FACTS: The centre is NOT closing. Life Long learning classes are NOT transferring.

What is happening is that the running of the building is being transferred from Life Long Learning Service to Corporate Landlord. This brings it into line with other buildings and major landholdings belonging to Oldham Council.

Hopefully this should make easier for community use going forward. Life Long courses will continue to be delivered at the site. We now also have a much better chance of get some investment into the building.

I am interested in expanding both the Life Long learning courses as the centre and community use and would welcome any comments or feedback.

The full explanation is published in full below:

Dear Councillors,

It has been brought to my attention that there are concerns in relation to the delivery of the Lifelong Learning Service in Shaw and that activity is being redirected to Coldhurst Centre.

There is a clear rationale for the decision which has been taken which I have tried to present below but as with many things there are nuances and issues which need time to work through and would welcome feedback as to how we can make things better for Shaw residents.

Adult Education Budget Changes.

In 2018/19 the process of moving the Adult Education Budget from national Education and Skills Funding Agency remit to a devolved Greater Manchester Combined Authority managed scheme began. Over the subsequent five years there have been a number of changes to the grant funding agreement.

One such change has been how community learning is delivered and funded. Historically the service was required to deliver c. 50% of its activity through community learning programmes, these operated out of our own centres and in partnership with schools, children’s centres and with community groups and were aimed at engaging with adults onto “interest” based courses e.g. Spanish, yoga, woodwork.

Following devolution, this approach has changed radically and has led to a reduction in community facing provision and has changed to qualification based programmes e.g. Maths, English, ICT and ESOL.

Audit requirements

The service is very proud of its audit arrangements and has passed every audit with out any conditions which is rare following devolution. In order to retain this position and manage the risk to the Council, the service carries out reviews of provision to ensure that we are compliant with the annual funding rules.  Following the changes to community learning provision, the service did a review of property and recognised that whilst 100% of activity in Werneth, Coldhurst and the Oldham Centre were 100% compliant there was a risk associated with Shaw.

The Shaw centre is seen a more than just a Lifelong Learning Centre and is recognised, as a community hub but to meet the auditable grant conditions the Service could only operate for adult education purposes. This has caused issues with regards to key events, for example, the Queen’s Jubilee celebration last year whereby the community wanted the centre open and in terms of wider use e.g. political surgeries. This is not acceptable in terms of the Adult Education Budget.

Proposal

In order to mitigate this, it was agreed that Lifelong Learning Service would transfer management of the Shaw Centre into the Council’s Corporate Landlord to manage. The Lifelong Learning Service will then lease back the space as and when courses are running at the centre. The Service is flexible but has to meet demanding delivery targets, so provision will continue at Shaw for as long as there is a need. The purpose of Lifelong Learning is to deliver English, Maths, ICT and ESOL provision to our residents and we work closely with Oldham College to support progression onto vocational provision.

Provision was planned in 22/23 at Shaw Lifelong Learning Centre that covered a range of subjects from Painting and Drawing to English and maths. The service will continue to provide adult learning opportunities at the centre during 2023/24 academic year. This will be a continuation of the programmes that have been delivered successfully and new programmes such as Multiply.

Transfer of services to Coldhurst

The suggestion that services are being transferred to Coldhurst or other areas is wrong. It is unclear where this idea has emerged from. The Shaw Centre caretaker has been asked to work in the Coldhurst centre following a colleagues retirement but this is just an internal move and bears no relevance to level of service provision.

The Service operates across Coldhurst, Shaw, Werneth and the main centre these space are only used for LLS provision and so retain a facilities management service. The service also works from some schools and is looking at how more provision in districts e.g family hubs but this is dependent on achieving minimum learner numbers to remain sustainable and retain efficiencies.

Conclusion

The transfer of Shaw centre management to the Corporate landlord has no effect on service delivery.

It does increase options for alternative uses. Historically the centre was a place for wider community celebrations and uses but the AEB funding agreement was limiting this. The Corporate Landlord will be seek to make best use of the asset and any significant changes will be communicated to Members.

The service reviews how it delivers its service and it continues to be one of the best performing adult education providers in the North West. We deliver directly to local residents and are keen to ensure that we remain relevant to local needs and would welcome a discussion with Members as to how we can promote the service to meet local needs for Shaw residents.

Kind regards

Jon Bloor Assistant Director – Economic Growth