Important changes to Regional ESF frameworks for 2011-2013
A change in context
A lot of new ESF provision will be commissioned this year for delivery from 2011 onwards. The environment is distinctly different from during the first phase of the programme. The impact of economic downturn has transformed the labour market and increased the demand for effective employment services. Regions have been affected in different ways, and have both different challenges and also opportunities, reflected in the analysis all provide in their renewed ESF plans. The new government has announced its plans for the transformation of employment and employability services through creation of the Work Programme, as well as targeting welfare for significant reform, focusing in particular on removing barriers to employability and disincentives to work. With Europe 2020 now agreed by the European Council, new European level strategic priorities focus on smart, sustainable and inclusive growth out of recession.
Changes in delivery
At the same time the institutional framework is also changing. A major new CFO, the National Offender Management Service, is now working alongside other ESF providers, whilst the Skills Funding Agency has taken responsibility for the LSC's ESF work, forming along the way a new relationship with the Young People's Learning Agency (YPLA) and with local authorities. In many regions, the way in which ESF will be delivered and managed is changing, in particular with more emphasis on closer coordination between CFOs. For ESF providers, the most important immediate changes will be in the types, levels and distribution of provision which will be commissioned, from greater resources for higher-level skills to a particular focus on 'green' jobs.
We have summarised the key changes announced so far for each of the ten English ESF regions (including Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly), giving more detail in the individual regional pages, as well as a growing bank of resources and pointers to good practice. ESF-Works will be regularly updating these pages over the coming weeks, particularly as CFO commissioning details and timetables are announced and the implications of the Work Programme for ESF provision become clearer.
