Annual report 2011/12

unionlearn Annual Report 2011/12

1Contents

Introduction 3

What is unionlearn? 4

Key achievements over the year 4

Events 4

Governance: the unionlearn board 4

Funding 5

Equality and diversity 5

Union Learning Fund 6

Union learning representatives 7

TUC Education 7

Non-unionised workplaces 8

Policy and research 8

Apprenticeships 9

Skills for Life 9

Skills and social partnership 9

Informal adult and community learning 9

Higher learning 10

Supporting sectors 10

Green skills 10

Supporting learners 10

Regions 10

Contacts 13

Publications list 2011/12 13

unionlearn Annual Report 2011/12

3

This report covers the 12 months from April 2011 to March 2012, which has been a busy and largely successful year.

Despite the tough climate for unions, union learning continues to expand. That is an immense tribute to the hard work of thousands of union reps and officers who encourage union members and friends and family; persuade employers and managers; and work with colleges and other providers. Thanks to them, more than 220,000 people became engaged in learning, giving them the chance to change their lives through their union.

Support among unions, employers and the government continues to be strong and promises to grow further to ensure the success of union learning continues. Budgeting remains an issue where unionlearn has to be innovative as, like all government departments and publicly funded bodies, finance is tight in the current economic situation.

We have continued to develop and maintain strong links with partner organisations across the learning field to ensure that we can deliver the maximum amount to learners and to help provide ideas and solutions to challenges faced in the learning field.

Over the year we expanded our work on green skills and on better use of skills. We took union learning further into non-union workplaces and the community. We expanded our use of e-learning and social media such as Twitter. We instigated a visit to Berlin with the Skills Minister John Hayes to look at lessons for the UK from the successful German skills system, which is built on social partnership with unions. We worked with government to improve apprenticeships and develop a new skills strategy. All of that helps make the case for a more sustainable economic future. Not cuts and austerity but a future that works.

This report sets out the facts and figures. I hope you find it useful and interesting. For more information or to give your comments and feedback simply look on our newly redesigned website: www.unionlearn.org.uk

Introduction

unionlearn Annual Report 2011/12

5❚❚ maximise the potential of unionlearn to support union organisation and growth

❚❚ monitor progress of unionlearn against its goals, ULR and learner targets and key objectives

❚❚ help promote and build on the success of TUC Education in union representative training and union professional development

❚❚ consider and approve a three-year strategic plan ❚❚ approve budgets, receive quarterly and

annual financial reports, and audit reports via its Finance and Audit Committee

❚❚ ensure that unionlearn fully reflects the General Council’s commitment to equality and diversity.

The members of the board in 2011/12 are:

Mary Bousted (Chair), ATL Bob Abberley, UNISON Sheila Bearcroft, GMB Christine Blower, NUT Gail Cartmail, Unite Brian Cookson, NASUWT Sue Ferns, Prospect Tony Kearns, CWU Chris Keates , NASUWT Paul Kenny (ex officio3), GMB Michael Leahy, Community Fern McCaffrey, GMB Paul McCarthy, GMB Leslie Manasseh, Prospect Mark Serwotka, PCS Alison Shepherd, UNISON Pat Stuart, Unite Fiona Wilson, Usdaw

Staff members:Frances O’Grady, Deputy General Secretary Tom Wilson, Director

Observers:Caroline Blondell, Dept for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) Keith Smith, Skills Funding Agency (SFA)

FundingThis report covers the first year of the three-year funding settlement with BIS. The original agreement was for £21.5m in each of the three years from 2011/12 to 2013/14. However, at the end of this year, in March 2012, financial pressures meant that BIS funding for 2012/13 was cut by six per cent, like other skills’ organisations. The cut was absorbed entirely by unionlearn itself through not filling vacant posts and other savings, leaving the amount of money available to unions through the ULF unchanged.

3 By virtue of the office of being TUC President

On the other hand, some additional funding was won: ❚❚ £500,000 from the National Apprenticeship Service (NAS)❚❚ £160,000 from the Gatsby Foundation for work

on better recognition of technician-level skills❚❚ £140,000 from the EU for a study of union learning in Europe❚❚ further SFA funding from a number of partner

organisations (mainly FE colleges) with which we work to promote skills, particularly in Cornwall.

We are an approved organisation on the SFA register, and will continue to apply for appropriate resources where possible and work with SFA-funded partners. It should be noted that this SFA funding, like any additional funding, covers activities that are not covered by BIS funding.

There had been a separate stream of funding for our network of those learning centres that worked with the University for Industry (UfI)/Learndirect, known as U-Net. However, UfI withdrew funding for the network of U-Net learning centres. Following a tender exercise, unionlearn awarded the contract to support all learning centres (moving beyond the smaller U-Net model) to Tribal. This will allow support for a far wider number of learning centres. There are more than 400 on the unionlearn database, as opposed to some 25 within U-Net. The new contract will also provide a much better level of support than was available from UfI.

