One of the key arguments for devolution is that it brings decision-making closer to the people affected by those decisions. Put bluntly, we are better placed to know what will work for us in the Liverpool City Region than civil servants in Whitehall and politicians in Westminster.
Recent work on our emerging local industrial strategy has set out the challenges and opportunities involved in improving productivity and economic and social outcomes in the city region. Central to these is investing in the skills development of our local people.
That’s why we worked very closely with employers, learning providers and colleges in the run up to taking over control of our £51.3 million adult education budget in August 2019.
One of the things this work identified was that there have been clear market failures in certain areas of adult education, including digital skills, English, maths and English for speakers of other languages (Esol). It is fair to say that, not just here but across the country, course formats and content had not kept pace with changing times and changing expectations and needs from learners.
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Test and Learn
Einstein defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results. That is effectively what we have been doing in some areas of adult education.
Devolution and control of the adult education budget has given the Liverpool City Region the chance to address local market failures in a new and radical way. Rather than dictating to our learning providers, we decided to trust their knowledge and experience and offer them funding to deliver “Test and Learn” pilots, where they could try out new and innovative approaches, in terms of course content and delivery.
Our city region’s colleges, local authority community learning providers and independent training providers were encouraged to apply for £50,000 per pilot across three known local market failures, namely Esol, digital skills (ahead of next academic year’s entitlement) and English and maths.
The only restrictions that we put on the funding were that providers have to properly evaluate their effectiveness. Other than that, it was up to them.
Funding - with no strings attached
And they have responded with the creativity and imagination that we expect of our city region. Freed for once of restrictive funding rules they have not let us down. We have funded over 30 pilots to the tune of £2.2 million and I do not have the space to list them all here.
But there was a huge amount of variation across the city region. The City of Liverpool College introduced a staffed Talk Café, supporting Esol learners with peer language practice opportunities. Riverside College focused on upskilling and reskilling employed learners through bite-sized learning, covering five digital skills needs.
In an effort to engage more learners in English and Maths, Hugh Baird College delivered smaller class sizes with a workshop-style approach where learners will have more control on their learning plans and help to track their own progress while being able to select the mix of learning that best suits their needs.
What all of the pilots have in common is boldness and innovation. By their very nature, we know that not all of them will be successful. Like start-up companies, many will fall by the wayside. But, with our partners, we will evaluate them rigorously and make sure that those things that work will be identified and brought into the mainstream.
Taking controlled risks
This is possible because devolution gives us the opportunity to do things differently, to be bold and innovative and to take controlled risks. Because by trying new approaches, and being forensic in our analysis of their efficacy, we can deliver real improvements for the local people who we serve.
As a former apprentice who went on to become business manager for the former Learning and Skills Council, I am passionate about the skills agenda and I am sure that this is just the beginning for us.
Through our handling of the adult education budget we are proving our credibility to government and I am now pressing for control over skills funding for 16- to 19-year-olds.
We understand the needs of our people and of our labour market. With real control over funding and decision-making, we can ensure that people and businesses in the Liverpool City Region have the skills they need to succeed in the 21st century.
Steve Rotheram is the metro mayor of the Liverpool City Region
