Community learning bears fruit
Just over one year ago, more than 100 residents in Knowsley, near Liverpool, turned four derelict spaces into community gardens. Meanwhile, in Manchester, a social housing association ran drama courses to help 20 tenants with drug, alcohol and mental health problems change their lifestyles.
These are the type of projects being examined in the government's review of informal adult and community learning. The aim, says John Hayes, the minister for further education, skills and lifelong learning in charge of the review, is "to see how to get best value for money out of £210m government investment".
Hayes won the ringfenced cash in the last comprehensive spending review, and now the Treasury wants evidence of progression to justify its protection of the Adult Safeguarded Learning fund.
Such courses do not lead to a qualification and have been vulnerable under the "skills" agendas of successive governments. But, as the organisers of the Manchester drama courses argue, the work introduces a new culture of learning to hard-to-reach groups by providing "a fun learning activity that makes the participant want more".
Councillor Graham Wright, Knowsley's cabinet member for children and family services, says participants in the community garden project gained a better understanding of environmental issues.
"They learned how to grow things they can eat, exhibit or sell while transforming local eyesores into utilised spaces."
A year after funding dried up, the project is continuing with help from volunteers and community groups.
The government has set aside £2.25m for small schemes similar to the Knowsley and Manchester projects to provide evidence of the benefits of these programmes. Grants for projects are being channelled though the Skills Funding Agency and managed by the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (Niace).
Peter Lavender, deputy chief executive at Niace, says not only would the fund reach new people but it would help identify where the money is best spent. "One of the things we have learned from the past is that small grants have much more impact. People can make a lot more out of very little money, compared to huge sums of money going into a few hands. We are really keen on testing things like the social return on investment."
This fund, which gives grants of between £10,000 and £75,000, is a successor to the £20m Transformation Fund. So called because it showed how learning could transform lives, it was set up in 2009 by the previous government under its Learning Revolution programme. The new scheme is not attempting to copy the earlier one but aims to promote innovation and give some idea of how new policy will develop.
"It is about pushing the boundaries of exploration, giving new grants to organisations who are trying new types of learning, or for established types of learning with different groups," says Jane Ward, a senior programme director at Niace.
A series of roundtable policy discussions have also taken place on the themes such as access to learning, progression, workforce development and the "big society". These will help shape a policy paper that will go to ministers in October as the Treasury considers whether to continue with the fund.
Ministers need evidence that the cash is reaching disadvantaged people rather than those who can afford to pay. "They also want more demonstration and evidence of the impact of informal adult learning, so they can prove to the Treasury that funding provides value for money," says Ward.
Evidence from a number of sources, including the Workers Educational Association, Niace and the Association of Colleges, suggests this approach to learning has a profound impact in many ways. It improves health, cutting NHS bills, and helps older people feel less socially isolated. There are also benefits for social care, criminal justice and housing.