Rationale for the changes Proposals for change were consulted on through ‘Raising expectations: Enabling the system to deliver’ White Paper published in March We had over 450 written responses, including ALP - a summary of these was published in July 2008 Why are we doing this? Putting 0-19 commissioning in the hands of a single body, reflecting the principles of local decision making at the right level Supporting the delivery of the RPA and the and Apprenticeships entitlement Enabling LAs to take a more integrated approach to commissioning of all Children’s Services 0-19 (0-25 for LLDD Creating at a regional level the links with regional economic planning How are we doing this? Through new legislation to: –set out a duty that each LA responsible for securing an appropriate place in learning for all young people resident in their area; –Establish the NAS and new Apprenticeship system –Create the YPLA (And SFA) with their powers and duties LAs working collaboratively to establish sub-regional groupings (SRGs) and regional planning groups Building LA capacity through and with the LSC to do the commissioning Creating a new planning, commissioning and funding framework for 2010 onwards that will support a move towards an integrated funding system What is the timescale? The new system will be operating from September 2010 so there is one more year to make this transition The tracking year started in September 2008 and the transition year will start in September 2009

LAs will play a key role in the system From 2010 LAs will have the following statutory duty, subject to legislation: To secure sufficient education and training provision for all year old learners resident in their area –Provision will be secured through LAs working together in local collaborative arrangements (sub-regional groupings) to plan and make collective commissioning decisions across whole ‘travel-to-learn’ areas –Each LA will be asked to develop a commissioning plan which will identify: What provision it will purchase from the providers for which is has responsibility, including provision it has agreed it will purchase on behalf of other LAs in its SRG What specialist provision, if any, it might need other LAs in its region or the YPLA to purchase on its behalf An assessment of the number and type of Apprenticeships places needed, having discussed the deliverability of there places with the NAS –These plans will be built from Partnerships’ Strategic Plans, which will assess learner demand. Plans will need to be coherent at regional and sub-regional level, before being endorsed by the YPLA.

The system will cohere at a sub-regional and regional level Each provider will have a single contact point, to aggregate demand and lead the commissioning and contracting process on other authorities’ behalf. For many forms of provider, the home LA will lead this relationship. For LLDD places, the LA will identify the places needed and the Sub-Regional Group will commission provision. YPLA procure national provision For FE Colleges, a sub-regional grouping will lead, through a single LA For specialist and national providers, the YPLA will act as the lead A regional planning group – co-chaired by the Regional Development Agency – will cohere plans at a regional level before passing them to the YPLA for sign-off For LLDD a lead LA established. Commissioning of specialist provision agreed. Single contracts established

End-to-end commissioning cycle

Preparing for the transition »While the LSC remains accountable until September 2010, leading up to the change there will be tracking and transition years: »Tracking Year (Sept ): LAs shadow/track LSC local partnership teams »Transition Year (Sept ): LAs increasing lead and LSC track/shadow them »Phase 1 of the sub-regional grouping (SRG) process is almost complete - LAs submitted their proposed SRGs, based on travel-to- learn data at the end of September. Early indications are that approximately 43 sub-regional groups will be formed. »We are also putting a range of support programmes in place over the next two years. These include: »ADCS/LGA Joint Support Programme »The Commissioning Support Programme

Information, advice and guidance The Gateway process has made securing high quality and impartial IAG on learning options a shared priority for LAs, schools and other learning providers (through the forum of partnerships). To support efforts in this area DCSF made an offer to all Consortia (whether or not they have passed through the Gateway) of free consultancy support to audit their IAG provision against the quality standards and to draft and implement an improvement plan. The Education and Skills Act 2008 formally transferred to LAs responsibility for delivering Connexions services and require that in doing so they have regard to the Quality Standards, which set out clearly the Department's expectations for the IAG that is made available to young people. The problem of impartiality is being tackled by placing a duty on schools through the same Act to deliver careers education impartially. Schools will also be required to have regard to Principles of careers education and to good practice guidance linked to these Principles. They will set out our expectations of schools’ IAG provision on learning and careers. It is important that every young person hears about all options and how the opportunity to consider whether they are the right option for them. We require schools, when giving any careers advice, to consider whether it would be in the best interests of the pupil or pupils concerned to receive advice relating to apprenticeships.

Funding and performance management Funding: The national funding formula will operate at institution level. Local authorities will commission learner numbers and type of provision from each institution, which will drive the allocation through the national funding formula. In this way, funding will follow the learner and thus maximise the funding for participation and attainment. Work in progress on allocations process for specialist provision We are still working through the detail of the capital funding arrangements post MoG changes. We are working closely with DIUS and the LSC to make sure that facilities respond to the needs of young people. Performance management: We are committed to developing a single performance management framework for all post-16 providers building on the Framework for Excellence (FfE) – with standard indicators on quality, responsiveness and finance. To develop the FfE further, we will pilot it in school sixth forms from September 2009.

commissioning transfer: progress Transferring responsibility for planning and funding provision from the LSC to Local Authorities from 2010 as proposed in Raising Expectations White Paper (March 2008) Following positive response to consultation, we have been working closely with AoC and other partners (LGA, ADCS) on the following developments: Detailed design work progressed with stakeholders – including agreeing core functions and purpose and interactions with SFA and NAS Joint DCSF / DIUS MOG bulletin published monthly Comms strategy in place covering all stakeholders New LA duties and powers, YPLA set up and sixth form college designation currently being drafted for Apprenticeships, Children, Skills and Learning Bill Initial SRG proposals received end September identifying 43 groupings Joint LGA/ADCS support programme being developed Detailed end-to-end commissioning process has been developed (next slide) in consultation with partners Working with LSC to best retain staff expertise Tracking and transition years in place for 2008/09 and 2010/11 Committed to developing single performance management framework for all providers – FfE now to be piloted in SSFs from September 2009 Legislation LA capacity and capability Commissioning cycle YPLA design Transition planning Performance management Communications

commissioning transfer: next steps Proposed next steps include the following: continued dialogue with AoC on the drafting of clauses; Bill introduction early 2009 National panel agreed 43 SRG areas Further detailed guidance in April 2009 Design work continues with further testing and refinement required Further guidance on tracking and transition years to be published Progressing FfE pilots and working on detailed performance management arrangements for all providers Formal stakeholder reference group established Comms programme – including to LA lead members and councillors Policy sessions at national conferences, including AoC Legislation LA capacity and capability Commissioning cycle YPLA design Transition planning Performance management Communications More detailed policy work especially on LLDD; capital Welcome views on issues/concerns