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COMMITTEE FOR EMPLOYMENT AND LEARNING
MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS: Present: In Attendance: Dr Andrew C Peoples Apologies: Meeting opened at 2.05pm in open session.
Apologies are detailed above. Members considered and agreed their response on the draft Programme for Government for issue to the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister (OFMDFM), Annex 1.
Action: Clerk Members noted the papers on the University for Industry and learndirect. Members reviewed progress to date on the key targets set out in the Department for Employment and Learning’s Annual Business Plan 2001/02. It was agreed that the Chairman should write to the Minister for information on those areas where slippage may have occurred.
Action: Clerk Members noted Dr Hilary Steedman’s paper, ‘Assessing the Modern Apprenticeship Initiative Against Continental European Models.’ Members noted the Scottish European Committee Report on the ‘EU Directive on Consulting with Employees on Redundancies.’ It was noted that the Scottish Parliament had advocated a shorter implementation period for the Directive, as opposed to the UK position, which is seeking a delay. It was agreed that this may prove an interesting case in setting a precedent for central direction for devolved institutions. Members noted the correspondence from the Department, which had already been faxed to members, asking that the information provided for the last meeting on the East Antrim area, be treated as ‘Restricted Commercial.’ Mr Beggs stated that the original documentation should have reflected this.
The Chairman updated members on the recent meeting of the Chairpersons’ Liaison Group. The Committee agreed that the Chairman and Deputy Chairman should meet, as invited, with the Recruitment and Employment Federation on 4 December 2001.
Action: Clerk Members noted that the Minister would lay a Motion on Tuesday 20 November 2001 on Statutory Rule 319/2001 – ‘Part-Time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2001.’ The Rule was subject to the confirmatory procedure and had already been considered by the Committee on 11 October 2001. Members agreed that Prof Loreto Todd should be asked to brief the Committee on 13 December 2001 on her work with respect to adult basic skills.
Action: Clerk
Mr R Gamble, Mr A Templeton and Mr W Caldwell, Department for Employment and Learning, briefed the Committee. Following a short presentation, the following issues were debated:
The Committee agreed that copies of the responses to the consultation document should be requested from the Department.
Action: Clerk
3.17pm Mr Kelly left the meeting.
On Thursday 22 November 2001 at 2.00pm in Room 152, Parliament Buildings. The meeting will include briefings from the Law Centre and Disability Action.
The Chairman adjourned the meeting at 4.02pm.
Dr Esmond Birnie, MLA 22 November 2001
Annex 1
Northern Ireland Assembly Committee for Employment and Learning Response on the Northern Ireland Executive’s draft Programme for Government (September 2001)
The Committee previously responded to the Executive’s Position Report on the Programme for Government in July 2001 (under the name of the Committee for Higher and Further Education, Training and Employment). Members have considered this response again and have agreed that the concerns and issues outlined are still prevalent. (This response has been attached as Appendix 1 for ease of reference). In addition, having considered the Northern Ireland Executive’s draft Programme for Government (September 2001), the Committee has agreed an additional response as detailed below. The introduction to the document refers to the much-improved economic climate. Given the recent predictions of an economic downturn, including rising unemployment, it may be important to note that the actions contained in the draft Programme for Government may be carried out in a greatly altered economic environment. This may have an effect on priorities and funding decisions. We now have a plethora of actions and targets for the Department for Employment and Learning (DEL) contained in the Programme for Government and the Department’s own Public Service Agreement and Strategic and Annual Business Plans. For reasons of clarity, it is important to demonstrate how these are linked. Obviously there is also a need for consistency throughout these documents, and for clarity on how and when performance against the various targets will be reported on.
Executive Programme Funds are referred to as ‘one of the most tangible ways of promoting a more coherent approach to policy development .. and to assist the development of new programmes.’ The Committee would argue that, to date, these funds have not led to effective departmental co-operation on cross-cutting issues, but have been used more as a ‘top-up’ fund. This needs to be addressed.
It has been stated that ‘objective measures of inequality need to be urgently agreed before the effectiveness of New TSN policies can be assessed.’ Evaluation of New TSN is planned for December 2002. However, given the importance attached to New TSN and the skewing of resources to it, the Committee would urge that the effectiveness of policy in this area needs to be evaluated immediately. The fact that ‘objective measures of inequality’ have not yet been agreed is a matter of some concern.
Reference is made to the ‘smooth introduction of Integrated Child Credit and Employment Tax (sic surely Employment Tax Credit).’ These are certainly important developments affecting employability, but there should be recognition that these are non-transferred matters.
We are pleased that there is recognition (e.g. 24 % of adults) of the scale of the adult illiteracy problem. However we would refer again to the issues outlined in our previous response of July 2001.
We commend the attention to basic skills education at the primary level.
We refer to the target under sub-priority 3 to ‘improve passes at NVQ levels 2-4 by 5%.’ It should be made clear whether this is an additional 5% pass rate or 5 percentage points?
We welcome the commitment to placements of FE lecturers in industry. However similar attention should be paid to teacher placements in industry (Northern Ireland lags Scotland by a massive extent in this area).
The Committee welcomes the support confirmed for NIBEP’s three-year strategic plan. However, this needs to be backed up with adequate resources. Evidence from senior NIBEP officials taken during the Committee’s recent Inquiry showed that the organisation had not been adequately funded to effectively implement its extended remit.
The target to ‘develop an integrated system of Individual Learning Accounts (ILAs) and Career Development Loans by September 2002’ may need to be revised with ILAs suspended and under review for the foreseeable future.
