WIREDGOV

A consultation was today launched by Schools Minister Iain Wright on the National Commissioning Framework (NCF) 2011/12.

The NCF will set out how the new system for planning, commissioning, procuring and funding education and training for those aged 16 to 19, for young people aged up to 25 with a learning difficulty assessment, and for young offenders in youth custody.

A draft version of the NCF, which has been developed by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) and the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) with REACT and other key stakeholders, was today published for consultation.

The consultation comes as the Apprenticeships, Schools, Children and Learners Bill receives Royal Assent. The new Act will see responsibility for education funding for those aged 16 to 19 switch to local authorities. A new non-departmental public body, the Young People’s Learning Agency (YPLA), will from April 2010 support local authorities in discharging their planning and commissioning functions as well as to ensure funding and budgetary control within the system.

The deadline for comments and feedback is 5 February 2010. The draft will then be reviewed and revised, with a final version due to be published by the YPLA in April 2010 as part of their statutory guidance.

Iain Wright, Minister for 14-19 Reform, said:

The NCF will mean the process will meet the needs of young people and employers and will ensure consistency and transparency in levels of funding paid to providers, and allow local authorities and their delivery partners to have a clear understanding of the commissioning process.

We want to make sure that as many stakeholders as possible have their say so that we get the guidance right for local authorities and providers.

Les Walton OBE, chairman of the YPLA Committee, said:

The collaborative way in which this draft consultation document has been developed is a testament to our commitment that the transfer of responsibilities to local authorities should be as smooth as possible. We look forward to receiving proposals and advice on how the current document and the systems it describes can be improved, in order that we can fulfil our shared intention that all young people in England have access to education and training of the highest quality.

John Freeman CBE, Director, React Programme, said:

The Local Government Association welcomes the publication of the NCF, which will provide the basis for 16-19 commissioning for the 2011/12 academic year. The NCF will support local authorities as they plan and make preparations for taking on their new responsibilities from April 2010.

Local authorities are already working with their partners to ensure that the learning provision in every area meets the needs of learners and is responsive to local economic demand, and the NCF will provide a national framework for these developments. Local authorities are enthusiastic about the new arrangements, which will enable joined-up commissioning for all services for children and young people, and in particular for those with additional needs up to the age of 25.

The arrangements for planning, commissioning and procuring funding will relate to the academic year from August 2011, meaning that the full commissioning process will be operational from the latter part of 2010.

The consultation draft of the NCF can be viewed online at the DCSF's publications website.

An ‘Outline and Principles’ summary of the national commissioning process has been published on the DCSF 14-19 website and be viewed online. This set out the overall principles that underpin the process and the roles of local authorities, providers and others.

Further information

The transfer of responsibility for 16-19 provision to local authorities is an essential element of the Government’s long term strategy to make the UK the best place in the world for children and young people to grow up. It will put in place the infrastructure to enable every young person to access the most individually appropriate, engaging and high quality provision, and will give local authorities the tools they need to deliver the best outcomes for young people. This will:

• place all 0-19 commissioning under the leadership of local authorities enabling local decision-making.
• more fully integrate the commissioning of services and provision for young people, putting in place learning routes and integrated services to facilitate access to the 14-19 entitlement and support learners.
• make delivering services and provision for the most vulnerable young people an absolute priority and at the heart of the commissioning process.
• deliver full participation for all young people who are 17 by 2013 and who are 18 by 2015, with appropriate attention to travel to learn patterns and flexibility in learning provision for those in employment or volunteering full time.
• provide greater focus on the role of local authorities and Children's Trusts as champions of improved opportunities for young people resident in their area.

The YPLA will be an enabler. It will deliver nationally consistent frameworks; operate the current national funding formula; and provide data and analysis.  It will provide the support and information that ensures commissioning decisions are informed by young people’s needs but with a much clearer link to the economic regeneration of an area.

The YPLA will support those local authorities who wish to see their young people take up opportunities in other local areas or regions. For example, the infrastructure needed to support the particular needs of the most vulnerable learners is not available in every area. Where appropriate, the YPLA will ensure that local authorities have better access to such specialist provision by operating as a conduit to those providers.

The ‘React’ (Raising Expectations Action) Programme was launched in November 2008. It is a Local Government Association (LGA) programme funded by DCSF. It provides a package of support, information and guidance for local authorities as they develop their plans to take on the commissioning of 16-19 education and training in April 2010.  It has been developed with the Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS) and the LGA.