All funding is managed by the Business, Finance and ULF Team within unionlearn. All spending is closely monitored by BIS and by unionlearn’s independent auditors. Financial performance for the calendar year is reported for unionlearn in the TUC accounts. The TUC’s accounts are reported to Congress every September as part of the General Council’s report and are available at www.tuc.org.uk/congress

Equality and diversityHelping to secure equality and diversity in the workplace by ensuring equal access to learning and training is a fundamental purpose of union learning and has always been at the heart of the unionlearn mission. We recognise that there are additional barriers to learning for certain groups of people, such as those from disadvantaged backgrounds, people with caring responsibilities and those with cultural or social backgrounds where learning is seen as inappropriate for whole sections of their communities.

During 2011/12 unionlearn has incorporated a number of equality and diversity specific activities into its work programme, including:❚❚ A network of equality champions. Every team

in unionlearn now has an equality champion, with responsibility for keeping equality and diversity on the agenda of their team. The champions have regular virtual network meetings, when they can share both good practice and concerns. During 2012/13 several of the equality champions will be managing small projects within their teams aimed at advancing

What is unionlearn?

Summary

Unionlearn is the learning and skills arm of the TUC. It employs 130 staff at TUC headquarters in London and in six regional offices in England. (Similar union learning organisations exist in Scotland and Wales.) Unionlearn trains union reps and staff through TUC Education and supports union members in a very wide range of courses and informal ‘taster’ sessions at all levels from basic skills up to university. Unionlearn distributes the government-provided £15m Union Learning Fund (ULF) to unions and helps unions build up their learning activity. We train and support union learning reps (ULRs) and all union reps who help union members to learn. We help unions to persuade employers to invest more in skills – and to invest it better. We work with government to improve the skills system. We champion the cause of learning for the least skilled, who need it most: but just as important are professionals who need continuing professional development (CPD) and higher education (HE).

Mission

Our mission is simple: to transform workers’ life chances through lifelong learning.

Values

We believe that:❚❚ the life chances of all people can be transformed through

access to learning, throughout their working lives❚❚ such learning opportunities must be available

to the entire workforce, regardless of their employment status or educational background

❚❚ everyone should have fair and equal treatment to develop their potential, free from all discrimination

❚❚ working people’s learning and skills can best be delivered collectively with trade unions and in partnership with other organisations.

Vision

Our vision for unionlearn is:❚❚ We help to promote union members’

progression through lifelong learning.❚❚ We help learners develop their trade union role,

strengthening workplace organisation.❚❚ All our work is of a high standard and continuously

improves in both its quality and its diversity.❚❚ We aim to become the centre of excellence for facilitating

high-quality union-led innovation and research and disseminating best practice in such learning.

Our success will be determined by the long-term sustainability of this activity; by unions putting learning and skills at the heart of their organisation.

Key achievements over the yearTOTAL NUMBER OF LEARNERS 223,334

Learners supported by regions1 17,434

Learners on TUC Education courses 48,300

Learners supported by the ULF 157,600

New ULRs 2,015

Informal adult and community learners 35,318

CPD learners 32,117

Learners enrolled on further education (FE) 20,477

Apprentices2 6,616

New or improved learning agreements 85

(See ULF on page 7 for further statistics)

Events

Unionlearn organised and ran more than 150 events in 2011/12, including a major national conference on apprenticeships; a conference on community engagement, and our annual conference. We also organised events as part of national and world book day, world skills, adult learners’ week, and national learning at work day, with events all over the country. Other national and regional events focused on apprenticeships, green skills, redundancies, stress, well-being, equalities, cancer support, maths, alcohol awareness, getting online, making skills work, functional skills, supporting learners, social media, the health sector, the built environment sector, negotiating learning agreements, representing carers at work, community learning champions and the unionlearn Quality Awards. In addition to these events, every region also ran a series of ULR forums, briefings, workshops and other events to help reps network with each other and keep up to date.

Governance: the unionlearn boardUnionlearn is governed by a board of 18 members elected from the General Council of the TUC. The remit of the board is to:

❚❚ assist in maintaining unionlearn as a high-profile organisation that is the union voice on learning at work

1 This is the number of learners who were supported just through the region; many others will have been supported both by the region and through their union’s ULF work; those figures are included within the ULF data 2 These are additional apprentices employers have taken on as a result of discussion with their unions and apprentices supported by unions

unionlearn Annual Report 2011/12

7Equality and diversity (all projects must address this theme):❚❚ developing and enhancing existing equality and diversity

policies and practices to fully support all learners❚❚ utilising learner data to prioritise and target

hard-to-reach cohorts of learners❚❚ addressing equality and diversity knowledge and skills of

project teams, ULRs, employers, partners and learners❚❚ engaging workers disadvantaged in the labour market.

