Cynulliad Cenedlaethol Cymru
|
National Assembly for Wales
|
Pwyllgor yr Economi, Seilwaith a
Sgiliau
|
Economy, Infrastructure and Skills
Committee
|
Partneriaeth Sgiliau
Rhanbarthol
|
Regional Skills Partnerships
|
EIS(5) RSP20
|
Ymateb gan Y Brifysgol
Agored
|
Evidence from The Open
University
|
About The Open
University in Wales
1.
The Open University (OU) was established in 1969, with its first
students enrolling in 1971. It is a world-leader in providing
innovative and flexible distance learning opportunities at higher
education (HE) level. It is open to people, places,
methods and ideas. It promotes educational opportunity and social
justice by providing high-quality university education to all who
wish to realise their ambitions and fulfil their potential.
2.
Around 8,000 students across Wales are currently studying with The
Open University, enrolled on around 10,000 modules. There are OU
students in every National Assembly for Wales constituency and we
are the nation’s leading provider of undergraduate parttime
higher education. Almost three out of four Open University
students are in employment while they study and with an open
admissions policy, no qualifications are necessary to study at
degree level. Over a third of our undergraduate students in
Wales join us without standard university entry level
qualifications.
3.
As a world leader in educational technology, our vast ‘open
content’ portfolio includes free study units on the free
online learning platform OpenLearn (including many Walesrelated
materials and our Welsh Language platform
OpenLearn Cymru)
and substantial content on YouTube and on iTunes U where we have
recorded over 70 million downloads.
4.
As a pan-Wales provider the OU in Wales engages with all three
Regional Skills Partnerships (RSPs) albeit in different ways in
each region. The OU in Wales is a member of the North Wales RSO, a
member of the Learning and Skills Provider Group in the South West
and Mid-Wales RSP, and we feed into the Cardiff Capital Region RSP
via a higher education representative (from the University of South
Wales).
Response to consultation questions
Is the data and evidence being used by
the Regional Skills Partnerships timely, valid and reliable? Have
there been any issues?
5.
From our experiences of engaging with the RSPs more could be done
to improve the reliability, consistency and validity of the data
that is collated and used by the partnerships. Much of what we have
submitted to date has been soft data and there is a
lack of clarity over exactly
what is required from us and what might be most useful to the
RSPs’ work. Some data can come with a significant time lag
and it is therefore difficult to assess whether it is the most
accurate picture; likewise, data from employers can be restricted
to those who submit data to the RSPs and therefore not present a
full picture from across the region. If the role of RSPs is to
continue – and we believe there is value in this – and
to develop then the partnerships need to be sufficiently resourced
to collate the data that they need. There also needs to be an
incentive for employers and partners to engage more with the RSPs
around data collection.
How well do the partnerships engage
with and take into account the views of those who do not sit on the
partnership boards, and how well do they account for the views of
the skills providers themselves?
6.
There are some examples of good practice in terms of RSP
representatives engaging with their stakeholders and ensuring a
two-way flow of information but this is not always the case. From
our own experience of working with the three RSPs there is a
distinct difference between our level of engagement with the RSP on
which we are directly represented and the two where we are
not. We would certainly welcome more opportunity to engage
with the two partnerships on which we are not formally represented.
It also seems that smaller skills and education providers do not
have much of a voice on the RSPs and we believe that more could be
done by each RSP to reach beyond the formal membership and that
this activity needs to be sufficiently resourced. RSP activity is
also often driven too much by existing Government priorities and
although the partnerships should engage with these priorities they
should also be encouraged and supported to explore other priority
areas as required by the region.
7.
It is also worth considering how universities and colleges
represented on the RSPs, who are large employers in their own right
and often act as anchor organisations, can feed information on
their own skills and growth needs into the RSPs.
How do the key City and Growth Deal
roles of the Regional Skills Partnerships influence their Welsh
Government remit?
- The City and
Growth Deal areas and RSP areas are not all co-terminus and we are
not aware of a consistent approach across the three regions in
terms of how the RSPs are engaging with the Deals. From our
engagement to date it is difficult to assess, based on the
information we have, how the RSPs are balancing their work between
the drivers from Welsh Government and the drivers from the Deals.
It is essential that RSPs are resourced and supported to engage
with the priorities of Welsh Government and the Growth Deals but
that these priorities are clearly articulated to the RSPs. However,
the role of the partnerships in response to these priorities also
needs to be clear as does the relationship between the bodies. The
RSPs must also be free to undertake research and activity based on
the priorities identified for their area by their
stakeholders.
Are the Regional Skills Partnerships
able to actually reflect current and future skills demands within
their regions? What about very specialised skills for which there
may be low volumes of demand?
