New Deal in FE Colleges: The experiences of providers and clients
Ava Lefton, Blackpool and the Fylde College
David Hall, Faculty of Education, University of Manchester
Paper presented at Fourth International Conference 'Vocational Education and Training Research', University of Wolverhampton, 16-18 July 2001
Abstract
This paper focuses on Further Education (FE) and the challenge it is facing responding to the Governments Welfare to Work programme, New Deal. An ‘Initiative Doomed to Succeed’ as it was referred to, yet one which as a key manifesto pledge when the Labour government was elected to power in 1997 had to be seen to ‘deliver’.
The paper explores past government interventions and how they have impacted on the FE sector and those studying and training within the sector. It then traces the introduction of Welfare to Work and the new focus on employability. The outline of the New Deal initiative is explained and inherent tensions between the ‘jobs first’ approach and the ethos of lifelong long learning are discussed.
The place of New Deal in the FE sector is examined by focusing upon the experiences of individuals on the programme and the FE College Co-ordinators responsible for managing its implementation and development. A case study approach is used to highlight a range of issues relating to the operationalisation of this scheme and the paper concludes by raising emerging issues based on research with co-ordinators with corresponding recommendations for change.
Introduction to Welfare to Work and Employability
There has been a widespread acknowledgement within the UK reflected in, for example, government White Papers (DES 1991) that decades of failure to invest in post-compulsory education and training have created a legacy of a low skilled workforce which is one of the least educated and trained in the industrial world (Gleeson 1996, Avis et al, 1996).
Pronouncements from New Labour suggested a determination to tackle this crisis. The following reflects the nature and tone of statements made at the time by leading New Labour politicians:
‘The decline of old industries and the shift to an economy based on knowledge and skills has given rise to a new (youth/early adult) class: a workless class. Today the greatest challenge for any democratic government is to refashion our institutions to bring this workless class back into society and useful work’ (Blair 1997).
In line with this such statements, the Welfare to Work, New Deal initiative was rolled out in April 1998.
Welfare to Work was one of Labours five key manifesto commitments and it lies at the heart of the Governments wider strategy for tacking social exclusion (Peck 1998). As such it can be seen as the flagship programme of the Government’s strategy for welfare reform (FEDA 1998).
The context when Labour were elected to power in May, 1997 was of £100 billion being spent on social security and welfare benefits with an estimated 5 million people of working age not in employment. Unemployment was at its highest within the 18-24 age cohort and 50% of this group did not have qualifications equivalent to NVQ Level 2 or above. New Deal was viewed as being central to tackling this problem.
In terms of the implementation of New Deal, Ministers and policy makers were clear in insisting that the programme would not be about monolithic national schemes, but instead would allow room for local flexibility and innovation. A further key dimension to the overall strategy was the major political effort made to engage employers and the business community. The government’s strategy for New Deal was focused away from Keynesian notions of full employment and towards the improvement of labour markets so that individuals acquire skills which enhance their employability.
Outline of The New Deal Programme
The importance of geography to welfare to work programmes was viewed as important so that local flexibility was seen as not so much a political choice as a practical necessity (Peck 1998). New Deal partnerships were charged with joining the ranks of key players in a range of local economic development, urban regeneration and social inclusion initiatives to ensure its training of clients had a direct match with the jobs available in the local labour market.
At national level a New Deal Task Force was established, with representation from major employers, trade unions and the public and voluntary sector.
The key aims of the strategy are to:
· Develop partnerships across local districts for the planning and delivery of training and work opportunities
· Extend the opportunities for providing training to the private sector through joint ventures and private/public consortia
· Develop a regional focus for negotiating 18-24 and adult training strategies
· Identify the Employment Service district offices as the managers of contracts
· Embed the New Deal within the wider context of social policy reform
The New Deal is delivered through 144 Units of Delivery. As New Deal was to be delivered by partnerships bringing together a range of different organisations, Employment Service District Managers were encouraged to consult widely and form local Strategic Partnerships. These partnerships had to plan and implement the delivery of the New Deal at a local level making best use of their knowledge, understanding and expertise in local labour market matters.
New Deal commences with a Gateway period where clients are assigned a New Deal Personal Adviser who discusses with them what help and support they need to find work. Many job ready clients move into work from the Gateway, while those who need more intensive support and further training move from the Gateway into one of the Options. There are five Options –
· A Subsidised Job - which links a job ready client with an employer on a 6 month subsidy
· Self employment - support to become self-employed
· The Voluntary (Vol) Option - which offers the clients work experience and training in the voluntary sector
· The Environmental Task Force (ETF) Option – which offers the clients work experience and training on local projects
· Full Time Education and Training (FTET) – a 1 year training course at College
New Deal in practice
Smith (1998) states of New Deal ‘the employability of unemployed people should be improved and lifelong learning promoted.’ This suggests that New Deal might act as a vehicle by which lifelong learning, skills, qualifications and sustained employment can be combined. Equally though the aims of New Deal can be viewed as confusing with tensions emerging between education for lifelong learning and the development of skills for employability in a work focused programme which has as its central aim getting people into jobs. Works (1999) found that for those without qualifications, there was concern that the level of training on offer through FTET would not in itself be sufficient to secure employment. This raises questions about whether the initiative is too employment focused with an emphasis upon short term job targets. The concern is that such an emphasis will divert from longer term training or educational programmes leading to more sustained employment.