For round 15 a total of 38 contracts were issued, 36 to unions and two to union-supported organisations such as community learning centres. In total the 38 ULF contracts will support an anticipated 191,000 learners, 4,000 ULRs, 42,000 Skills for Life learners, 44,000 learners on ICT courses and 10,000 apprentices.

Key ULF statistics

ULRs completing follow-on training 4,094

New learning centres opened 71

Learning centres significantly improved 169

Signed agreement with providers 110

New learning agreements 85

Total learners via union route 158,822

CPD and professional development 32,225

Skills for Life learners 20,622

Learners on FE programmes 20,579

Level 2 learners 17,266

Online basics learners 15,245

Learners on HE programmes 4,221

Level 3 learners 3,880

Union learning representativesAs ever, ULRs are at the heart of union learning. Everything detailed here, from learning centres to advances in supporting higher learning, is possibly only because of the hard work of thousands of ULRs and other reps who support learning. Through TUC Education, we had trained 27,195 ULRs as of December 2011. Although we reached our 2011/12 targets, the numbers continue an overall downward trend, though have recently risen, reflecting difficulties in the economy that have led to changes in priorities for both unions and employers. Release for training is difficult to obtain, despite the underpinning rights, and courses fail to recruit despite considerable efforts. The unionlearn board is determined to take the learning agenda

to the heart of union and employer workplace activity. Within unions, learning is an ever-growing area of activity, funded by both unions’ own income and by the ULF.

Union reps and officers hold the key role in the workplace in terms of the relationship with the employer. They are bargaining in a much more difficult economic climate. Union members know that gaining skills is the key to a more secure and better job. It is no surprise that learning and skills is rapidly rising up the bargaining agenda.

TUC Education is therefore developing an approach to mainstreaming union learning into the TUC Stage One Union Reps’ Course, with a particular focus on embedding the key elements of the ULR role so as to make the most of union strengths at a time when union resources are at a premium. This should enable the development of an additional 1,500 ULRs each year from 2013. The ULR five-day programme will continue to be available in order to maximise the potential of that course for those who can access it and both programmes will be available as online and classroom-based qualifications. The great majority of ULRs combine this with other union roles – and a great many non-ULR reps do, in practice, support learning. So it makes sense to redesign our training and support to cater for this greater flexibility and inclusion within mainstream union activity and bargaining.

TUC EducationTUC Education has an unrivalled reach into Britain’s workplaces to provide education and training for around 48,000 union reps each year in partnership with around 60 FE providers. It is in the interests of government, the economy, employers, workers and their unions that representatives are properly trained in order to carry out their role successfully, and this has been widely recognised by successive governments.

In 2011 participation in the programme for union reps fell by 16 per cent (9,216 reps) against the previous year. Overall, 47,947 union reps across the UK received training from TUC Education, with an additional 815 union professionals participating in courses. These figures still represent a significant achievement in numbers and in scope, with more courses and more flexible ways of accessing learning to suit the needs of union reps and employers. However, the steady increase in numbers experienced since 1997 is now reversing as the economic situation bites, combined with a continuing squeeze on release for training. In that context, it remains an impressive result and is the consequence of secure and efficient partnerships across unions and FE and reflects union reps’ thirst for learning, as well as the role’s growing complexity and sophistication.

Training opportunities for union professionals also expanded significantly in 2011 with more than one in three officers from 35 unions receiving training through TUC Education. Learner numbers, at 815, have dipped from their peak of 1,424 in 2008, but still represent a considerable coverage of a small but crucial segment of the trade union target group.

a particular aspect of equality and diversity.❚❚ A half-day conference. Access to Learning: An Equality

Issue was held on 1 February 2012, and attended by about eighty equality officers, equality reps, ULRs and other interested officers. This highly successful conference highlighted and explored some specific equality and learning issues around access to learning opportunities.

❚❚ An equality booklet, Breaking Through the Barriers: Equal access to learning for all was published in July 2012. It is an inspiring collection of articles and case studies published in a handy pocket-sized format, and is available from unionlearn publications.

❚❚ Enhancement of data collection processes. Collection of demographic data about learners is a requirement of ULF-funded projects, but can sometimes be regarded by ULRs as an imposition that gets in the way of the main task. Unionlearn’s management information officer has worked with ULF project managers to ensure that the process is streamlined and the importance of providing accurate data is fully understood.

Union Learning FundThe ULF has been pivotal to the rise and development of trade union activity on learning since its launch in 1998. Initial workplace projects have grown into large-scale national union projects whose core aims and values are to develop organisational strategies with learning and skills at the heart.

