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You are here: Home > Case Studies > Devon Association of CVS Case Study: Devon Association Of CVS Learning and Skills Development Partnership Case StudyBackgroundTraining and learning opportunities for trustees, paid staff and volunteers have been provided in Devon by intermediary organisations for many years. In the main this has taken the form of short courses and informal workshops, conferences and seminars and work with individual organisations around specific issues. Over the last six years or so there has been a growing awareness within the sector of the role it could play in the learning and skills agenda. The sector has had to meet the demands of funders, new legislation, the increased use of ICT and a growing scarcity of volunteers as well as new government initiatives and strategies. The voluntary sector has had to become more professionalised and staff and volunteers more highly trained. As voluntary groups have grown, an increasing number have opted to become Charitable Companies limited by guarantee. This has brought additional responsibilities for trustees and Directors and further training needs. Training and accreditation opportunities have been provided for the most part within the sector or in partnership with statutory providers. Courses and events have mainly been supported via grants from funders such as the Community Fund and Lloyds TSB, especially in the rural areas of Devon. Exeter CVS and East Devon CVS have received funding for training and capacity building from the Local Learning and Skills Council under its discretionary fund. Mainstream LSC funding for qualifying courses has been accessed by Exeter CVS through a franchise arrangement with Exeter College. The Devon Training Network started approximately five years ago when a group of CVS staff from the new Devon unitary authority with a training remit got together on an informal basis to exchange information and good practice. Over the years the membership expanded to include other voluntary sector Training Providers from all Unitory Authority areas of Devon. The network continues to meet informally and the issues discussed have now broadened into strategy, partnerships, training niches, and funding. Many of the current training projects in the Devon CVSs are coming to an end. The Devon CVSs have come together to form the Devon Association of CVSs (DACVS), and are currently working through a hub model to develop a Compact with the nine Local Strategic Partnerships in Devon. Extending this model and through a consultation process involving visioning activities, DACVS has decided to take a collaborative approach in providing opportunities for learning and development across Devon. What follows describes the outcome of the planning activities. The benefits of a collaborative approach to provision of learning opportunities.Coming together to provide learning opportunities will promote collaborative funding bids which can take advantage of a broader range of funding opportunities. Economies of scale mean that training information, referrals and needs analysis can be provided collectively. The CVSs can come together to produce a joint programme, share a group of quality trainers who can work as a peripatetic team, across the whole patch. It will also allow good practice and innovative solutions to be shared more effectively in urban and rural areas. This will result in a broader range and style of provision across the whole of Devon. The whole learning and education agenda is couched in jargon and thus exclusive to many. A collective approach will allow an increased level of expertise to develop thus ensuring that opportunities are seized and that provision is of a high quality. A more organised and shared approach will provide the capacity for improved consultation and representation. The development of a Devon-wide Skills and Learning Strategy that has been endorsed by CVS members will enable representatives on the various learning partnership groups to give a clear message about sector needs. This will also ensure that the sector remains focussed on the needs of its members and stakeholders and does not suffer from “mission drift”. Where the sector agenda and government agenda fit together opportunities for funding and development can be explored. For many voluntary organisations and groups learning and skills are an important, but not primary objective and that needs to be recognised in any learning and skills strategy.
The Local PictureGeneralDevon is the third largest county in England with over 420 parishes. 75% of Devon settlements have populations of less than 1000. The rural nature of many of Devon’s communities means that access is important for maintaining the well being of its people. Access includes access to educational opportunities, community and business services, the Internet, physical and financial restrictions, transport and locating and delivering activities in ways that help people to reach them. Devon County Council’s MORI survey revealed that residents enjoy living in Devon because of the quality of life in terms of peace and quiet, easy access to the countryside, the high quality natural environment and the sense of community spirit. Residents have major concerns about public transport, affordable housing and facilities for young people. The Devon Strategic Partnership (DSP) has produced a ‘Focus on Devon’ that identifies detailed trends that will be used to inform further the specific challenges facing the county. DSP sees the voluntary and community sectors as contributing partners to the achievement of the goals set by the DSP around improving people’s quality of life. PopulationDevon has a population of 1,074,919, with almost half of that number living within the urban areas of Plymouth, Torbay and Exeter. Of these Plymouth is the largest city in the region with 240,720 inhabitants, whilst Torbay and Exeter house 129,706 and 111,076 respectively 1. The population of Teignbridge is 120,958 and this is expected to rise to 136,000 in 2011 2. Teignbridge has a relatively high number of retired residents and 42% of the population is over 50. The number of people from BME groups doubled between 1991 and 2001 to 1% of the population. Teignbridge is an area of contrasts. It has both urban and rural areas, and with areas of relative economic and social advantage next to areas of comparative disadvantage. Within the county there are an estimated 13,329 people from different BME groups, and although there are sizeable communities within the south-eastern corner of the county, it is the cities of Exeter and Plymouth that are home to the largest BME populations: 3,900 Plymouth citizens describe themselves as from BME groups, compared to 2,644 people in Exeter 3. Whereas in Devon as a whole, BME groups make up 1.24% of the population, this number reaches 1.62% for Plymouth, and peaks in Exeter at 2.38% 4. Although below the national average of 7%, these groups still comprise a significant proportion of the cities’ populations. With regards to faith, the largest two religions after Christianity, in terms of worshippers, are Islam and Buddhism. There are 2,687 Muslims in Devon (0.25% of the population), with 855 in Exeter (0.77%) and 890 in Plymouth (0.37%). Buddhists constitute 2,364 of the county’s populace (0.22%), with 378 in Exeter (0.34%) and 481 in Plymouth (0.20%) 5.
