Learning and Skills Council Greater Manchester

The Learning and Skills Council Greater Manchester is an organisation with important duties to make learning more inclusive, to widen participation, identify and help stamp out unlawful discrimination and promote equality of opportunity for all learners. It will contribute to tackling social and economic disadvantage by removing barriers to post 16 education and training. The Learning and Skills Council’s commitment to equality and diversity is absolute and central to its overall mission.

Disability

The number of disabled people as a proportion of the total working age population is estimated to be nearly twenty percent in Greater Manchester. This is higher than many other areas in the country.

Unemployment among the disabled can be up to twice that on non-disabled, a fact confirmed by previous research in the North West, which found that:

• Individuals with limiting long term illness are approximately six percent more likely to become unemployed than a ‘baseline’ average for the area; and
• Disabled people are significantly less likely to enter employment following a period of training against a similar benchmark.

Work experience arrangements

The Learning and Skills Council Greater Manchester will have regard to the needs of learners who are disabled when providing work experience, since such learners often require extra resources when they attend a work experience placement.

Access to good quality provision

The Learning and Skills Council Greater Manchester will:

• Carry out a regular audit of provision and support for disabled learners;
• Work with Learning Partnerships to improve access to post-16 provision;
• Work with Local Education Authorities to develop continuity and coherence in transition and to improve provision for adult and community learners;
• Ensure that providers comply with disability legislation;
• Ensure that providers address the needs of disabled people in accordance with the requirements that are set out in the Common Inspection Framework and the Learning and Skills guidance on self-assessment and development plans;
• Ensure that providers comply with the specific guidance for disabled learners i.e. the quality standards in the Tomlinson Report ‘Inclusive Learning’, and take account of guidance and good practice issued by the Council;
• Have arrangements in place to ensure that sufficient and appropriate support is available for ALL learners with additional support needs.

To find out more about the Learning and Skills Council Greater Manchester visit the website (click here)

 
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