Provision of Post-16 Education and Training

Worcestershire Statement of Priorities 2012/13

Under the Apprenticeship, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009, local authorities assumed responsibility for commissioning suitable education and training for all 16-19 year olds from the academic year 2011/12. Whilst there have been changes made to simplify the funding arrangements for 16-19 education so that the Young People's Learning Agency (YPLA) now has the primary role to fund education and learner support, Local Authorities retain their crucial statutory strategic duty to secure sufficient and suitable education and training provision to meet the reasonable needs of all young people in their area, by influencing and shaping provision through local partnerships and by identifying gaps, enabling new provision and developing the market.

Worcestershire County Council has a vision of a prosperous Worcestershire and in particular, making Worcestershire Open for Business and playing a vital role in supporting Children and Families.  The Worcestershire Children and Young People's Plan (CYPP) sets out the overarching needs assessment for the local area and agreed local priorities, framing the context within which services for young people are commissioned. The CYPP is supported by the Widening Participation Action Plan, and the Worcestershire Statement of Priorities: Provision of 16-19 Education and Training.

Following consultation with Worcestershire schools, colleges, training providers and other stakeholders, the Statement of Priorities 2012/13 for Worcestershire is now in final form. It sets out the strategic overview of provision and needs of the area which will enable both the content of the Action Plan, and the local authority's statutory responsibility around post-16 education and training to be delivered. For 2012/13 the detailed analysis of data and current local provision has not identified any areas of provision that, as at the end of 2010, was of inadequate quality or of insufficient range or volume.  Our ongoing work will monitor any changes to this situation.

Future post-16 strategic planning:

In line with the local authority's statutory duties, work will begin on the Commissioning Statement for Worcestershire for 2013/14 in the next few months. In the light of the requirements of Raising of the Participation Age coming into force from 2013, wider consideration of the volume and breadth of post-16 provision available, and required, to meet future need will be undertaken. The 2013/14 draft Commissioning Statement of Priorities will be ready for Consultation with Stakeholders in early Autumn 2012.

We continue to welcome your views, comments and opinions on the Statement of Priorities, for taking forward into 2013/14, and would be happy to receive them by email to Catherine Turnock, Participation, Partnerships and Skills Officer, at cturnock@worcestershire.gov.uk.

This page was last reviewed 30 April 2013 at 15:28.
The page is next due for review 27 October 2014.