Some of these questions are now being addressed by an emerging literature base about the New Deal programme. Marsh (2000) found that more modularity, flexibility in progression and access and more time to complete programmes of study were needed. Hasluck (2000) found that New Deal success will depend on - improving the effectiveness of provision, addressing the gap between the (lack of) job-readiness of some young people and the expectations of employers, maintaining the focus on moving people into sustained jobs and working to secure retention in employment.
The AoC in its evaluation of New Deal in Colleges (2000) found:
‘It is the experience of colleges that the need to secure placement in employment can in some instances override the need to equip individual clients with the skills and knowledge which will secure longer-term employability. While the ultimate objective of a job should remain, there should be greater flexibility in the length, content and range of programme to reflect these factors’.
The place of New Deal in the FE sector was examined through the eyes of New Deal Co-ordinators in three Colleges and supported by findings from Marsh (2000) on behalf of twenty London College’s. Some of the more important findings include the following:
· National issues regarding implementing New Deal should be considered by the sector as a whole.
· Senior management support and leadership is paramount to the success of New Deal in colleges.
· Motivation is a problem for clients and more personal 1-1 ‘buddy’ support systems are needed to retain them.
· There was a tension between the longer term focus on employability and the short term focus on job outcomes.
· Gaining a job with decent pay was uncertain. Is the initiative is too focused on short term job targets instead of aiming for clients sustained employment via longer training or educational programmes.
Introduction to the Case Studies
New Deal clients find themselves in the ‘habitus’ (Bordieu, 1997) of their upbringing and socialisation. As shown in the case studies, this habitus is usually one of not working or of working in low skill jobs to earn money to live. Work is not comprehended as a place of satisfaction and enjoyment, but one of drudgery and repetition. As clients move from one unsatisfactory job to another, or from one training scheme to another, they mix with people who are satisfied at work. Clients aspire to satisfaction and enjoyment at work but to make the change need to alter their ‘habitus’. They also need to keep motivated and resist the usual distractions that make them ‘give up’ the course. In employment terms, this means that it will be hard to socialise young people out of the habitus they have grown up in (especially if this is unemployment) and into a work ethic.
Clients arrive at College to start New Deal in a habitus of unemployment with common associative behaviours including not being used to getting up early each day, arriving for College at a set time and working in a routine all week. New Deal has the potential to change this habitus slowly, by taking them through a ‘turning point’ (Hodkinson, 1996) and socialising them into the demands of College life. As they progress their employability skills are developed alongside their vocational training. Another turning point can occur as they move from College life into work and this is carefully managed so that the client can change habitus again and socialise into employment. Much help is needed at this turning point from a buddy support system.
The six case studies presented show how difficult it is for young people to stay on a path to sustainable employment. As ‘turning points’ occur, young people become vulnerable and need the support of a skilled personal advisor who can help and support them through the experience and ‘buddy’ them back on track.
The Clients Response to New Deal
The experiences of individuals on the New Deal programme was used to highlight a range of issues relating to the operationalisation of the scheme. The findings are as follows -
· Most of the clients in the Case Studies felt that New Deal would help them, through college training and job search, to get a good job.
· The clients had a mixed array of prior formal qualifications.
· Their employment history was varied, usually unsustainable and lacking in career development.
· There were varying but mostly positive responses to whether New Deal was offering clients a second chance.
· For those who had undertaken Youth Training, it had failed to perform its role in offering sustainable employment, career development and training opportunities.
· NDPA support was seen as fairly positive
· Roll-on, roll-off was not seen as a problem and all clients experienced no delay in starting the course (this was in direct contrast to the views of college co-ordinators who continually struggled to maintain this service).
· Most clients found the 30 hours per week hard going and wanted more flexibility to be considered so that they had time to devote to personal matters.
· Most clients thought their college course was good, ranging from ‘brilliant’ to ‘its alright’ in response to satisfaction surveys.
· The level of ordinary benefit was not deemed to be enough to last for two weeks.
· The level of the course clients were pursuing was an issue for most of them and they were contemplating returning to College to undertake further training.
· Work experience seemed to be offered to clients at a level which suited the course and their needs
· Most of the clients did not feel marked out as a New Deal client even though there was the extra burden of signing in, timesheets and the 30 hour requirement.
· More NDPA visits could be made on College premises which would give dual college/adviser support and bring about immediate action.
· If clients are capable of a L2 programme, then they should be allowed to access that programme however long it takes and not be restricted to 1 year at College.
· Clients were concerned that the level of course they were undertaking would not necessarily lead them into sustainable employment and they felt the need to be able to progress to more advanced courses with some support either from New Deal or another similar initiative.
· Clients had a mainly positive image of New Deal although tensions between a quick fix jobs focused programme and lifelong learning were raised.