In The News
As the next General Election approaches, there will be an increased need for the education sector to engage with political parties, MPs, and peers.
Representative bodies will be pushing to win a place for their policies in manifestos. Meetings with ministers and shadow ministers will be sought. Issues that have been highlighted for years and years will again be pushed into the spotlight.
One issue that has become a running sore for specialist colleges, which deliver to over-16s with special educational needs and disabilities, is a lack of capital funding. As our contributor Ruth Perry, senior policy manager for Natspec, states in her piece this month, specialist colleges have been cut out of the capital funding available from local and central government.
Local authorities have instead spent the cash on schools while the Department for Education has excluded specialist colleges from capital funding for the FE sector. This has left specialist college buildings in need of repair while staff search high and low for funding to maintain them. All the while, these buildings are supposed to be used to deliver to the most vulnerable learners.
The government's long-awaited SEND and AP Improvement Plan, published in March, acknowledged concerns about how specialist colleges were integrated into the education system and about the "variable approaches to commissioning and funding that colleges experience from the local authorities".
However, as Ruth stated in an article for FE Week, bold reforms to address the issues affecting 16-25 SEND provision were "sadly, not to be found" in the plan.
So how can engagement with MPs, peers, ministers, and officials be leveraged to draw attention and spark action on policy areas? As part of this edition, we offer providers our expert advice on how to build a coalition of support among local MPs.
Efforts by the further education and skills sector to lobby politicians have been building. Last October, the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, Association of Colleges and City and Guilds announced they were forming a Future Skills Coalition to campaign on key policy issues.
Many colleges and providers may also be engaging with mayoral combined authorities, which have been assuming control of their local adult education budget.
All the while, the universities and schools sectors will be lobbying policymakers as well, making for a crowded market where the FE and skills sector will have to work hard to make its voice heard.
So what are the issues that the sector needs to be raising and how can it do so effectively?
Opinion
This month, Natspec's senior policy manager Ruth Perry sets out how the specialist college estate has been degraded without adequate capital funding which is why, she argues, the sector needs a dedicated money pot.
Government once again reminds us in the SEND and AP Improvement Plan that it is investing £2.6bn over three years for capital programmes to deliver new places and improve existing provision for children and young people with SEND. Good news for specialist FE colleges, surely? Well, no – not really. These funds are administered by local authorities who have a track record of spending SEND capital funding almost exclusively on school-aged children. Recent analysis by Special Needs Jungle found that less than one per cent of the previous round of SEND capital funding had made its way into FE and early years settings combined.
But hold on, you might be thinking, there’s a dedicated FE Capital Transformation Fund. Surely specialist FE colleges could be making use of the £1.5bn set aside for upgrading the FE estate? Unfortunately, despite being entirely state-funded, specialist colleges are not eligible for the Transformation Fund which is restricted to general FE colleges, designated institutions and sixth form colleges.
Specialist FE colleges are having to rely on an average of £20,000 per year of capital funding derived from the annual devolved formula capital (DFC) and school condition allocations (SCA). These funds are intended to contribute to the upkeep of buildings, rather than to enable significant improvement works or new builds. And while schools can top up their annual allocations via bids to the school condition improvement fund, there is no equivalent pot for specialist colleges.
A 2021 survey of Natspec member colleges found that 53 per cent of colleges had buildings in need of repair either urgently (18 per cent) or within the next two years (35 per cent)
Nearly all specialist colleges need repairs in next 8 years
It’s now over ten years since government allocated dedicated capital funding to specialist FE colleges (a £15m fund over two years that benefitted only a small number of colleges). In the meantime, college buildings are falling into disrepair, improvement plans are on hold and capacity-building projects remain stuck on the drawing board.
A 2021 survey of Natspec member colleges found that 53 per cent of colleges had buildings in need of repair either urgently (18 per cent) or within the next two years (35 per cent). Ninety-six per cent of colleges said that their buildings would need repairs within 10 years. Colleges described failing boilers, leaking roofs and gutters, draughty single-glazed windows and modular buildings reaching the end of their lives. They also explained how the existing configuration of teaching spaces was limiting access for learners in wheelchairs and those requiring a range of bulky equipment to hand. In some cases, recently acquired buildings were still awaiting the re-fits needed to accommodate learners with more complex needs.
Environmental and curriculum improvements are being held back with colleges unable, for example, to introduce accessible gym or outdoor equipment or to develop their vocational offer through the addition of new catering facilities or cafes, garages for car maintenance, or greenhouses. For some, expansion to meet local demand for highly specialist places or co-locating provision with a general FE college to enable greater integration for learners, remains a pipe dream without the capital investment required.