Workers, employers and partners in learning have seen the true value of the investment of the fund. When ordinary people are helped to progress and develop, employers see their businesses improve and staff motivation increase. There are also the associated benefits to local communities and the wider economy.

The ULF remains a government flagship programme and is central to both unions’ and unionlearn’s priorities today. It has involved more than 53 unions in over 700 workplaces and has helped people to access more than 900,000 learning opportunities through the outstanding support of ULRs.

Unionlearn took over full management and administration of the fund in 2007 and since then it has introduced a number of improvements to ensure the robustness of the fund and support unions in the delivery of the core aims and objectives of the fund.

Key themes and priorities for the ULF round 15 projects in 2012–2014:

Engaging disadvantaged learners by: ❚❚ developing and strengthening training and support

for ULRs to enable them to reach out and support disadvantaged learners, particularly those with maths, English and language needs, in both the workplace and the local community

❚❚ helping to tackle the digital divide and its impact on the most disadvantaged groups in workplaces and local communities

❚❚ raising the profile and take-up of informal adult and community learning (IACL) in the workplace and community, using it to motivate, build confidence and promote progress into further learning

❚❚ developing strategies and approaches to support workers faced with redundancy or those likely to need retraining as they approach the end of their careers.

Tackling skills gaps and shortages through measures such as:❚❚ working with employers through development of

cooperatives to increase the number of high-quality apprenticeships available; in particular focusing on those employers not yet involved in training apprentices and promoting apprenticeships to disadvantaged groups which have the potential to benefit

❚❚ enabling unions to give improved help and support to apprentices in the workplace

❚❚ working with employers and sector skills councils (SSCs) to tackle specific sectoral skills issues and improve overall business performance

❚❚ developing the ULR role in supporting learners and helping individuals in the workplace to access good careers advice and guidance and lifelong learning accounts and strengthening links with the adult careers service

❚❚ developing strategies and approaches to raise awareness and take-up of English and maths provision

❚❚ developing partnership approaches to support the needs of young workers.

Developing high-performing workplaces by:❚❚ engaging with employers to promote co-investment

in skills, adoption of professional and occupational standards, more effective skills utilisation, improved leadership and management, and greater employee involvement and commitment in the workplace

❚❚ promoting and developing the commitments to be agreed by sectors through the new ‘Workplace Pledge’ and the role that ULRs can play in making this a reality in the sector

❚❚ targeting areas if economic growth and future skills❚❚ developing the skills and role of the ULR to provide high-

quality specific support and advice within the workplace.

Reaching out to non-unionised workplaces by: ❚❚ extending support to union members working in

non-unionised workplaces to develop a ‘learning champion’ role in consultation with their employers to take forward these themes and priorities

❚❚ promoting the idea of learning champions to others in contact with unionlearn, for example through learning centres

❚❚ working in consultation and agreement with employers to bring the benefits of the union learning approach to non-unionised workplaces

❚❚ raising the profile and take-up of informal learning in non-unionised workplaces and using it to motivate, build confidence and promote progress into further learning for the workforce.

unionlearn Annual Report 2011/12

9Research

Unionlearn continues to be a key centre for promoting independent research on union-supported learning and a number of new research reports were published during the past year. In autumn 2011 a report commissioned by the University of Leeds looking at the context, content and impact of union learning agreements was published. In spring 2012 unionlearn drew together the findings from all its published research reports to date (15 at that time), focusing on the role of unions in learning and skills policy and practice.

Also in spring 2012, unionlearn published an analysis of union engagement in supporting more effective utilisation of skills in the workplace. This report, Making Skills Work, is structured around three case studies highlighting best practice on how unions can negotiate with employers in a way that optimises the use of existing and newly acquired skills as well as maintaining their role in supporting the workforce to acquire and update skills. This research report was part of a wider skills utilisation project undertaken by unionlearn to help build the capacity of unions in this particular area (for example, a guide for reps – Making the Most of Skills – was also produced and promoted through a series of joint regional workshops with ACAS).

ApprenticeshipsUnionlearn‘s Apprenticeships are Union Business project continues to raise awareness of apprenticeship issues among trade unions, in terms of both encouraging employers to recruit apprentices and offering training and resources to union reps in order to give them the tools they need to support existing apprentices in their workplaces. The project has been funded by the National Apprenticeship Service for three years and funding has been guaranteed until March 2013.

Following on from previous policy work on inequalities in apprenticeships, unionlearn has been asked to commission a research project jointly with the National Apprenticeship Service that will deliver a detailed analysis of gender equality and race equality in apprenticeships in England, particularly focusing on access routes into apprenticeships. It is anticipated that the research will present a clear picture of the current situation, explore challenges and barriers to gender equality and highlight good practice around ensuring apprenticeships are accessible to all. Unions continue to be a key partner to a government striving to improve the quality of apprenticeships.

