Item 8 - CLD 3-year plan 24 -27 report
West Dunbartonshire Council · 21 November 2024
Back to Community Planning West Dunbartonshire Management Board — 21 November 2024 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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Report by Chief Officer Roads and Neighbourhood CPWD Management Board: 21 November 2024 ______________________________________________________________ Subject: Community Learning and Development Three Year Plan 2024-2027 1. Purpose 1.1 CLD Regulations place statutory duties on local authorities to work with partners and communities to co-produce and secure the delivery of CLD in their area and publish a three-yearly CLD Plan. The Plan can either be standalone or incorporated into other Community Planning requirements. 1.2 While taking into account key national strategies (adult, youth and empowerment) and the wider policy context (curriculum for excellence, Scottish attainment challenge, No One Left Behind), the plan must specify how the Education Authority will co-ordinate provision of CLD, the actions taken to provide CLD by the authority and partners and any needs that will not be met. 1.3 The authority must consult those representative of the target group, those representative of persons providing CLD and any others as the authority sees fit. Each plan will cover a three-year period; the next planning cycle is 2024/27. 1.4 This report provides an update on the CLD Three Year Plan 2024/2027 with the full document attached as an appendix. 2. Recommendations 2.1 CPWD Management Board is asked to: • Note and support the actions set within the plan. • Partners are asked to commit support, and representation where appropriate, to the CLD partnership its associated themed groups and its aims. 3. Background ITEM 8
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3.1 CLD is ‘a distinctive process of engagement and support, with a learning content that is negotiated with learners.’ ‘Community learning and development plays a central part in ensuring individuals, families and communities reach their potential through lifelong learning. 3.2 The components of CLD consist of targeted support for disadvantaged individuals and groups centred around. • Community development/empowerment. • Youth work. • Family learning and other early intervention work with children, young people and families. • Community-based adult learning, including adult literacies and English for speakers of other languages (ESOL). • Volunteer development. 3.3 CLD is delivered by competent practitioners that know and understand the community they work in; build and maintain strong relationships with individuals and groups; provide learning and development opportunities in a range of contexts; facilitate community empowerment; organise and manage resources; and develop and support collaborative and partnership working and evaluate and inform practice. 3.4 This activity is set within a dynamic context with significant challenges around the availability of funding at a time when demand is increasing. This challenge may be offset with the emergence of opportunities linked to, and connection with, the wider policy context, that include, for example: • Adult Learning. • National Youth Strategy. • Community Empowerment. • Scottish Attainment challenge. • No One Left Behind. • UK Shared Prosperity. 4. Main Issues 4.1 The CLD National guidance requires CLD activity to connect with Community Planning Objectives. Specific note is made of aligning CLD with Scotland’s goals for jobs, growth and public service reform; emphasising improved life chances and adopting an evidence-based approach. 4.2 West Dunbartonshire Community Planning aims to achieve its vision: A great Place to live, work learn and visit through five Delivery Improvement Groups. (Nurtured, Flourishing, Safe, Independent, Empowered) 4.3 Community Learning and Development activity through its existing approach can contribute to the vision by addressing barriers to opportunity; improving life chances; promoting active citizenship; delivering community-led approaches and supporting local regeneration.
