Early steps of devolution mean changes to incentives for adult education providers

The first signs of changes in Lancashire after the Lancashire Combined County Authority was established

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When the devolution deal was signed for Lancashire, it came after years of debates, failure to compromise and, now, a sense that greater powers will be given to Lancashire whether elected politicians want them or not.

But today we report on one of the first big changes to come out of the Lancashire Combined County Authority, and how it might help to tackle a skill-gap in the county.

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Early steps of devolution mean changes to incentives for adult education providers

County Hall. Credit: The Lancashire Lead

By Paul Faulkner

Providers of adult education courses in Lancashire will be financially incentivised to help learners take advantage of their new skills to find a job.

That is one of the ways in which the county will use new powers coming its way later this year when it gains local control over its share of the Adult Skills Fund (ASF).

Lancashire’s devolution deal will see responsibility for administration of the £40.8m cash pot pass from central government to the Lancashire Combined County Authority (LCCA) in August.

The organisation has now agreed the changes it will make as part of that shift in an attempt to better benefit the 36,000 people supported by the ASF in the county each year, many of whom are unemployed and below ‘Level 3’ on the qualification scale – meaning they do not have A-Levels or an advanced apprenticeship.

The amendments include setting aside an initial £100k from the budget to fund £200 payments to providers for each person they refer to the ‘Connect to Work’ or ‘Skills Bootcamps’ programmes, the latter of which includes a guaranteed job interview upon completion.

Dr. Michele Lawty-Jones, director of the Lancashire Skills and Employment Hub – which is part of the LCCA – said it was important to see “progression” for learners and to “improve employment outcomes” via the ASF.

She was speaking at a recent LCCA meeting during which it was decided how the county would deploy the “flexibilities” surrounding adult skills support offered by devolution.

Grant-funded adult education providers in Lancashire will receive the same amounts in 2026/27 as they have done in the final year of the current Department for Education-controlled arrangement, in order to ensure stability.

However, the LCCA gathering heard that grant investment plans would be used to “nudge and shift” the provision on offer in line with the priorities set out in Lancashire’s strategic skills plan, which was approved by the combined authority last year.

That document identified the county’s “priority occupations” as being within the digital, manufacturing and engineering, health and social care, construction, hospitality, leisure and tourism, transport and distribution, farming and agriculture, and international trade sectors.

Under the new locally-led system, three percent of each provider’s grant will be ringfenced to test so-called “innovative delivery” of adult skills courses to see what works best.

The LCCA meeting was told that such an approach could be harnessed to try to engage more of the county’s 19-24-year-olds, only “a small percentage” of whom currently access ASF support.

The skills plan noted the need for the ASF to help not just those who are out of work, but also the employed who might require a skills boost in order to further their careers. The new local arrangements will also ensure ASF assistance is offered to anyone who has been placed under “formal redundancy consultation”, regardless of how much they earn in their under-threat job role.

Meanwhile, the Lancashire Skills and Employment Hub plans to reduce what it describes as the “long tail” of more than 200 adult education providers serving Lancashire, many of which are based beyond the county’s borders and make only a small contribution to overall capacity.

However, residents living on the county’s fringes will still be able to request Lancashire ASF support to attend courses in neighbouring local government areas.

Following the transfer of adult skills powers from Whitehall, Lancashire will also pay providers only for activity that they actually deliver – a reversal of the current situation whereby the Department for Education allows them to keep 100 percent of their funding for 97 percent delivery.

The LCCA resolved that the vast majority of the soon-to-be-devolved ASF budget – £31.6m – should go in grant allocations to providers, while £5.7m will be used for targeted procurement exercises that will ”address gaps” in “priority sectors and groups”.

Just over £1m will be put aside to cover the cost of managing the new localised set-up, which the LCCA was told was “essential” to ensure the area’s newly-devolved responsibilities were discharged properly.