Happy New Year from the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) in the South East.

Welcome to the second edition of our South East Marketing and Communications E-zine.

This is a regular email update which includes information on marketing and communications activities, market research and other useful information for training providers and partners across the region.

 

Our vision continues: working with you to up-skill England

Our work continues to champion the benefits of learning and skills:

- for individuals in order to support their wider ambitions;
- for employers to develop the skills of the workforce and to accelerate business competitiveness;
- to ensure a thriving and vibrant economy.

We look forward to continuing to work with you to provide high quality learning opportunities and training for young people and adults. Your help remains invaluable to inspire as many people as possible to increase their skills.

You can view the new document describing the work of the LSC by clicking here.

 

Skills campaign update: phase 2

The next burst of the national skills campaign, ‘Our future. It’s in our hands,’ will be seen this month with a national TV campaign, radio and PR activity. As well as the skills campaign adverts, national Train to Gain advertising will return to TV from 7 January for 3 weeks. This will be accompanied by radio advertising, press ads, advertorials and ‘Skills Broker’ columns in selected trade press titles, as well as online activity.

All this national activity will continue to be supported by regional marketing and PR activity across the South East.

 

Value of Learning Campaign

We launched the Value of Learning Campaign (an extension of the skills campaign) in the autumn to demonstrate the long-term financial benefits of investing time and money in improving skills.

Three weeks of national press and radio adverts promoting the financial benefits of investing in training kick-started the programme. The media release highlighted that as a nation we currently invest a tiny proportion of our annual income on our personal development. Alvin Hall, the popular financial expert, conducted a media tour discussing the financial benefits of training. Twenty-two radio stations across the UK ran interviews with Alvin. He also made guest appearances on BBC News 24 and Sky News. To date over 9 million people have been reached through this activity.

You can download details of the campaign, media plans, copies of the press ads and radio scripts at the Campaign Resources site.

 

Adult Learner Accounts

ALG logoA second wave of South East regional marketing is being planned for early this year. Full details will follow shortly.

REMINDER: If you’re one of the 34 providers participating in the Adult Learner Account trials, please post information about Adult Learner Accounts on your website before the 2008 advertising campaign starts. This will help you capture leads from the campaign and ensure people have access to local information.

Images can also be downloaded from the Campaign Resources website on the link above.

 

Train to Gain

Research:
We have appointed research and evaluation experts Wessex Partnerships Ltd to work with Train to Gain providers to look at what is really working for sales and marketing activities. They will be asking for your feedback, working with you to understand your sales and resources and pinpointing best practice. Findings and recommendations will be shared in February.

Marketing Update:
You will be seeing a range of national media coverage about Train to Gain in the coming weeks across a range of publications from The Sunday Times to Travel Weekly and Human Resources (HR) to Plant Engineer. Sixteen ‘Skills Broker’ advice columns will appear in the January and February editions of the Grocer, Contract Journal, Caterer & Hotelkeeper and the Engineer.

A Plan for Growth:
A comprehensive range of marketing activities in the South East includes crucial support for ‘Train to Gain – A Plan for Growth’.

  • In order to expand the Train to Gain service a fresh strategy has been adopted with the following four key accelerators:
  • a new offer to employers
  • building a stronger network of TtG providers;
  • an intensified approach to lifting performance and ensuring consistency across the LSC; and
  • clearer communication of the TtG service and why employers need to invest more in the skills of their workforce.

Building on the experience and considerable achievements of TtG, the key measures are:

  • Revised Employer Engagement Strategy supporting employers to identify and address skills needs at all levels using expanded skills brokerage;
  • new compact with each Sector Skills Council tailoring TtG to meet the skills needs of employers in each sector with joint investment planning;
  • transformation programme for training providers giving bespoke support to enable them to strategically position TtG as core to their business; support to enhance skills of staff engaging with employers and accelerated roll-out of the new standard;
  • Public Service Skills Compact focused on joint investment and commitment to extend training across their workforce; and
  • improved performance management and consistency in the delivery of the TtG service across the country, which has been shown to be effective in driving up performance and success rates.