Skills for LifeUnionlearn has continued to develop its support for learners and representatives dealing with Skills for Life issues. A major piece of work was the updating and reissue of the Skills for Life Six Pack, a set of guides for ULRs covering all the major issues around maths, English and ESOL, and with a special guide to dyslexia in the workplace – an area where we are now looking

to provide more detailed guidance to help unions that have identified this as an issue in their workplaces.

Unionlearn has maintained a particular focus on maths programmes in the past year and will continue to do so. Confidence in maths is a key issue for many adult learners; and is an underlying issue for many learning initiatives in the workplace. Unionlearn has increased support and resources in this area, including training for ULRs, the development of ‘maths messengers’ and publications for both teachers and learners, and is planning some major maths initiatives for the coming year.

The government’s review of Skills for Life and the move to functional skills will require focused support for unions, and learning centres and ULRs to adjust their approach and help learners understand the changes to entry level maths and English.

Skills and social partnershipIn early 2012 unionlearn instigated a tripartite visit to Germany. The visit took place in April and involved the Skills Minister, John Hayes MP, and senior officials from BIS, the TUC, unionlearn and individual unions, as well as the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES).

The focus of the trip was on manufacturing and apprenticeships, but the discussions ranged across all sectors and types of vocational learning. The visit involved meetings with the DGB (the German TUC) officials, union representatives in the workplace, representatives of the German government, employer organisations, skills research institutes, and FE/HE bodies. A follow-up dinner with the Minister to reflect on the German trip has led to a commitment for unionlearn to work in partnership with BIS and UKCES officials on developing the policy lessons from the visit. It is anticipated that this joint initiative will focus on developing an approach to skills policy that supports a more active industrial policy and which also promotes the development of social partnership arrangements, drawing on best practice in other countries.

Informal adult and community learning

IACL is an umbrella term describing a broad range of learning that brings together adults to pursue an interest, address a need, acquire a new skill, become healthier or learn how to support their children.

Unionlearn supports access to learning through union learning centres for a wider community, including families, local people and the unemployed. This includes our involvement in new initiatives with partners, including the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE).

TUC Education remains well placed to open up further opportunities for union education during 2012/13.

TUC Education Online

The demand for online courses remains healthy, with 1,031 reps obtaining full qualifications online in 2011, and the range of courses continues to increase. New courses include the Equalities Diploma Online and a disability champion’s course, as well as an updated pensions course.

There has been a significant effort to improve the quality of online course materials in response to the increased interactivity possible through improvements in technology. This has enabled the development of new approaches to online course creation.

In the current climate, where release for training is tightly restricted and it is increasingly difficult to fund short programmes of learning through FE providers, TUC Education is developing and piloting short, topic-based e-learning modules – ‘eNotes’ – for union reps and professionals. These short modules are designed to keep union reps and professionals up to date with the fast-moving world of work. They offer reps more flexible ways to access learning that suits their particular needs as well of those of their employers. First offers include: Sick Notes; Paternity Leave; Bargaining for Skills; Equalities; Vulnerable Workers; and European Works Councils. The modules were launched in autumn 2011 and during the trialling and testing more than 1,000 reps have enrolled.

Non-unionised workplacesA key development over the year is the expansion of union learning into non-union workplaces. This involves taking the benefits of union learning into workplaces where unions are either not present or where there is not yet formal recognition. The aim is that employers will, in due course, establish a relationship with unions. Many employers who do not have a relationship with unions and may not know much about unions do, nonetheless, know that they need to engage their employees in learning. They are impressed by what they see of union learning. Unionlearn is helping to introduce unions and employers to each other through the learning agenda. Already dozens of employers are seeing the benefits. They can see that it is important their employees have an independent, trusted, knowledgeable intermediary. It is equally important that that intermediary is supported by the knowledge and training which a union and unionlearn can bring.

Unionlearn is also working to support a new network of workplace learning advocates (WLAs), who can provide learning advice and guidance in the workplace in the same way that community learning champions do in the wider community. Many unions have seized this opportunity and, with unionlearn support, developed relationships with such employers, demonstrating the value of the union learning

approach to winning employee support for training and skills. Over time, many of these relationships will (some already have) result in recruiting new members and developing a more formal recognition relationship with employers. Unionlearn has formed key partnerships with organisations such as Workbase, Niace and the Liz Johnston Partnership to help engage and work with employers with little experience of unions and to recruit and train WLAs.

Policy and researchPolicy

The government’s skills strategy – Skills for Sustainable Growth – continues to frame the continuing dialogue between unionlearn and the government on key aspects of skills policy, in particular the development or improvement of learning initiatives that can be supported by unions at the workplace level. This dialogue is facilitated by regular contact with officials from BIS and the Skills Funding Agency, including their attendance at meetings of the unionlearn board.

