County council still falling short on adult education

West Sussex County Council (WSCC) is still not doing enough to manage education for adults and young people.
No Caption ABCDE ENGSUS00320130909074203No Caption ABCDE ENGSUS00320130909074203
No Caption ABCDE ENGSUS00320130909074203

The service, which the council sub-contracts to education charity Aspire Sussex Ltd, was rated ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted last year – and a recent monitoring inspection found some concerns had not been addressed.

Records of safeguarding incidents had been judged as weak. In his report, published on February 17, lead inspector Bob Cowdrey said: “At this visit it was apparent that WSCC managers had done little to remedy this weakness. It is important that issues raised are resolved appropriately.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Mr Cowdrey also noted that, although senior WSCC managers were represented on Aspire’s board of trustees, the council continued to “take insufficient responsibility for managing the contract”.

A council spokesman said a robust improvement plan had been developed since the last inspection and would be discussed by the children and young people’s services select committee on March 9.

She added: “Whilst some work has already taken place, we realise there is still more to be done.”

The spokesman pointed out the service had been rated ‘good’ in three areas, including the quality of teaching.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Mr Cowdrey acknowledged improvements in the teaching in English and maths and said more students were staying on their courses than in previous years.

He also recognised the work carried out to protect learners from the risk of radicalisation or extremism, but said it was too soon to judge whether these actions have made an impact.

Councillor Chirs Oxlade (Lab, Bewbush and Ifield West) called the report “condemning” and “very embarrassing for West Sussex”.

He added: “Aspire have done their best under very difficult circumstances with very little leadership or management of the contract.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“Without the leadership of WSCC to manage the service, it’s a downward spiral.

“The buck stops at the county council and it’s clear in the Ofsted report that that’s who they hold responsible.”

Don’t miss out on all the latest breaking news where you live.

Here are four ways you can be sure you’ll be amongst the first to know what’s going on.

1) Make our website your homepage

2) Like our Facebook page

3) Follow us on Twitter

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

4) Register with us by clicking on ‘sign in’ (top right corner). You can then receive our daily newsletter AND add your point of view to stories that you read here.

And do share with your family and friends - so they don’t miss out!

Always the first with your local news.

Be part of it.