Increases in the population of BME groupsParticularly important to the South West is the rise in the population of BME groups in the region over the last decade. Between 1991 and 2001, the number of people from BME groups in Devon rose by 94.7% from 6,846 to 13,329 6. In Plymouth the rise was slightly less dramatic than the figure for the county, from 2,140 to 3,900; in Exeter, however, the BME community more than doubled, growing from 1,314 to 2,644 7. Of the groups represented, the range of ethnicity was extremely diverse. Within the county, 0.24% described themselves as Asian, 0.21% as Chinese, 0.13% as Black, but 0.66% as Other 8. The significance for the voluntary sector is that The Monitoring Group 9 recorded that Exeter had the “highest level of reported racist incidents per head of population in England last year. It is so concerned that it has opened centres in the South West, one of which is in Plymouth. Social cohesion and inclusion are issues very much at the heart of the sector so this will be an increasingly important area of future work.
ResearchInto the SectorThe Voluntary Sector National Training Organisation researched into the development needs of the sector and produced a Workforce Development Plan 10 which detailed a range of skills and learning needs. The recent Learning and Skills Council Strategy for the VCS and the LSC “Working Together” 11 also detailed priorities for VCS skills development. These related to management skills, ICT, fundraising, professional, technical and specialist skills (related to area of work). The report also instructed local CVS and other development agencies to explore the advantages of developing local consortia of learning providers, provide information about the plans and actions of local LSCs and liase effectively with the Regional Voluntary Sector Networks. Further LSC research into the voluntary and Community sectors (January 2003) identified a total of 4506 VCOs in Devon representing a 4% increase since the previous research in 1998 and about 9.8% of the labour force in Devon. With a turnover of around £883 million, it is equivalent of 7% of the GDP in the county. There are an estimated 1.1 million direct beneficiaries of VCOs in Devon. Over two fifths of VCOs in Devon have a training budget. Of those with a budget, a quarter were under £1000 and two fifths between £1000 and £5000 - the sector had a training budget of £6.6million in Devon in 2002. Despite the relatively low number of VCOs in Devon with a training budget, two fifths of all VCOs train their staff. At least one in five VCOs provide training to external organisations such as private companies or statutory bodies, and around one in three VCOs provide training for their main client groups. Over 2600 clients received such training in 2002 although nearly half of this was unaccredited. Nearly half of volunteer training is unaccredited. Two fifths of VCOs in Devon supplying training thought there was unmet demand, most citing a lack of funding as being the main reason for not being able to meet the demand. Only a small proportion of VCOs deliver any form of basic skills training (BST) although over a fifth expressed an interest in doing so. The Learning & Skills Council’s research ‘Needs Analysis in Devon & Cornwall 2003’ highlights a skills gap for IT. Employers say IT skills are lacking amongst the workforce but employers do not recognise basic literacy and numeracy problems in their workforces. Recruitment difficulties are reported in many lower-skilled occupations and transferable generic and IT skills, and skills specific to an occupation or role, are in most demand, particularly in dynamic environments. Time and cost appear to be the main barriers to training and learning provision need to be improved and developed innovatively to ensure that people from deprived areas and socially excluded groups have an equal opportunity to participate and achieve.
Skills for LifeSkills for Life Survey: a national needs and impact survey of literacy, numeracy and ICT skills reveals that the proportion of adults aged 16-65 that have literacy levels below level one has fallen from the 7million estimated in 1997, to 5.2 million adults now. It also show that 50% of adults are at level 2 or above in ICT awareness whilst only 9% have practical ICT skills. The new 21st Century Skills White paper recognises ICT as a third basic skill and in assisting people to play a more active and informed role in society. The emerging picture in Devon for ICT learning reveals a significant growth in overall learning with national initiatives such as Learning Direct and UK online centres. However many people remain excluded from access to computers and in particular 40% of disabled and 60% unemployed people. (LSC 2002 ISR22) There are difficulties in identifying the numbers of adults in Devon with Basic Skills needs but it is likely to be over 100,000 people with literacy needs and 100,000 with numeracy needs. Levels of low literacy and low numeracy in such districts as North Devon and Torridge are above national averages and there are pockets of low levels in deprived wards eg Exeter’s Surestart area in most areas. The planned target for Devon is to have achieved 16,560 Basic skills qualifications by 2007. Actual achievement 2001-3 is estimated at 2675. Achievement of this target is complicated by individual’s failing to recognise they have Basic Skills needs. This Development Plan is informed by the Devon Voluntary Sector Skills for Life Strategy 12.
4. Linkingin with other providersVoluntary sector links with other providers in Devon are patchy and vary in quality where they do exist. VCOs have said that they would like an opportunity to influence selection of tutors and content of provision.
5. AModel for collaborative delivery across Devon
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