Over the past 12 months, unionlearn has continued to call for improvements to quality and equality with regard to all forms of workplace learning, but with a specific focus on the apprenticeship route. Other policy priorities highlighted by unionlearn have included: skills and social partnership; building employer investment in skills; combining a strategic approach on skills with an active industrial strategy (for example, the skills needed for a green economy); and promoting more effective skills utilisation in the workplace. Youth unemployment has, of course, continued to dominate the policy landscape and unionlearn has commissioned new research to assess what obstacles and barriers are preventing young people from improving their skills and accessing the labour market.

Unionlearn has also contributed to the policy debate by giving evidence to inquiries. For example, the director of unionlearn gave evidence to the BIS Committee inquiry into apprenticeships and also the Lingfield Review of Professionalism in Further Education. Unionlearn staff have also been involved in a number of major stakeholder groups inputting to policy development, including those linked to apprenticeships, the new FE fee/loan system, and the Employer Ownership of Skills pilot.

Unionlearn provides policy support to union officials involved in a range of learning and skills bodies, including the role played by the TUC General Secretary on the UK Commission for Employment and Skills. Unionlearn staff are also engaged in representing the TUC on a number of international bodies, including the Advisory Committee for Vocational Training of the European Commission.

Regular policy briefings specifically aimed at a union audience are made available on the unionlearn website, with recent issues including briefings on apprenticeship pay, green skills and the Employer Ownership of Skills pilot.

unionlearn Annual Report 2011/12

11The NCS was launched on 5 April 2012 and is a free service available to everyone in England aged 19 and over (or 18 and over if seeking work) whatever their prior skills, qualifications or employment status. It replaces the Next Step service for adults and the Connexions service for young people. The key features of the new service is a high-quality online and helpline service that provides a single point of access for users and a network of public, private and voluntary organisations providing face-to-face careers guidance to adults. At the same time as the NCS launch, BIS published the document The Right Advice at the Right Time, which sets out the government’s vision for a better quality of information, advice and guidance on learning and work. In May 2012, the National Careers Council was established to advise on the operation and development of the NCS in the context of broader government policy, including policy on careers guidance.

Unionlearn has developed the Climbing Frame, an innovative online tool that provides up-to-date information for ULRs allowing them to record their sessions with learners and help them plan their learning journey. As a result of a joint project with health unions, Skills for Health and unionlearn new information and case studies have been produced for ULRs working in the health sector.

RegionsMost of unionlearn’s activity is delivered at regional level, where the majority of staff work to support union projects and manage trade union education programmes. These are a few of the many activities the regions have been involved in over the past year.

Midlands

The Midlands region has been supporting unions with a range of activities and developments to promote workplace learning. Work on apprenticeships has been important in the region via the Go On programme. Work on apprenticeships included a regional conference aimed at employer engagement, with a particular focus on the equality issues relating to apprenticeships, as well as the promotion of our Apprenticeship Charter. The work has been carried out with a range of unions and employers from both the public and private sectors.

Supporting vulnerable workers has also been important, including work on recognition of overseas qualifications in Leicester as part of a partnership ESOL project in the city. Work around promotion and facilitation of Skills for Life learning has been a key focus. This has included working closely with 67 migrant workers. The region has been working on ways to deliver in non-unionised workplaces by developing an employment rights and responsibilities seminar for second language speakers, supported by the key union stakeholders. Work has also been undertaken to pioneer new ways to engage learners and reps to broaden the scope of those we engage with.

South West

The South West has been engaging closely with the learners and reps and running a series of events across the year including events for health and safety reps, engaging with the community, functional skills and for green reps (a key developing part of the economy of the South West) among many others. The region has been working on building partnerships around the region including developing work with housing associations. Work has also been undertaken on a pilot project to develop the Quality Award further, with benchmarks for expectations, and it is planned to roll this out across the region.

The region delivered an exciting artwork project and took ULRs and members from Aslef and the RMT to Parliament to exhibit their members’ artwork. The artwork specifically came from a course arranged by reps and was part of an exhibition by Unions21 for MPs.

Like other regions, developing work on skills for younger workers and apprenticeships has been a key area of development.

Southern and Eastern

The Olympic Games has obviously been a key event in the region and has affected much of the work delivered around the Olympic Park. This has been used to help build greater links with the community so further training work can be rolled out as part of the legacy work.

Informal and adult community learning has been a key area of work in the region and events have been run in numerous places alongside both private and public sector employers. The region has also worked closely with the GMB at the CityClean depot in Brighton, which has had a string of famous faces visit the depot allowing the work there to be used an example of good practice for other learning centres. A lot of work has been undertaken developing learning facilities with the prisons service and work on apprenticeships has been important too.

