven providers won over those with an established footprint and history of solid delivery.
3. Delivery contracts that better meet local skills needs
   Providers feel that the commissioning did not properly consider Labour Market Information and the need for realistic employment opportunities for unemployed people
4. Checking on probity of provider bids
   Contract winners are now seeking partners for subcontracting arrangements, indicating that they won more funding than they could use for direct delivery, while others bid within their capacity.
5. More consistency across different authorities’ procurement approaches
   Providers recognise that devolution means different approaches, but some tenders were overly complex in some areas and too light-touch to make credible judgements in others.
6. Timely rules applied consistently
   Tender rules were sometimes published later than the norm and then not consistently applied.

Mark Dawe, chief executive of the AELP, said: “If notice is taken of the AELP survey findings and the combined authorities start to procure more of the budget in future years, we could well be on the right track to the adult education budget delivering the much-needed skills that the English regions require. AELP is therefore fully committed to working with the combined authorities to ensure that the transition is a success.”