Agenda item

9.1

The Committee considered a report of the Executive Director of City Futures which informed the Committee that SYMCA had confirmed Sheffield City Council’s indicative 2024/2025 Adult Skills Fund (ASF) grant allocation for the purpose of enabling the Local Authority to provide adult education and skills training to learners aged 19+. The report asked the Economic Development and Skills Policy Committee to make a formal decision to allow the Council to become the accountable body for this grant ahead of the Council agreeing the terms of a Grant Funding Agreement and applying the grant money.

9.2

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That the Economic Development and Skills Policy Committee:-

a)    Accept the Adult Skills Fund grant allocation for Sheffield and for the Lifelong Learning and Skills Service and to become the accountable body for this grant allocation for the academic year 2024/2025; and;

b)    Approves the Commissioning and Procurement of 19+ Adult Learning and Skills activities in community settings across Sheffield from external providers for a period of one year [from 1^st August 2024 to 31^st July 2025] and an estimated value of £650,000.

9.3

Reasons for Decision

9.3.1

The recommended outcome is to allow FACES within the Lifelong Learning and Skills Service to accept the allocation to enable delivery of adult learning to begin in September 2024.

9.3.2

The further recommended outcome is to enable Lifelong Learning and Skills to move to procurement so that the service can deliver the necessary niche or high demand Adult Learning, Employment, Learning and Skills activities from partners and training providers to meet the regional skills priorities.

9.3.3

This recommended outcome will also enable the service to continue to reach to some of the most disadvantaged communities and those furthest from the labour market and offer those communities learning opportunities to begin a pathway towards employment and active citizenship.

9.4

Alternatives Considered and Rejected

9.4.1

Do Nothing – This is not an option as the Council has agreed a delivery plan with SYMCA which includes sub-contracting a proportion of the AEB towards its overall targets and needs to proceed with delivery to ensure the contract for 2024/25 is met.

9.4.2

Self-Deliver – This is not an option; the service does not have the capacity to deliver the necessary skills activities where demand is high and does not have the staffing expertise to deliver diversity to meet the skills priorities for the region.