Under Stockport Labour, Stockport’s Adult Education and Skills service has seen significant improvements, according to Ofsted. The latest report states ‘Governors, senior leaders and managers have successfully rectified all the weaknesses identified at the previous inspection, and have maintained the aspects that were good.’

Furthermore, the report identifies significant improvements in terms of the leadership in these areas from the Council compared to a previous report made in 2016. Ofsted’s May 2016 report noted that the then Lib-Dem ‘Council leaders (did) not challenge sufficiently to bring about secure improvements.’

Now, Ofsted believe ‘senior leaders and managers have successfully amended courses, so that adults develop the skills they need for future work’, meaning that current learners make ‘good progress on their courses. They develop relevant knowledge and skills that help them to achieve their personal goals and aspirations.’

The service provides English, mathematics and employability courses and qualifications for more than 850 adult learners every year, supporting people who are facing some of the most challenging circumstances to improve their chances of gaining employment or progressing in work.

Stockport Labour’s Cabinet Member for Education, Cllr Dean Fitzpatrick said:
“I am very pleased to see the hard work we have put in alongside officers paying off with this report. This represents a vindication of the clear vision and hard work this administration has put into ensuring lifelong learning can benefit everybody in Stockport.

“We have worked to target work readiness and skills amongst the groups which can benefit from them the most.

“As such, I am pleased to see us reaching more than double the percentage of learners from priority groups, up from 18 percent in 2016 to being on target for 42 percent this year. Not only that, we have also seen more than a doubling of those who go on to find work and employment through the service.

“As a Labour administration we have been clear that our priorities are to ensure everyone can benefit from a growing economy in Stockport. As such I can think of no better reflection of our efforts than the findings in this report.

“This represents great news; however we will be continuing our efforts to make the Adult Education and Skills service the best it can be for the people of Stockport. ”

 

The Ofsted report was released on 17th April 2018 and is available