North West

The North West has been working on developing opportunities with community and non-unionised workplaces and has set up a number of joint events and meetings. It has worked with a number of community organisations and has engaged community learners in Skills for Life assessments. Working on supporting those facing redundancy, particularly in the public sector, has also been a key area of activity. This has included supporting workplaces with large numbers of members at threat from redundancy and working closely with union partners on site. It has worked with regional strategic bodies to undertake a survey of the needs and perceptions of employees in the public sector threatened with redundancy, and employers in the private sector regarding their attitudes to employing previously public sector workers.

We have continued to be a major participant in Adult Learners’ Week and Learning at Work Day, with union-led activity across the country, and in autumn 2011 unionlearn again promoted the Celebration of Learning (COL). COL 2011 demonstrated the inventiveness and ingenuity of unionlearn regional staff and showcased their contacts and partnership working to best effect using a small amount of money to unlock greater opportunities and possibilities through working with and through other organisations and initiatives. The celebration reached more than 5,000 learners, 4,000 of whom had been away from learning for at least three years. Other initiatives around informal learning, such as Quick Reads and the Six Book Challenge, have proven very popular with non-traditional learners and we are always seeking new ideas to engage an ever-wider circle of learners.

Higher learningAs unionlearn looks to ensure that we help unions support learners through the entirety of their learning journey, we are working on developing pathways to higher learning for union learners. We have strategic agreements with the Open University (OU) and Birkbeck College to take this forward. Regional projects have also been set up to work with universities to make local opportunities more accessible for union members. As a consequence of the HE funding changes, the OU has withdrawn the 10 per cent discount to union members in England, but unions and unionlearn have been working with the OU to develop an alternative union offer.

The Higher Learning at Work web pages and resources have been updated and a new ‘Funding higher level learning’ section has been added. This website is a one-stop shop for working adults wanting to find out about higher learning. Since funding for organisations such as Foundation Degree Forward, Aimhigher and Lifelong Learning Networks has come to an end, unionlearn has become a major organisation for working people looking for advice on getting access to higher level skills.

As unions become more confident around supporting higher learning, there are success stories to be found around the country. Earlier this year an evaluation was undertaken of the North East Higher Skills project run by unionlearn using funds from the North East Higher Skills Network. The evaluation found that all targets had been exceeded and importantly there was significant over-achievement of the number of learners actually progressing on to a higher-level course.

Supporting sectorsThroughout 2012 unionlearn has been able to meet with the majority of union board members on Sector Skills Councils (SSCs) to offer assistance and discuss the body of work that each SSC is engaged with. Unionlearn also works closely with unions to identify suitable candidates to sit on SSC boards and a recent paper endorsed by the unionlearn board has formalised the selection criteria and nomination process.

SSCs also have many subgroups, and unionlearn and unions are working hard to increase representation at all levels, with the full support of the SSCs themselves. Subgroup union members and the union board members will then be well placed to promote a more coordinated approach on sectoral skills issues by relevant unions within the sector.

Over the past year unionlearn has worked closely with several SSCs on a number of projects, including work with Skills for Logistics to develop pre-apprenticeship frameworks for young offenders and with national union officials responsible for motor manufacturing in order to establish a ULR forum that can input into work with the SSC for Science, Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies (SEMTA). The Joint Action Working Group of Skills for Health, comprising representatives from unionlearn and all the health sector unions, has continued to meet regularly. Unionlearn has also been working with SEMTA to revitalise the work of the Manufacturing for Skills Alliance group.

Green skillsUnionlearn has continued to develop its skills for a green economy agenda through the commissioning of research developing best practice and the publication of Stewarding the Green Skills Agenda. This report describes how trade unions are successfully leading or 'stewarding' the transition to a green economy by supporting access to training and 'green jobs' through advocacy and practical demonstration. The report contains a number of case studies, including the Green Skills Partnership for London, which is coordinated by unionlearn. This project has been successful in developing and delivering training provision through a number of London colleges, engaging communities and delivering work opportunities in partnership with the construction, waste management and horticulture sectors.

Supporting learnersSupporting learners is a term that covers the activities of ULRs and other union reps when they are working with members to help them make choices about learning, take up learning opportunities that are right for them and progress in their jobs and careers. While these activities involve all levels of learning and some elements of information and advice, they also include mentoring, coaching, signposting and facilitating learning.

