Embedding Skills for Life in London Local Authorities Project

Introduction

In April 2003 the London Development Agency (LDA) initiated a broad reaching project to assist London local authorities to systematically upgrade literacy, language and numeracy skills amongst the local authority workforce.

Low levels of literacy and numeracy skills are particularly prevalent within, though not exclusive to, low-income, low and semi-skilled occupations.

In a local government context these include people working in vital roles in catering, caring, domestic assistance, teaching assistance, school crossing patrol work, street cleaning and waste management.

Such jobs and their associated responsibilities have changed significantly in recent years with the introduction of new working practices, communication systems, quality procedures, technologies and an increasing emphasis on customer service.

Many of these changes have meant that to be able to carry out their work effectively employees now need much higher levels of written and spoken communication skills and maths skills than before.

Practical examples of this include:

• refuse collectors developing better skills for completing paperwork and dealing with the public
• cleaners developing maths skills to improve the dilution of chemicals according to instructions
• carers improving writing of incident reports and communication in shift handovers
• school catering staff improving writing of menus, following recipes, and managing food stocks
• street wardens improving report writing and presentation skills.

Phase 2

Phase 2 began on 1 April 2006, and runs until 31st March 2008.

Building on lessons learned in Phase 1, it is supporting a further 11 London local authorities to develop the language, literacy and numeracy (LLN) skills of their workforce and work towards an integrated approach, where LLN skills are recognised as important competencies needed for all jobs.

As in Phase 1 this involves supporting LLN development through local government systems and functions such as recruitment, induction, appraisal and vocational training.

The package of support available for authorities involved in Phase 2 includes:

• a small grant to ensure coordination of LLN activities across the whole organisation
• a series of support seminars presenting effective practice in embedded LLN provision
• opportunities for sharing experiences with other project teams across London
• capacity building for LLN providers in embedded curriculum development
• mentoring and advice for project partners.

Progress

Some of the key achievements so far in Phase 2 include:

• A London Local Government LLN Advisory Group has been established to steer the work of the project along with the London activities of the IDeA Local Government GO Award and the SfL Improvement Programme.
• Projects have formed steering groups which include Human Resources and Learning and Development managers, departmental managers, union learning representatives and providers.
• Participating authorities have developed, in partnership with unions and providers,  LLN strategies and action plans, which have been endorsed by the authority’s Chief Executive.
• Project members have carried out awareness-raising to ensure that managers at the most senior level actively support this initiative.
• Some authorities have already submitted their strategies and action plans for the IDeA GO Award. The remainder are on course to submit by the end of the project.
• A series of support events have been delivered, with up to 17 London authorities participating and between 35 and 55 participants regularly attending. Event themes have included Strategic Planning and Partnership Working; Promoting LLN in the Workplace; Embedding LLN within Recruitment, Induction, and Appraisals; and Funding Workplace LLN. Further events on Building Capacity in Embedded LLN Curriculum Development, LLN Job Profiling and Evaluating the Impact of Workplace LLN programmes are scheduled to take place during 2007-8.
• The LLU+ course on ‘Integrating Literacy Language and Numeracy Development in the Workplace’ is currently being delivered for providers and local authority managers.
• A web-mediated project discussion group has been set up.
• Local authority project managers have set up a self-running networking group which aims to share experiences and findings.

The need for funding

Phase 2 has confirmed that authorities are often prepared to resource the embedding of LLN development once the 'business case' has been made.

However, it is also clear that a minimum of ringfenced funding for coordination of LLN strategies and action plans has been vital to getting these projects successfully off the ground.

A number of resources developed for Phase 2 can be found at www.skillsforwork.co.uk

For more detailed information on the project please contact the Project Managers, Alison Noel (alison@skillsforwork.co.uk) and Dominic Rapley (dominic@skillsforwork.co.uk)