- In order
to be able to fully assess the current and future skills demands in
a region the RSPs need more robust data collection and to be able
to engage with a larger number of stakeholders from across
different sectors. This seems to be slowly gathering pace but
visibility of the RSPs is limited to it is hard for employers to
engage. With limited resources and capacity there is a risk
that the RSPs may focus on the priorities identified solely by
those around the table or by Welsh Government agendas. In areas
where the RSPs struggle to secure broad and deep representation or
where expertise and significant activity lies outside the breadth
of the RSP then the Welsh Government should ensure that it
supplements the advice received from the RSP with a wider range of
voices.
Do the Regional Skills partnerships
have sufficient knowledge and understanding of:
a) the
foundational economy and the needs of those employed within it;
and
b) the demand
for skills provision through the medium of Welsh?
- Foundational
economy sectors are often left behind and there is insufficient
knowledge and understanding of the needs of people employed in this
area. Due to funding cycles and the way budgets operate there is
often a mismatch between sustainability of the longer-term
workforce and the current needs of employers and
employees.
- Welsh
Language provision is patchy across the different RSPs and probably
an area where more could be done. There is a challenge to match the
skills required with Welsh Language targets and to take account of
the fact that some learners may not want one language provision but
a mix. More could need to be done to assess the demand in terms of
levels and proficiency in Welsh of those looking to upskill and
reskill. Likewise, we would like to see the RSPs take a role in
assessing skills need and encouraging uptake of modern foreign
languages.
Are the Regional Skills Partnerships
adequately resourced to fulfil their growing role?
- No. There is
an increasing level of expectation regarding what RSPs are for and
what they can deliver which is incompatible with their existing
resources. There is certainly a need for the intelligence and
information that RSPs are designed to collect and more that they
could be doing, but expansion of their roles would need to be
matched with not only resourcing but greater clarity and rigour in
their ways of working and relationships with Welsh Government and
the Growth Deals.
- RSPs are
regional but there is no consistency across the three and it is not
clear who is responsible for pulling together the information, data
and learning from across the RSPs which must have value at a
national level. It is also not clear how they link in with wider
providers /or bodies such as Public Service Boards, Enterprise
Zones, and the Social Services Regional Partnerships Boards. At
present it is hard to find out what the RSPs are doing and who is
represented on them and that makes it more difficult for us to
engage as a nation-wide provider. There should also be clarity over
their exact role which could cover influencing, data collection,
stakeholder engagement, decision making, information sharing,
advice and guidance. Once this is agreed and clarified it needs to
be well communicated to all stakeholders and RSPs need to be
resourced to undertake the role effectively.
Is there an appropriate balance
between the work of the RSPs and wider views on skills
demand?
- At present
we do not feel that there is sufficient input into the RSPs from a
wide enough range of employers and stakeholders, in particular in
relation to the foundational economy and the needs of those
furthest from the labour market. More also needs to be done to take
account of the needs to adult learners.
Is the level of operational detail set
out by Welsh Government for skills provision in higher/further
education and work-based learning providers appropriate?
- We do not
have any comment to make in response to this question.
If there are any, how are tensions
between learner demand / learner progression reconciled with
Regional Skills Partnership conclusions and the Welsh Government
preference for funding higher level skills?
- In our
experience Information, Advice and Guidance (IAG), careers advice
and progression routes through education and within the workplace
are not sufficiently supported or prioritised. It is not clear how
RSPs are feeding into the development of the Degree Apprenticeship
(DA) agenda but the limited number of DAs available in Wales limits
the options for both employers and employees in areas where skills
are in demand. There is a need to broaden the DA frameworks
available in Wales as soon as possible. The OU has a key role to
play in the delivery of work-based flexible learning as well as
work readiness and employability skills and we would welcome a
chance to engage more constructively with all three RSPs around
this agenda.
Have the Regional Skills Partnerships
and Welsh Government been able to stimulate changes in skills
provision ‘on the ground’ to reflect demand?
- We do not
have a comment to make in response to this question.
What, in general, is working well and
what evidence of success and impact is there?
Are there any aspects of the policy
that are not working well, have there been any unintended
consequences, and what improvements can be made?
- The RSPs are
a positive development and there is potential for them to make a
more significant contribution to Welsh Government policy direction
and skills provision in Wales. In order to be able to do this more
effectively they need more resource and capacity and need to reach
out to more employers, education providers and stakeholders. There
is merit in considering increasing their remit, but this should not
be done without further resource and clarity over the structure,
relationship with Welsh Government, relationship with other key
bodies and a clearer sense of accountability. Consideration also
needs to be given as to how national providers and stakeholders can
engage with the RSPs and how learning and data from each
partnership can be used for the benefit of everyone with an
interest in the skills agenda.