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4.4 A recent review of CLD (April 2023) concluded that there are effective arrangements to oversee the CLD services within the Council and regular reporting is helping to strengthen the understanding of CLD. The Adult Learning Partnership is a strong collaboration of adult learning services. It also noted there are arrangements in place to ensure the voices of young and adult learners can inform service design and delivery and CLD teams are making good use of targeted approaches to ensure that socio-economic circumstances are not a barrier to participation. 4.5 However, it is considered that, as a matter of priority, the local authority and partners should strengthen the leadership and governance of CLD planning and use this as a basis to develop partnership priorities at a strategic level. 4.6 Over the course of the summer and through consultation we have reinforced the partnership structure to address these issues. CLD activities will continue to deliver services and report to the appropriate delivery improvement groups. However an overarching CLD Partnership Lead Group has been established to draw the strands of CLD together. The structure of the CLD Partnership is illustrated below: 5. Resource Implications 5.1 The CLD Partnership will ‘Lead and deliver high quality community learning and development services which are responsive to the needs of local citizens, and realise the aspirations of our communities’. The Lead Group will: • Develop, implement and deliver the CLD Plan • Identify, agree and contribute the resources needed to achieve shared outcomes. • Analyse service gaps, duplication and overlap to ensure priorities are addressed as efficiently as possible. • Ensure that strategic priorities are aligned with other strategic plans. • Agree priorities for service development and, where appropriate, seek funding opportunities to progress priorities. Community Learning and Development Strategic Partnership Lead Group Adult Learning Partnership Youth Alliance Community Empowerment Delivery Improvement Group Community Planning Partnership - West Dunbartonshire Board Flourishing, Nurtured, Empowered, Safe, Independent
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• Ensure the participation of communities in relation to planning and delivering community learning and development. • Identify and share examples of best practice. 5.2 Each of the thematic groups supporting the CLD Partnership (Adult Learning Partnership, Youth Alliance Community Empowerment) will have specific priorities that have been developed through experience of delivery, research, consultation with key stakeholders, learning providers and learners. Adult Learning Partnership Themes: • Expanding Adult Learning. • Supporting the adult learner journey. • Promoting Inclusion: Access and Diversity. • Staff/volunteer development. Youth Alliance Priorities • Our young people are resilient: Health and Well-being • Our young people’s voices are listened to: Participation and Empowerment • Our young people are successful learners: Education and Lifelong Learning: • Our young people have equal access to opportunities: Employment and Economic Inclusion: • Our young people are valued members of the community: Social Inclusion and Equality: • Our young people are safe in physical and virtual environments: Safe and Supportive Environments: • Our young people are engaged in sustainable action: Environmental Awareness and Action: Community Development Priorities • Raise awareness, knowledge and understanding of community empowerment • Increase confidence for community empowerment. • Set standards for how we work and behave in the context of community empowerment. • Ensure clarity of roles for effective collaboration among Councillors, Council officers, community planning partners, volunteers and communities. • Develop skills for community empowerment. • Ensuring that there are sufficient resources, facilities and support to encourage community empowerment. 5.3 CLD regulations state that the plan should also provide a statement of unmet need. In this respect we have stated that we will address existing and emerging inequality by focussing on disadvantaged and vulnerable groups and individuals of all ages. We will support them to engage in learning and bringing about change in their lives and communities that may not have
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occurred otherwise. This will be a targeted approach and as such, there will be individuals and groups that are not considered to be a priority for the focus of our work. 5.4 We have captured the CLD Three Year plan aims, objectives and approaches in a ‘one-page plan’ to summarise the complexity of the task and breadth of input.
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CLD Plan Objectives and Approach West Dunbartonshire Community Planning Partnership (WDCPP) Vision: A Great Place to Live, Work and Visit. Flourishing, Independent, Nurtured, Empowered and Safe West Dunbartonshire Community Learning and Development Partnership will ensure CLD Services in West Dunbartonshire contribute to the WDCPP vision by improving life chances for people of all ages, through learning, personal development and active citizenship. The partnership will also support stronger, more resilient, influential and inclusive communities. Our approach will focus on early intervention to promote equality and ensure learners and communities contribute to the planning and delivery of services. We will do this within partnership service delivery groups that focus on the components of Community Learning and Development to ensure high quality learning services that focus on empowerment, skill development and appropriate resources are available… Community Development Alliance Co-ordinating the priorities and delivery of community engagement that contributes to skills, for life and learning. Focus on • community empowerment and development • Community engagement and representation • Setting standards and Volunteer development Youth Alliance Co-ordinating the priorities