Other important flexibilities and measures:

  • people from priority unemployed groups recruited by an employer will be eligible for a 100% subsidy for a second full level 2 qualification where they need retraining - initially focused on Local Employment Partnerships (estimate 125,000 additional learners);
  • TtG service extended to include self-employed and voluntary sector;
  • increased investment in leadership and management development for employers with between 10 and 250 employees to allow key directors and managers to ensure that they have the skills needed to grow their business through development of their people;
  • dedicated sector specialists in each skills brokerage organisation and improved systems to collect employer feedback will ensure that the needs of employers are better understood and that the service continues to develop to meet their needs;
  • funding to give a part subsidy funding for those doing a second level 2 or 3 programme, in specified circumstances;
  • skills for Life training provision will be available as a stand alone form as well as embedded within level 2, giving alternative models to suit employer and employee. Skills for Life will be available at all levels;
  • inclusion of Apprenticeships and Advanced Apprenticeships, particularly for 19-24 year olds and Apprenticeships for Adults (and for 16-18 year olds where the employer has identified a need) as part of the TtG service; and
  • reduced bureaucracy through simplified funding and commissioning arrangements.

Adverts:

  • monthly 1/4 page adverts in commercial magazines and chamber of commerce magazines (May 07-Mar 08);
  • A5 flyer in CBI, IoD and FSB publications (Oct 07 & Feb 08); and
  • regional press adverts & regional radio adverts (Jan-Feb 08).

Regional literature:

A template of A5 generic and sector based flyers (i.e. construction, health and social care, motor vehicle) can be downloaded from the campaign resources site.

Case Studies:

Journalists love a good human interest story. We urgently need your case studies to help promote Train to Gain through editorials and press releases. If you have a case study or details of potential case studies, please can you send details to: Mandip.Bilkhu@lsc.gov.uk.

We will arrange an interview and prepare the case studies.

Employer Engagement Events:

Around 30 employer engagement events will continue into March to build partnerships and employer awareness and engage people with Train to Gain, the Skills Pledge, Apprenticeships and the LSC agenda. The events range from breakfast meetings, skills seminars, workshops and conferences to evening dinners with high profile speakers.

Train to Gain posters will be mailed out to businesses across the region. The poster is aimed at employees in order to get their employer on board and encourage them to sign their staff up to Train to Gain.

The Train to Gain Road Show began by visiting businesses in MKOB, Berkshire and HIOW. In February the Road Show will visit Surrey, Sussex and Kent and Medway.

For the latest national and regional marketing activities please visit the marketing page on the provider website at www.traintogainprovidersse.org.uk

 

Important changes to EMA

The Government has announced several significant changes to EMA, including introducing an EMA Guarantee for new applicants, the extension of £30 EMA to all E2E learners, new bonus arrangements for Work Based Learning and short course FE programmes.

For details on the EMA guarantee, new E2E arrangements and EMA bonuses click here.

 

News from other campaigns

Apprenticeship Awards 2008
On 3 December the LSC launched its 5th annual Apprenticeship Awards at the Imagination Gallery in London. The closing date for entries is Friday 29 February 2008. For more information on the Awards visit http://www.apprenticeships.org.uk/awards.

The South East Learning and Skills Awards will be launched in the week commencing 14 January. With a new website, new categories and a new venue for the Awards final, we are anticipating huge interest from across the region as individuals and businesses try to emulate the outstanding achievements of the winners from last year. The new website at www.learningandskillsawards.co.uk will go live at the end of next week. The site will allow nominations to be made online.

 

Apprenticeships Week 2008

2008 sees the first national Apprenticeships Week (25 to 29 February), the focal point of which is the inaugural Apprenticeships Summit (Tuesday 26 February). The aim is to engage with the whole FE network involved in Apprenticeships, to encourage them to organise events and activities throughout the week and to help us put Apprenticeships well and truly in the spotlight. A marketing and communication strategy for Apprenticeships is in development to support the week, including PR, press advertising, web and radio. For further information, or to get involved, contact Kirstin.Rowan@lsc.gov.uk

We will be developing a regional campaign aligned to our national activities. Details will follow shortly.