Others have had to rely on donations, fundraising and use of reserves, none of which is sustainable.
Government should ensure learners are not disadvantaged
This is not an equitable way to fund specialist FE colleges who provide for some of the most vulnerable learners within the state-funded education system. In the SEND and AP Improvement Plan, government promises ‘to work with the sector to review the way the Department for Education defines and manages specialist further education and to consider what changes could be made to reinforce [specialist colleges’] integrated position within the wider further education sector.’
One sure fire way would be to announce a new capital improvement fund dedicated to ESFA-funded specialist FE colleges. They could follow that up by making specialist FE colleges eligible for future FE capital funding rounds.
That way, government could help ensure that learners with the most complex needs are no longer disadvantaged by the poor quality of their physical learning environment or treated less favourably than their peers in general FE colleges.
Expert Advice
When you need your MP’s support – for securing capital funding, challenging a negative Ofsted report, or lobbying for regulatory change – there are several actions you can take to attract their attention to your provider.
1. Letter-writing
One of the most elementary of ways to open a dialogue with your MP is to write them a letter on behalf of your provider.
While it is a simple and often effective way to communicate with your MP, that means everyone will be doing it. MPs’ offices receive large volumes of letters so it’s important that you make yours stand out as much as possible.
The most vital part of your letter is the first line which should set out what you are looking for. For example, if you are inviting the MP on a visit to your provider, state that in the first line, and say that they will have the opportunity to meet with students and staff. The first line could also highlight any connections you have with local businesses, which are key stakeholders with which MPs are keen to engage.
If appropriate, the letter could also offer local and social media opportunities for the MP. You can say that your provider would release a story to the local media about the visit and publish a post on social media highlighting the visit and giving the MP some positive coverage.
Be sure to follow the letter up, perhaps with a phone call or email, if you don’t hear back from the MP. As stated, their offices receive a heavy mail bag, so you need to be making multiple attempts to contact them.
2. Engagement events
MPs will be attending events all year round. School assemblies, the opening of new GP surgeries, animal shelters – with the general election coming up, MPs will be keen for the opportunity to press the flesh of their constituents.
MPs will also attend regular business breakfasts and lunches, organised by local representative organisations such as the Chamber of Commerce or Business Improvement District. If you can secure an invite to one of these events, it will give you the opportunity to have a quick conversation with your MP and open the door to building a relationship with them.
You should get in touch, if you are not already, with local business bodies to see when such events are planned.
Alternatively, you could consider organising your own roundtable event on a relevant topic. For example, Bridgehead Education ran a roundtable event in Norwich with the chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for FE and Lifelong Learning Peter Aldous MP last year. This was attended by a number of college and provider leaders who discussed how to meet Britain's post-Brexit, post-Covid skills needs.
3. Media coverage
Securing coverage in newspapers, on broadcast media, or social media will help grab the attention of your MP and their staff.
Unless your MP has a particular interest in the education and skills sector, local media coverage is what you should be aiming for as the MP is more likely to hear about you in the local media, rather than the industry press. That means town and district newspapers, local BBC radio stations, and perhaps local Facebook groups.
Your provider ought to get in the habit of sending press releases to the local media. The release ought to focus on something you want to highlight to local stakeholders, including the MP. Perhaps that is a lack of apprenticeship opportunities in the local area, anti-social behaviour, or an initiative you are launching with a local company, like a student-run business on-site.
Once the story is picked up by the local media, you can also include a copy or a link to that in your letter to the MP. Or you can mention it when you speak to them at the business breakfast. Do not rely on the MP coming across the story by themselves. Put it in front of them.
4. Visits to your centres
Once you have sent a letter to your MP, or met them at an event, or they’ve seen your story in the local paper, they will be more willing to visit your provider and meet staff and students.
A visit is a fantastic opportunity to raise with the MP issues that are affecting your provider, both local and national. But do not load them with all your problems. Give the MP an opportunity to tour your facilities and speak with as many students as they can first.
Once the tour is over, you can sit down with them for the discussion. Invite several members of staff and students to join the meeting so it feels more like a roundtable discussion than a lecture. The conversation ought to be as free-flowing and relaxed as can be. Let the MP ask questions and probe a little deeper into the issues you raise.
Building a relationship with your local MPs may take time and resources. However, with the General Election fast approaching, it is worthwhile investigating the other major-party candidates who will be standing in the constituency. They will have much greater availability than the MP but will be keen to meet with local people and secure media coverage.
Through these methods, you can lay the foundations of a broader, ongoing campaign to achieve the changes you want.