Given the Coalition deficit reduction agenda, it can’t be easy working for the Skills Funding Agency right now. However, the organisation’s Helen France and Mark Williams made all the right noises for the sector at a Learning Partnership for Cornwall & the Isles of Scilly event in Bodmin on  Friday 2nd July.

In a presentation to learning providers from across the county, France, a Senior Account Manager with special responsibility for ESF, recognised the gravity of the likely cuts for her department. However, she reassured delegates, “the department will look to itself for cuts first, and will do everything it can to protect frontline budgets.”

She promised the Agency would soften the blow with a series of measures to free up providers from excessive regulation. “What you do is right for the people of Cornwall,” she continued, committing to abolish the burdensome Summary Statement of Activities that providers have, up to now, been compelled to file.

Williams, the SFA’s Head of Provider Accounts in Cornwall, was also upbeat. He focused on the Convergence projects co-financed by the EU and the SFA, tentatively preparing the ground for Convergence’s second phase, which runs from 2011-2014.

In June, a number of co-financing launch events were cancelled as the new government began its dissection of government spending. Williams acknowledged this has delayed Convergence projects, stating, “I can’t see us doing anything in terms of specifications until after the Comprehensive Spending Review.” However, he hopes to get round two off the ground in January 2011.

Williams also revealed the investment themes for Convergence 2011-14: -

1 Next Generation Access
2 Green Cornwall
3 Newquay Airport
4 Rural Communities
5 Best Start for Young People
6 Third Sector
7 Public Sector Leadership

Helen France and Mark Williams’ Skills Funding Agency presentation can be downloaded here.

The event featured three other presentations, which should also be of interest to VCS organisations: -
1 Stephen Horscroft (Economic Intelligence Manager with the Economic Development Service, Cornwall Council) presented a detailed picture of the state of skills in Cornwall. DOWNLOAD HERE.
2 Bob Powell (HOLEX) gave an entertaining analysis of what the statements about skills funding by Coalition government ministers really mean. DOWNLOAD HERE.
3 George Arkless provided an explanation of what the new Qualification & Credit Framework means to providers, as illustrated by this animation.