2. Civil Society
Civil society refers to “a wide
array of organizations:
community groups, non-
governmental organisations
[NGOs], labour unions,
indigenous groups, charitable
organizations, faith-based
organisations, professional
associations, and foundations.”
World Economic Forum Definition
4. Inflation and the Cost of Living
Impacts the sector in all directions:
• Inflationary costs on the organisation
itself
• The cost of living on the organisation’s
staff
• The costs on the businesses that we
rely on to employ people and provide
good jobs
• The costs on the people we are trying
to help engage with employment or
progress in their careers
• Uncertainty of funding available for
government funded employment
support programmes
5. Impact on Employment Support Sector
Organisations
• Government formula funding is of a
fixed value governed by the
qualification funding rates over the
life of the contracts.
• Where more funding goes to
overheads and operating costs
such as mortgage or rent
payments, energy costs, increased
travel costs, increased staff
salaries, less goes to front line
delivery.
• Key programmes are not working
properly
• Apprenticeships no longer serve entry
to employment for young people as a
primary focus.
• An Apprentices National Minimum
Wage is not a realistic salary.
• 20% off the job learning is 20% salary
for nonproductive work
• Employer contribution is a luxury
6. Impact on Employment Support Sector Organisations…
• There is huge uncertainty over
future contracts
• European Social Funds and transition
to UK based funding alternatives are
transitioning
• The education system has huge
bureaucratic burden.
• Apprenticeships have stringent rules
that are not flexible enough to support
a modern workforce
• Adult Education Budget is devolving
to local government – instead of one
AEB contract we operate 10 contracts
and so have become 10x less
efficient.
7. Cost of Living on Staff
• Lower than inflation pay rises
for at least 2 years,
• Higher energy bills,
• Cost of food increases,
• Fuel increases
• Mortgage prices increase
driving up monthly
repayments and rent
increases.
8. Cost of Living on Beneficiaries
• Tightening jobs markets as employers
adapt to costs
• Reduction in career development
opportunities and in work learning as
employers need to sweat their assets and
priorities essential spending.
• Lower than inflation pay rises for at least 2
years,
• Higher energy bills,
• Cost of food increases,
• Fuel increases
• Mortgages prices increase driving up
monthly repayments and rent increases.
9. Inflationary Pressure on Businesses
• Higher energy bills
• Higher transport costs
• Increasing cost of borrowing
impacting loans, equipment rental
costs, mortgages
• Increasing staff payroll costs
• Less profitability
• Less working capital for
expenditure that is not essential.
10. Inflationary Pressure on Businesses…
• Impacts
• Lost talent as the most skilled staff
leave where personal pressure
becomes
• Increased recruitment costs
(recruitment, onboarding, training and
the running in period for a new start
even if qualified they have to learn the
company way of doing things)
• Unfulfilled jobs as skills shortages in
sector requiring qualified people,
leading to poorer outcomes.
• Less budget or time for staff
development training
11. Uncertainty of Future Contracting
• Providers cannot rely on
government funding certainty
• National Adult Education Budget
(AEB) is up for retender early
2023.
• Devolution of Adult Education
Budget continues to throw up
challenges e.g. shutting down local
offices, laying off local staff, time
spent managing multiple contracts,
operating small scale inefficient
contracts.
• Uncertainty over the transition of
European Social Fund
programmes to equivalent UK
based funding streams – What will
this look like?, What will it fund?,
Will it provide continuity?
• Changes to Advance Learning
Loans and restricted access to the
system for providers who have not
received a full Ofsted inspection.
• Learner and employer driven
reduction in demand for
Apprenticeship provisions
12. Employment Support
• Employment support is about providing a
service that is tailored to the needs of the
individual participant in a blend of
vocational training, employability skills,
personal development and overcoming
personal circumstances to unemployment
or career progression.
• A squeeze on the budget will have severe
consequences. To be viable a College
generally needed 8 students in a
classroom to be a minimum viable
programme. Providers will only be able to
survive and remain profitable by pursuing
economies of scale and eliminating choice
for participants.
13. Employment Support…
• For providers funding is
formula funded at a fixed rate
for the life of the contract.
• 1:1 job coaching time will be
reduced as the fees cover
less hours.
• A tightening jobs market will
see less opportunity for
unskilled, inexperienced,
people with barriers to
employment.
14. Apprenticeships, Traineeships and T-
Levels
• Apprenticeships no longer serve
entry to employment for young
people as a primary focus.
• An Apprentices National Minimum
Wage is not a realistic salary.
• 20% off the job learning is 20%
salary for nonproductive work
• Employer contribution to learning
costs is a luxury and not a priority
in the current climate.
15. Apprenticeships, Traineeships and T-Levels…
• For business an apprentice is a long-term
investment in the future. In a crisis
productivity and surviving until tomorrow
becomes the new priority.
• For learners less opportunity to pursue an
apprenticeship which adversely affects
those from lower socio-economic groups
that rely on apprenticeship pathways.
• For providers an increasing in
apprenticeship terminations, fewer new
apprenticeship opportunities and
subsequently a poor Ofsted grade based
on lower retention and completion rates
and less income to provide economies of
scale.
16. Adult Education Budget
• ‘Better off in work’ – has been the
historically mantra for employment
programmes to engage with hard to help
unemployed and stubborn worklessness.
The focus is work always provides a
better quality of life than welfare!
• ‘In-work benefits’ – In more recent years
in-work benefits has become a thing! In
order to promote the ‘better off in work’
mantra employability advisors have
increasingly had to sell ‘in work’ benefits
such as working tax credits as a
motivation for work to reach this better
quality of life.
17. Adult Education Budget…
• ‘Food Banks’ – Even before the
latest energy crisis and its
subsequent inflation and the cost
of living. People in professional
occupations receiving ‘in work’
benefits had started to use
foodbanks.