Elections for eight metro mayors in England take place on 6 May and the Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP) has sent candidates a briefing on levelling up learning in each of their regions.  

While it was the government that coined the phrase “levelling up”, we were not alone in feeling that the FE White Paper just did not live up to this commitment. It failed particularly badly in paying sufficient attention to learning at level 2 and below. We hope that the combined authorities can do better. 

Over six years ago, Greater Manchester signed a devolution deal with George Osborne, then chancellor, and became the first fully fledged mayoral combined authority (MCA) to follow in the footsteps of the Greater London Authority. On skills, AELP has kept an open mind on how much power should be devolved to the combined authorities, providing it is a step-by-step process rather than a full-scale handover. 

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We should acknowledge that a long-term policy tension remains in that we support the Commons Education Select Committee’s recommendation that individual learning accounts should be brought back for adult education to replace the national and devolved authorities’ current reliance on grant allocations and procurements. This would be a second step in the strengthening of a demand-led skills system to follow the one now in place for employers with apprenticeships. 

Metro mayor elections: Improving careers services and access to skills

At the same time, the combined authorities deserve credit for the way they approached the first round of procurements for the devolved adult education budget (AEB). Responding to a survey in October 2019, AELP member providers gave a fairly positive verdict on the tenders, some of which had a total contract value proportionately larger than any procurement exercise carried out by the Education and Skills Funding Agency, which prefers to keep 90 per cent of its budget for grant allocations. Another round of MCA tenders is in the pipeline and we have called on the metro mayor candidates to expand their commissioning and to agree to longer-term funding settlements. This would give providers confidence to make the type of commitments and capital investments necessary to develop skills in each city region. Our members certainly want to see a greater number of contracts awarded next time.

The elections will take place against a backdrop of ongoing restrictions caused by the pandemic and we have reminded the candidates of the seriousness of the impact on young people. Scotland has responded with its young person’s guarantee and the metro mayors should now offer an opportunity guarantee in the form of an apprenticeship, traineeship or work placement. This should come with appropriate incentives for employers, especially smaller businesses.

Some of the MCAs have made a real effort to improve careers advice in their areas but it must be seen in the context that the National Careers Service and the Careers and Enterprise Company are equally active. The mayors could play a key role in the offer of a more coherent approach to ensure that no one is left behind. AELP recommends that careers advice should be accessible for people of all ages in every borough of a city region with good links between schools and training providers. 

Metro mayors should also maximise their residents’ access to employability and skills programmes. This is particularly important in the city regions where the bill for universal credit (UC) can be much larger than the cost of unemployment benefits, and skills training can be the route to lifting an individual out of dependence on UC. 

Boosting local productivity and social inclusion

It can be a tough challenge sometimes working in tandem with national Department for Work and Pensions and Department for Education programmes; for example, the MCAs have recently tackled the government on its prescribed list of 400 qualifications for the first level 3 entitlement under the lifetime skills guarantee, saying that it just doesn’t all match local economic needs. That said, providers felt after the first devolved AEB procurements that the combined authorities could have done a better job in responding to labour market intelligence data and they believed that the need for realistic employment opportunities for unemployed people was not being properly satisfied in the commissioning. If the government confirms that the combined authorities will be managing skills and employment procurements in their areas for the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, local AELP members will hope to be consulted on the commissioning design. 

The winning candidates on 6 May can take a lead in ensuring good access to level 2 and below qualifications, so more of the most disadvantaged residents can gain access to the labour market. In doing so, they will be improving local productivity and social inclusion. 

Jane Hickie is chief executive of Association of Employment and Learning Providers