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The Head of Service – 14-19 Strategy presented the report on behalf of the Director of Children, Families and Education Services which set out the service’s developments, summary of delivery and learner achievements in the 2023/24 academic year.

Grant funding received from the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority was £1,173,362.

Wirral Council’s Lifelong Learning Service actively engaged and supported local residents (aged 19+) who were furthest from the labour market.  The education provision provided learners with the confidence to take the next steps back into education and employment.  As a grant funded Council service, the service had the capacity to support the most disadvantaged, working on difficult issues and using innovative approaches for example, to support community cohesion, Family Hubs, the resettlement programme, family learning in schools, and improving mental health and wellbeing through learning.

The 2023/24 academic year had been very challenging for the service with further growth in qualification course delivery, new test and learn projects plus continuation of the MULTIPLY maths intervention support programme.

The Lifelong Learning Service was inspected by Ofsted, June 2024, and maintained as “Good”.  The service was also MATRIX re-accredited, July 2020, recognising its integrated high-quality delivery of careers education and support for its learners,

As a service, Lifelong Learning supports three of the key strategic Council themes, as outlined in the Wirral Plan 2023 – 2027. These themes included:

1.  Early help for children and families through the delivery of high-quality education for adults and families;

2.  Promoting independence and healthier lives through a curriculum focus on wellbeing and positive mental health;

3.  Safe, resilient and engaged communities through targeted engagement of adults and families in the Borough’s most deprived communities / ward areas; and

4.  Protecting our environment though courses and provisions that include engagement with community allotments and themes including environmental sustainability.

Members discussed a previous award ceremony for people that had successfully gone through the courses related to the report and asked if a similar ceremony would be held in 2025.

The Head of Service – 14-19 Strategy responded that it would. He noted that the service had received an additional £10,000 had been received from the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority and that this had allowed the scheduling of some additional celebration events.

Members highlighted that some courses showed low achievement by Ofsted and asked whether improvements had been made.

The Head of Service – 14-19 Strategy responded that improvements were being made through continued professional development and digital skills tutoring.

Members discussed the threshold for free courses and the fact that those courses were available to anyone to attend whether they were free or not. They asked how those course might be communicated to parents that earned more than the maximum threshold for free courses but might still want to attend a course.

The Head of Service – 14-19 said that the service had a community development manager, and a community development support officer had recently been appointed. He noted that their role was partly marketing these courses, but also to develop relationships with support services in the third sector and other council departments as well as through the Family Hubs. He stated that they were focusing on additional social media posts as well as the more traditional press releases.

Resolved – That

1.  The report be noted; and

2.  The services’ planned improvements and contributions to improving the lives of adults and families in Wirral’s more deprived communities during 2023/24 be recognised and noted.