By Vivienne Russell | 13 April 2012
The government is seeking bids for pilot community learning trusts in England, which will aim to give local people and businesses more say over adult education courses in their area.
Further education and other organisations currently funded to provide the courses are being invited to link up with community organisations and businesses to run the pilots.Up to 15 of the bids will be selected and will start work in August. They will be expected to generate income alongside the public subsidy they receive.
Ministers say community learning trusts will help the growth of local economies by improving the skills, confidence and independence needed to progress to training or employment.
Launching the prospectus on April 11, skills minister John Hayes said: ‘It’s time for local people to have a more powerful voice in local learning. Our community learning trust pilots will give people that voice and the chance to discuss, design – and in some cases deliver – the kind of learning they want.
‘These pilots will liberate community learning from top-down bureaucratic controls and give it a new direction, based on what people tell us. I hope that in time all communities will have more power over their local learning.’
Community learning is defined by the government as ‘a broad range of learning that brings together adults, often of different ages and backgrounds, to pursue an interest, address a need, acquire a new skill, become healthier or learn how to support their children’. The Department for Business, Innovation & Skills currently supports this education through its £210m-a-year Community Learning budget.
