Agenda item

The Portfolio Holder for Housing and Community Services will attend the meeting to give account of his performance against Council targets in his portfolio for matters in the remit of this committee. 

Discussion:

The Portfolio Holder for Housing and Community Services, Councillor Doe, addressed the committee advising that it had been a difficult year for adult learning services due to the downturn in the economy and as a result less people had attended courses but that it was still on course to break even in financial terms.

The committee was also advised that the Adult Learning Centre at Green Street, Gillingham was in the last stages of being vacated and re-located to a newer building with eight classrooms in order to concentrate on its successful training operation. Another success had been joint work with the Job Centre and Employ Medway Programme to assist 179 people through courses to help them prepare for employment. Members were informed that the adult learning course brochure had been delivered to all homes in Medway and the future of the service included more courses and better presentation of the service in its new location in Gillingham and at the community hub in Rochester.

The committee asked:

·        What did the courses to help people back in to employment entail?

Councillor Doe responded that this varied for each individual but could cover basic skills, such as reading and writing, developing and establishing confidence and how to dress appropriately for a job interview.

·        How many centres for adult learning were located in Medway and where were they located?

Councillor Doe advised that it operated in Rochester and Gillingham and other courses took place at Rochester Grammar school, Hundred of Hoo school, Chatham Grammar school and Strood Academy. There were also classes for adults with learning difficulties at Woodlands school.

·        How were classes for older people, with a non-training element, faring? For example manual dexterity classes (such as craftwork) for people with arthritis

The Portfolio Holder advised that this area of the service had been declining over a period of time, particularly in ICT. It seemed that a lot of people had now gained the basic skills and the demand was no longer there. Economically, older people in particular, were struggling with their finances. In the future it was hoped that there would be more emphasis on health and wellbeing with courses to help keep older people’s minds active – for their quality of life and to live healthier for longer. Councillor Doe added that there were now better premises for craftwork activities based in Rochester.

·        Whether courses to learn a second language were being used, especially for languages such as Cantonese and Japanese?

Councillor Doe responded that the uptake for this was generally down on previous years. There was some interest in Japanese but the main incentive to learn a second language came from holiday travel. Chinese language lessons were generally taken up by schools and Mid Kent College for younger people.

·        What income was received through sponsorship from the private and public sector?

The Portfolio Holder stated that the level of sponsorship received for this service was very small but that government sponsorship had steadily declined.

·        Whether the total number of people attending courses had declined?

Councillor Doe responded that overall the numbers attending adult learning courses had fallen. The 16–18 age group had been most severely affected with a decline of 32%. Apprenticeships had fallen by 3% and the adult skills budget had reduced by 9%. He believed that people would only attend depending on their financial circumstances, if they could afford it on top of their basic outgoings.

Decision:

The committee thanked Councillor Doe for his presentation and the answers he had provided to the issues raised.