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Introduction
There is support available from the DfES to promote union-led learning and skills partnerships through the Union Learning Fund and in respect of initiatives such as individual learning accounts and basic skills. The TUC’s new Learning Services agenda is supporting innovations such as union learning representatives; all such initiatives are aimed at increasing learning opportunities for union members, especially those who have missed out on such opportunities in the past.
The Union Learning Fund (ULF) was announced in the Green Paper, The Learning Age. The intention of the Fund is to promote activity by trade unions which is innovative and supports the Government’s objective of a learning society.
For the financial year 1998/99 £2m was allocated and the then Secretary of State for Education and Employment then allocated £2 million for each of the subsequent 3 years, in recognition of the early successes of the first projects. All these projects contributed to the DfES’s objectives of building union capacity and increasing employee involvement in learning.
Details of the grant and its linkage to adult basic skills
The activity of the Union Learning projects is as follows:
· setting up and extending employee development schemes and other workplace learning initiatives;
· making skills and qualifications accessible to typical workers;
· building employer /union learning partnerships;
· developing new qualifications with National Training Organisations;
· raising awareness of learning opportunities within the workforce; and
· establishing and training networks of union learning representatives.
The TUC is involved in basic skills policy through representation on the Board of the Basic Skills Agency. In conjunction with the Basic Skills Agency, the DfES (through the Union Learning Fund), the TUC and unions have developed partnership arrangements. These involve equipping union representatives to assist members with basic skills by negotiating learning programmes with employers and providers. They also include developing union-friendly materials in the basic skills that will associate unions with good quality learning in the minds of members and potential members and testing out models of workplace learning that will widen participation.
Eligibility criteria for applicants
Any trade union based in England, or any national organisation representing Trades Unions based in England, whether or not it is affiliated to the Trades Union Congress is eligible to apply. ULF particularly welcome bids from trade unions in partnership with others - most often this is likely to be employers and/or training providers, but it could equally well include organisations such as Learning and Skills Councils, Chambers of Commerce, National Training Organisations, Local Authorities, or community based organisations. Please include with your application a letter of intent from the partners as evidence of their commitment to the project.
Eligibility criteria for projects
The following criteria will be used to assess each bid:
· is the bid innovative and/or does it consolidate and embed systems and provision successfully demonstrated by earlier projects?
· does it focus on equal opportunity, social exclusion, non traditional learners, learning outcomes, etc?
· does it build union capacity to support learning?
· does it demonstrate that it is sustainable in the longer-term, without on-going Union Learning Fund support?
· does it demonstrate partnership commitment?
· does it demonstrate organisational development?
· does it relate to projects that will operate in England (the Secretary of State’s responsibilities only extend to England) and,
· can it be successfully completed by 31 March 2002?
Bidding process and timetable
Bids should be made using the ULF proforma. They should give a full description of the whole project to which ULF will contribute and should cover:
· the project title;
· aims and objectives;
· project outcomes;
· methodology;
· timetable (this should show a preferred start and end date for the project. The earliest possible start date will be April 2001 which is when funding is available);
· costs, including contributions of partners;
· financial breakdown, month by month, of what you will spend and what it will be spent on;
· monitoring and evaluation arrangements;
· use of partner organisations; and links with other initiatives e.g. learndirect, Individual Learning Accounts, Investors in People, workforce development plans.
Contact details for further information
Lynne Robinson
ULF Manager
W8c
Moorfoot
Sheffield
S1 4PQ
Tel 0114 259 1175
Email Lynne.Robinson@dfes.gsi.gov.uk,
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