The Committee is pleased to see the Northern Ireland R&D and Innovation Strategy highlighted. However, we are unclear what is meant by the "support capacity of our FE colleges’ given that R&D activity in the further education sector is negligible.
Objective 1 in DEL’s Public Service Agreement refers to raising quality in Higher Education, yet the first target relating to this objective is purely quantitative i.e. increasing enrolments, which is not likely to increase quality.
Under equality issues it is stated that ‘more young women than males leave school to go into Further or Higher Education, while young males were more likely to leave school to go into training or employment.’ There is now probably a problem of male educational underachievement beginning in primary and secondary level education, and the Programme for Government should contain a commitment to tackle this. The Committee is aware that several equality categories may overlap in this area eg working class, protestant males may be especially "under-represented" in Higher Education.
Dr Esmond Birnie, MLA
Appendix 1 Committee for Higher and Further Education, Training and Employment Response to the Executive’s Position Report – Programme for Government The response set out below is the Committee for Higher and Further Education, Training and Employment’s preliminary views on the suggested developments of the Programme for Government, in response to the First Minister and Deputy First Minister’s letter of 18 June 2001. The response is under two main areas, comments on the relevant current areas within the Programme for Government, February 2001 and new issues for consideration.
Current Areas
1. Basic Skills The Committee strongly recommends that greater emphasis in the immediate future should be placed on the correction of basic skill (literacy and numeracy) weaknesses. This would undoubtedly assist people to get back into work and contribute to the Executive’s priority of ‘Growing as a Community’. Whilst the Committee fully recognises the work that is ongoing it supports the view that current low levels of basic skills in a large percentage of the Northern Ireland adult population, as reported in the final report of the International Adult Literacy Survey (OECD), must be addressed immediately. It is with this point in mind that the Committee was particularly disappointed that the Department’s bid for funds to improve adult basic education, literacy and numeracy under the last round of Executive Programme Funds only received 30% of its request. In fact the Committee considered the Department’s bid could have been significantly higher with even more challenging targets combined with a shorter time frame. Furthermore, it is important that greater emphasis on hard targets for literacy and numeracy development is included in the action plans of the Programme for Government.
2. Unemployment The Committee again acknowledges the continuing work in this area but must emphasise that it requires a greater priority and cross-departmental focus. Furthermore, a strategic approach is required for upskilling and reskilling the current workforce to meet the demands of the changing and developing economy, to ensure people are properly trained for future job requirements and not become unemployed.
The Committee recommends that more must be done immediately to improve access to education for the disabled. Whilst we acknowledge the additional funding recently announced by the Minister of Finance and Personnel for access to Higher and Further Education, we would like to see the future statutory requirements met in a shorter time frame than is required under the legislative timescale. 4. Resources The Committee recognises the high level of competition between departments for scarce financial resources. It is to this aim that the Committee echoes the sentiments in Chapter 7 of the Programme for Government, February 2001, of the valued contribution of public services. However, we support the aims as set out in the following sections of the Programme for Government document. 7.2 We will modernise Government and make it more open and accessible to the public. 7.3 We will improve the efficiency of public services. 7.4 We will reform public administration. The Committee for Higher and Further Education, Training and Employment stresses the importance of a review of the public sector to increase its efficiency and effectiveness, so that the scarce financial resources released can be redirected to achieve outcomes for the benefit of all the people of Northern Ireland. It is vital that this work is brought forward to ensure that the aims of the Programme for Government are achieved.
5. Research and Development The Committee welcomes the renewed focus on Research and Development (R&D) and the initial work that has been undertaken in the development of a Research and Development Strategy for Northern Ireland. This is vital to aid the successful development of a new knowledge-based economy and redress the traditional under funding of R&D in NI. It is vital that this area is given significant priority in the revised PfG proposals to contribute to reducing the earnings differential in NI with other countries. 6. Information Communication Technology The Committee recognises the role that Information Communication Technology (ICT) has to play in the wide remit of the Department of Higher and Further Education, Training and Employment and other government departments. The Committee is all too aware that a digital divide could further disadvantage those already underprivileged in our society. Thus we would encourage that the Programme for Government includes a recommendation in relation to ICT for 2002-03 so that cross-departmental initiatives can proactively ensure that the digital divide does not become a reality. This would help to underpin a knowledge-based economy, which in turn provides equal opportunities for all our citizens.
NEW AREAS 1. Career Choice During the evidence sessions of our current Inquiry it was very apparent that children and their parents were not aware of all the new opportunities for employment, and tended to select the perceived safer options, for example the public sector in preference to the private sector. It is vital that this balance is properly redressed if the knowledge-based economy is to succeed. The Committee would like to see both the input of careers education and guidance and the work of the Northern Ireland Business Education Partnership enhanced at both policy and implementation level and included in the revised Programme for Government action points. 2. Bids for Executive Programme Funds With respect to the allocation of Executive Programme Funds the Committee would encourage a greater emphasis on allocation of resources to those bids which are genuine cross-departmental initiatives and partnership with both other government and non-government bodies. They should not simply be another source of finance to be bid for by individual departments. Furthermore the bids must be clearly set out in measurable objective terms for proper future scrutiny. 3. Confusion of Names May we suggest that the names of the Executive Programme Funds be changed to be consistent with the Executive Priority areas to help read across and general understanding by all. In conclusion we are very supportive of the work already carried out on the Programme for Government but it is vital that it is regularly monitored, fully assessed and reported to ensure it makes maximum impact and that remedial action can be taken effectively if required.
Dr Esmond Birnie, MLA |