Sefton Community Learning Provision

Sefton Community Learning Service (SCLS) provides post 19 education opportunities on behalf of Sefton Council. The service sits within the Investment and Employment Department. The Manager Lifelong Learning leads the service, supported by a management team comprising of an Assistant Manager 2 Curriculum officers a Teaching and Learning Advocate and a Community Engagement Officer.
The service offers a range of accredited, non-accredited learning opportunities, funded by the Education Skills Funding Agency.
According to the 2011 Census Sefton’s population is 273,800 (this has fallen by 2.6% in the last ten years). The population is made up of 131,200 males and 142,500 females. Less than 2% of the population are from non-white minority ethnic groups (7% of learners are from non-white minority ethnic groups). Sefton is a borough of wide variations, with some of the most affluent and most deprived areas in the region and corresponding differences in unemployment and qualification levels. The service targets provision at the more deprived areas of the borough aimed towards attracting learners from areas of deprivation with low level or no formal qualifications.

Funded by the Skills Funding Agency, the service is designed to help Sefton residents of different ages, abilities and backgrounds to
• Obtain a new skill
• Re-connect with learning
• Narrow gaps between abilities
• Prepare people to enter the employment market
• Maximise opportunities to benefit the wider community through shared knowledge and skills
• Follow an interest
• Prepare to progress to formal courses
• Learn how to support their children better

Scope

Sefton Council’s Community Learning Service has been allocated funding from the Education Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) for revenue projects throughout Sefton, for which the Council would like to contract providers to design and deliver innovative adult learning courses for the academic year 2017 – 2018.

Programmes will be classed as “local flexibility” (formally Community Learning ) between 6 and 44 guided learning hours, focused on adults aged 19+ years residing in Sefton.


The Contracted Provision will be broken down into 2 Lots for the following amounts:

Lot 1 £31,750 – it is anticipated that the successful bidder will recruit a minimum of 250 learners at a maximum cost of £127 per learner

Lot 2 £31,750 – it is anticipated that the successful bidder will recruit a minimum of 250 learners at a maximum cost of £127 per learner


It is envisaged that these Lots will support the residents of Sefton by providing a diverse range of learning opportunities to learners traditionally hard to engage and /or from disadvantaged wards.

To ensure a varied range of projects are offered to accommodate different learner requirements, the Council reserves the right to award any number of projects to one or more Provider.