The Trade Union Congress, with the Union Learning Fund, has played probably the largest part of all the agencies in bringing basic skills to new learners. The Employers National Training Organisation (EMPNTO) has developed new standards for personnel managers in development of their staff’s basic skills. The Learning and Skills Council has set up the Basic Skills Quality Initiative, looking at how work-based learning providers can benefit from this initiative. The government-funded Employer Training Pilots, which test financial incentives to employers linked to paid time off for individuals without basic skills or basic qualifications, have just been given a £130 million boost to extend them to new regions of England.

The UfI — which has now taken on as its name just the initials of its original title the “University for Industry” because, contrary to its founders’ vision, it will never be a University and doesn’t just work for industry — is providing a new means of delivery of learning and new learning sites through its IT-based delivery arm learndirect.

The UK Government Adult Basic Skills Strategy Unit’s commitment to raising the qualifications levels — and the career structure — of the basic skills teaching workforce is commendable. And The Workplace Basic Skills Network has been funded by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) for the last three and a half years to support practitioners to improve their delivery, through continuing professional development and the dissemination and sharing of good practice.

Still a Serious Gap in Development Funding

But from where I have been sitting: within the Workplace Basic Skills Network, a network representing the interests of workplace basic skills providers — there still seems to be a serious gap, between all this commitment, rhetoric and agency activity, and the actual payment of development funding in order to allow experienced and qualified practitioners to work with companies to get programs set up. Questions on funding form the most “frequently asked questions” to our staff and at our events. We know that there’s commitment from the Learning and Skills Council to get it right — but we hope it doesn’t take too long.

See the Workplace Basic Skills Network Website (http://www.lancaster.ac.uk/wbsnet) for a summary of the findings of the independent evaluation of the Building Basic Skills in the Workplace (BBSIW) Initiative. This Initiative was probably one of the Network’s most successful achievements. In the summer of 2000, we persuaded the DfES to fund 32 workplace basic skills projects through this Initiative, which we managed. We received more than 140 applications for this funding. We worked with the LSDA and NIACE as well as the UK Government Department for Education and Skills (then the Department for Education and Employment) in judging the bids and deciding which projects should be funded.

The evaluation summary shows that the approach allowed both the piloting of new approaches by organisations which already had experience in delivery, and the involvement in this field by new organisations which had not already delivered programs. We know from our contacts in the field that in many cases this funding was the beginning of long-term, successful partnerships between delivery organisations, employers, unions and other agencies.