November 2002

RESPONSE TO LETTER TO PRIME MINISTER

In the previous edition of ACM News we advised that a delegation of Principals had taken a petition to the Prime Minister at 10 Downing Street. The letter had been signed by around sixty ACM Principal members and called upon the Prime Minister to act promptly to increase funding to colleges in order to improve pay levels of staff working in the sector. Printed below is the response received from Trevor Tucknett,

Dear Mr Pendle

Thank you for your letter of 17th September to the Prime Minister regarding the current pay for staff in general Further Education (FE) colleges. I have been asked to reply.

I can assure you that the Government does recognise the pivotal role of FE in helping achieve its vision of a learning society. It has shown its continuing commitment to the sector by making a significant investment in it. FE colleges will receive over £4.3 billion this year, an increase of £1.2 billion in five years. Alongside this the Government has announced a 1% real terms increase in the unit cost of core funding each year for 2003-06. In addition, the Learning and Skills Council will introduce a three year funding arrangement with those colleges which demonstrate their effectiveness.

You will be aware that the Government has recently announced an extra £32 million for colleges in 2002-03. This money will provide additional funding for the Teaching Pay Initiative (TPI) and will allow colleges to make a start in extending the initiative to include non-teaching staff for the first time. The £32 million represents 1% of the FE pay bill and brings the overall funding for TPI in 2002-03 to £142 million. The Government have made it clear that colleges have the flexibility to determine the balance of the additional funding between the different occupational groups to meet local priorities. Colleges have now been notified of their increased allocations for TPI from the Learning and Skills Council.

The additional £32 million provided this year, together with the 1% real terms increase in the unit cost of core funding already announced, provides a positive framework for national negotiations on FE pay and conditions. What is important now is for serious and immediate discussions to take place about how best to use this money in the interests of colleges and for speedy action to get the money into peoples’ pay packets as soon as possible.

On top of this, the Government is supporting colleges in their efforts to address recruitment and retention difficulties through the recently introduced ‘Golden Hellos’ and Repayment of Teachers’ Loans schemes. Both these initiatives offer significant financial rewards to new FE teachers and lecturers taking up their first teaching post in designated shortage subject areas.

The Government is currently considering the detail of further funding allocations to FE from the spending review outcomes and we expect the Secretary of State for Education and Skills to announce these in November.

I hope this is helpful

Yours

Trevor Tucknett
FE Pay and Funding Team

Extra funding for college pay in Wales

education is no bar to homelessness

As our children have been growing up how often have we said that in order to get on in the world they need a good education?

You do not expect people who leave university or college with a good degree to end up homeless. Yet of the 10,000 homeless people housed last year by members of the housing charity National Rent Deposit Forum (NRDF) it is estimated that 1,000 would have a degree and over 25% of them would have GCSEs.

Today the majority of people become homeless due to relationship breakdown. But well educated or not, once you are homeless it is almost impossible to maintain a career.

Currently with the lack of local authority housing the only option for many facing this situation is to find a home in the private sector. However, there are many barriers to renting in the private rented sector, ranging from the need to pay a month’s rent in advance and a deposit (which can often be as much as £600.00) to landlords prejudice towards homeless people.

Members of the NRDF work to help homeless people to overcome these barriers by providing a range of services to landlords and those in housing need. They do this by providing the financial resources required and ongoing support to enable people to rebuild their lives. Many of the landlords our members work with only have maybe one or two properties and therefore often have little knowledge of tenancy law or the benefit system. Our members provide a range of services to landlords, which include training and information packs. An example of how a scheme can change a person’s life can be demonstrated by Jack’s story:

In 1999, Jack who previously had a background in the restaurant trade became homeless in Northampton. With the help of one our members he was found a one bedroom flat. This gave him the foundation to begin re-building his life. Over the past two and a half years Jack has undertaken a range of training opportunities and voluntary work. Five months ago Jack applied for, and got, a job as a Tenancy Support Worker with Council on Addiction. This is the organisation that first helped Jack to secure a home back in 1999.

If you would like to find out more about the NRDF and its members visit our web site at www.nrdf.org.uk or if you would like to become a supporter of the NRDF please see the enclosed information leaflet.