 

Skills for Life

The Skills for Life campaign (formerly known as 'Gremlins') will focus on increasing awareness of numeracy in particular. We’re currently developing a new campaign that fully integrates with the overarching skills campaign message 'Our future. It's in our hands'.

Campaign Resources
To help you get involved with the campaign we’ve set up the Campaign Resources site (CRS), which contains material and information on the Skills Campaign and other LSC programmes including Skills for Life, Apprenticeships, EMA, National Skills Academies and the Skills Pledge.

 

South East Marketing and Communications Conference

Following our first annual Marketing & Communications conference, a number of questions were raised by delegates. You’ll find answers to these below:

Q1. What percentage of profile have providers achieved in 2007-08 to date?
A1. At the end of September 2007 ie 2 months into contracting year, Type B providers had delivered 53% of their level 2 starts and only 29% of Skills for Life starts.

Type C providers had achieved 18% of level 2 starts and only 11% of Skills for Life achievements.

At the end of October 2007 ie a quarter way through the contracting year, Type B Providers have delivered 54% of their profiled Level 2 starts to date and only 29% of Skills for Life.

Overall the total 11% of the Public Service Agreement has been achieved for L2 which raises considerable concern regarding end of year performance.

Q2. Is there any correlation between Investors in People (IiP) and the Skills Pledge?
A2. IiP provides a framework standard for their business and operational processes for employers to work towards in order to convert an IiP Commitment to an IiP Recognition. The Skills Pledge asks employers to commit to ensuring all staff are trained to a minimum of basic skills and level 2. The employer signs a Statement of Intent, then diagnoses employees’ skills needs and agrees a plan of action. Only when this diagnostic and action plan has been completed is an employer issued with a Skills Pledge Certificate.

IiP and Skills Pledge are seen as complementary to each other alongside the Train to Gain Brokerage ONA service. They act as leverages for the other two e.g. an employer completing an ONA may commit to Skills Pledge and whilst completing their diagnostic for employees and an action plan use the IIP framework to look at internal processes and staff engagement at the same time.

Q3. How do providers find out where our local monitoring and development forums are being held?
A3. A list of local monitoring and development forum meetings will be added to the SE Train to Gain Provider website for providers to understand whether they should be attending a regional and/or local monitoring forum.

Q4. How do Train to Gain and Job Brokerage ‘fit’ with Local employer Partnerships?
A4. A Plan for Growth announced that learners with a level 2 on incapacity benefit or a Lone Parent wanting to get back to work could have a fully subsidised second level 2 qualification if this would enhance their opportunity to get positioned in a job.

Q5. How do we establish who our brokers are?
A5. A list is available on the SE Train to Gain Providers website, showing providers and their assigned broker with contact details. If you are unable to find your provider name or a broker name is not detailed, please let zeena.cala@lsc.gov.uk aware of this and she will ensure contact details are added.

Q6. In light of Mike Campbell’s presentation, in particular the value and need of NVQ L2, will the qualifications funded under ‘Train to Gain’ be reviewed?
A6. A Comprehensive Qualifications Review is currently being undertaken by the National LSC in partnership with SSCs, and DIUS to inform future funding models, including consideration of modular/unit based funding.

Q7. Could we have more local meetings to understand barriers to fulfil learning starts and co-ordinate marketing activities?
A7. One of the key purposes of the local monitoring and development forums is to ensure broker and provider activity and barriers of engaging with employers/learners are understood in a local context. Currently, Business Development Managers usually attend these forums; it may be necessary to shape your local forums to meet your needs. Please see answer to Q3. for details of your local monitoring and development forum.

In addition to these forums, the South East Marketing team is committed to running further regional wide forums on the total offer available to employers/employees.

 

 

The LSC South East aims to provide its providers and partners with regular bulletins, similar in style to this one, to keep them up to date on marketing and communications activities in relation to the Skills Campaign and other campaigns. If you wish to unsubscribe to this service, {UNSUBSCRIBE "please click here to unsubscribe"}.

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