and delivery of community-based youth learning that contributes to skills, for life, learning and work. Focus on: • Health and wellbeing. Participation and empowerment. Successful learning • Youth Inclusions and Representation. • Youth Safety and Employability. Adult Learning Partnership Co-ordinating the priorities and delivery of a community-based adult learning that contributes to skills, for life, learning and work. Focus on: • Expanding learning. • Supporting the adult learning journey. • Access, Diversity and Inclusion • Staff and volunteer development. We will know we are successful with our approach when learners and community members can say they: I feel more confident and empowered to make decisions about my community and learning pathway. I have access to resources and opportunities that match my learning goals and ambitions. I feel valued and supported by the learning community and learning staff. I can see clear improvements in my skills and knowledgeand I understand how these apply to my personal, family and community life. We will demonstrate progress and success by… Producing Periodical Reports: • Quarterly Reporting • Annual Reporting Gathering and Recording Key Progress data. CLD Managers Scotland Indicators, for example… • Number participating in Learning Activities • Number from specific target groups • Number securing recognised qualifications • Number of groups receiving community capacity building support Gathering and Compiling Learner Testimony. • Self-assessment • Consultation • Case Studies
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5.5 The production of the CLD Three Year Plan means that we are compliant with the legislation that requires the Education Authority to demonstrate how the CLD partnership will co-ordinate the provision of CLD while considering key national strategies such as the Adult Learning, Youth Work and Community Empowerment strategies and Community planning. 5.6 The development of the CLD Partnership reinforces that requirement by establishing an approach that allows us to take effective action at the local level to address the specific challenges we face in West Dunbartonshire. 5.7 While compliance with the legislation is important, we will have a clearer indication of success when learners can tell us that they know where to go to access learning and that learning brings about positive changes in their lives. 5.8 We will know this is the case through both qualitative and quantitative methods of data capture. 5.8 To reinforce this the CLD partners are establishing and adopting a range of indicators to demonstrate progress towards their aims. These indicators will be refined and adopted in the forthcoming year, where appropriate. These indicators include: 1 Number of adults engaged in CLD activity 2 Number of adults receiving completed nationally recognised awards through CLD activity (SCQF levelled and awards such as Adult Achievement Award including sectional certificates) 3 Number of adults gaining wider achievement awards, local awards and those not nationally recognised, through CLD activity (e.g., Health Issues in the Community & Keystone Award) 4 Number of adults engaged in family learning through CLD activity 5 Number of children/young people engaged in family learning through CLD activity 6a Number of children engaged in CLD activity (aged 5-9) 6b Number of young people engaged in CLD activity (aged 10-18) 7a Number of children receiving completed nationally recognised awards through CLD activity 7b Number of young people receiving completed nationally recognised awards through CLD activity 7c Number of young people receiving sectional certificates towards above Awards (sectional certificates only to be included if full award not completed) 8 Number of young people gaining wider achievement awards, local awards and those not nationally recognised, through CLD activity 9 Number of adults with improved mental health and wellbeing outcomes through CLD activity 10 Number of children and young people with improved mental health and wellbeing outcomes through CLD activity 11 Number of community groups receiving capacity building support through CLD activity 12 Number of adults and young people taking part in influence and engagement activity through CLD – (including community planning / participatory budgeting / local and national consultations / co-production and influencing service design). 13 Number of adults and young people reached and engaged with through one-off promotional events / drop-ins / community events / engagements / etc.
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6. Financial Implications 6.1 The delivery of the CLD plan aims and objectives is set within the context of existing budgets and approaches. There are no additional financial implications. 7. Risk Analysis 7.1 The production of the CLD Three Year Plan addresses the risk of non- compliance with legislation that requires its production. The methods for reinforcing the CLD Partnership address issues emerging from Education Scotland’s review of progress towards plan delivery and will place us in a strong position to meet the demands of any future inspection based on the How Good is Our Community Learning and \development Framework. . 8. Equalities Impact Assessment (EIA) 8.1 An EIA scoping exercise will be undertaken as part of the further development of the work of the CLD Partnership lead group. 9. Consultation 9.1 This report provides a summary of the agreed approach being taken by CPWD in response to the feedback from Education Scotland and consultation with key stakeholders and learners. 10. Strategic Assessment 10.1 Progressing work as outlined in this report ensures CPWD can deliver on the outcomes set in the Local Outcome Improvement Plan. Gail MacFarlane Chief Officer Citizen, Roads and Neighbourhoods 25 October 2024 ______________________________________________________________ Person to Contact: Stephen Brooks, Working4U Manager, Stephen.brooks@west- dunbarton.gov.uk Appendices: Background Papers: West Dunbartonshire Local Child Poverty Annual Report Wards Affected: All Wards