The unionlearn strategy for supporting learners is based on the network model, which builds on active working relationships with impartial careers information and advice providers, including the new National Careers Service (NCS). The network model recognises that ULRs and other union reps need to engage with other agencies in order to find the information they need to help their members, and to broker workplace opportunities effectively.

unionlearn Annual Report 2011/12

13ContactsUnionlearn (main number) Tel 020 7079 6920 Fax 020 7079 6921 www.unionlearn.org.uk

Tom Wilson, Director Tel 020 7079 6922

National unionlearn managers

James Asser Communications and Marketing Manager Tel 020 7079 6942

Ian Borkett Standards and Quality Manager Tel 020 7079 6940

Catherine McLennan (on maternity leave) Business, Finance and ULF Manager Tel 0151 243 2558

Jean Scott Finance Manager (maternity cover) Tel 020 7467 1344

Iain Murray Senior Policy Officer Tel 020 7079 1264

Liz Rees Trade Union Education Manager Tel 020 7079 6923

Judith Swift Union Development Manager (also covering ULF Management as maternity cover) Tel 0151 243 2568

Regional unionlearn team managers

Southern and EasternBarry Francis Tel 020 7467 1251

MidlandsMary Alys Tel 0121 236 4454

NorthernKevin Rowan Tel 0191 227 5552

North WestDave Eva Tel 0151 236 2321

South WestHelen Cole Tel 0117 947 0521

Yorkshire and the HumberAlan Roe Tel 0113 242 9296

The region has promoted apprenticeships through apprentice champions and has additionally been working closely with learning advocates. The promotion of digital inclusion has been an area of focus for the region. This includes using the Mobat hand-held digital tool to promote learning and skills opportunities across a wide range of workplaces. This is being developed to introduce new themes, including equality, health and well-being, green skills and an IAG-related tool.

Additionally there has been work on economic development plans, which is important in a region with higher unemployment. The region has also made sure that it became involved in key regional projects such as Media City and the Liverpool Super Port and Wirral Waters project.

Yorkshire and the Humber

Delivering practical skills has been important in the Yorkshire region. Workshops and events have been held covering job-seeking skills, CV writing and online learning. Working with UK Online, the region developed a community-based learning centre using the infrastructure that was left behind by the withdrawal of the Playing for Success funding. The centre, based in Batley, is in one of the most deprived areas in West Yorkshire, with a very diverse community, principally Asian, and this has delivered large numbers of learners every quarter.

The region led on delivering the Celebration of Learning project, which has helped more than 2,000 learners and led to the development of a number of potential new partnerships; it has also led to a significant increase in interest from learners. Successful ULR networks have been run, both geographically based and through work-related links. This provides additional support to ULRs, important in a challenging region such as Yorkshire.

The region has developed strong links not only with unions but also with community, voluntary and not-for-profit bodies, which is helping it reach the most disadvantage communities.

Northern

The Northern team has placed a big focus on engaging directly with workplaces and ensuring ULRs get support where they work. The team is carrying out in excess of 600 workplace visits during the last year, including more than 40 to new workplaces with little or no learning activity. Visits are also increasingly being carried out to non-unionised workplaces.

The region has recognised the importance of digital learning and expanded the number of learning centres that are UK Online digital centres. Hand-held digital devices have also been pioneered to increase learning activity.

Important work has been carried out on apprenticeships and the Northern region is a partner in the Darlington Foundation for Jobs initiatives, which aims to create 100 additional apprenticeships, 100 work placement/internships and 1,000 business-into-school sessions. The region is leading on ensuring quality and promoting apprenticeship opportunities. Work has also been carried out on running apprenticeship seminars to promote apprenticeships and ensure the opportunities and the government plans in this area are understood and available.

Following the government’s call for community learning trust pilot applications, unionlearn has been included as part of Newcastle Councils bid.

Publications list 2011/12

❚❚ Delivering Better Learning Agreements

❚❚ Disability and Work: A trade union guide to the law and good practice

❚❚ Gearing Up for Change

❚❚ Health, Work and Well-being Toolkit

❚❚ Learning Journeys: Trade union learners in their own words

❚❚ Literacy, Language and Numeracy

❚❚ Making Informed Choices: Supporting learners at 50+

❚❚ Making the Most of Skills: A guide for reps

❚❚ Negotiator’s Guide for Bargaining for Skills

❚❚ Progression Pathways for All Trade Union Reps

❚❚ Reaching Communities: The community learning toolkit

❚❚ Research Paper 16: The Role and Impact of Unions on Learning and Skills Policy and Practice

❚❚ Supporting Learners (2011 revised edition)

❚❚ Union Professional Development Programme 2011–2012

❚❚ Unions and Sector Skills Councils

❚❚ Working for Learners: A handbook for learning reps

All unionlearn publications may be made available for dyslexic or visually impaired readers, on request and at no extra cost, in an agreed electronic format or in accessible formats such as Braille, audio tape or large print. For more information, please contact TUC Publications on 020 7467 1294.

Published by unionlearn Congress House Great Russell Street London WC1B 3LS

www.unionlearn.org.uk

September 2012 Design: TUC Print: Precision Printing