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Welcome to FE Soundbite Edition 788: 15th March 2025 | What will the impact of the Health and Disability Green Paper be on Skills and Jobs?
This week’s Soundbite is sponsored by "The CLA InPractice Online Conference"
This is the weekly e-newsletter and e-journal by FE News: ISSN 2732-4095. We know life is busy, so here is a snapshot of the latest announcements and epic thought leadership articles from sector influencers and cool thinkers across FE and Skills this week on FE News
Soundbite Sponsor Spotlight
The CLA InPractice Online Conference for Further Education is a free event at 1pm on the 20th of March, 2025, focused on copyright and intellectual property in education.
Experts will discuss trends, AI in teaching, and copyright licensing, offering insights and solutions for Further Education professionals. The event aims to address key challenges in the sector and explore innovations in technology and content use.
Gavin’s Reflective Perspective
Next week, the highly anticipated Health and Disability Green Paper is expected. How will this address and support people that are long-term sick, disabled people and even NEETs back into work and education?
Stephen Evans from the Learning and Work Institute wrote a really interesting article this week about unpacking three tests for the upcoming Health and Disability Benefit Green Paper. I highly recommend checking it out.
We need a system-thinking approach to tackle these challenges!
The interconnectedness of our skills and employment challenges has never been more apparent. Ben Knocks' article on the NEET crisis unpacks new ways to tackle the NEET crisis (which is nearly 1 million young people are now not in education, employment, or training)... a figure that's grown by over 110,000 in just 12 months! Ben highlights the local impact for his college in North Somerset as 8.9% of 16-17-year-olds are NEET, well above regional and national averages.
Ben's article is really interesting, as it looks at how to tackle the NEET crisis with an interconnected and systems-thinking approach. As Ben discusses NEET Assessment Hubs and trauma-informed approaches, joining this with Jay Williams' insights on mind mapping shows how alternative learning strategies could be mainstreamed to support those individuals currently falling through the cracks.
Will the Green Paper have a holistic and big-picture view, or will it be all about driving down the Benefits Bill?
So HOW could the Green Paper fix our skills and employment crisis? Or is it all about cutting the Benefits bill?
It isn't just throwing money at the problem.. or even more worryingly, potentially cutting huge chunks of money; it needs a system-wide strategy and one that spans Government departments (DfE, DWP, Health and Treasury need to be lined up on this)!
...but how do we support NEETs, the disabled and long-term sick, those that are economically inactive, supporting loved ones? As Ben Knocks highlights, these are people. How do we support them, especially if there are complex needs from Trauma, to County Lines to Neurodiversity?
These people need support, I am concerned that instead there could be a blunt tool used to pound down the Benefits Bill (which is predicted to be £100 Billion in 2030, eg five years time)! The Prime Minister's announcement of massive changes and job cuts to NHS England and middle management this week demonstrates this approach. What's worse, the BBC broke the story before the individuals affected were properly informed by the NHS, forcing them to learn about potential job losses from a BBC news article. Let's hope the Government handles the Benefit reforms with a bit more sophistication and thinks about the individuals, not the numbers! Previous Governments haven't been exactly delicate with this!
Further Forward
I loved the Further Forward conference this week from Education and Training Foundation, this was basically bringing leaders together to look at System thinking approaches and ways of working, developing trust and exploring ways to take Further Education and Skills forward... but with a big picture systems thinking approach. We need much more of this, so thanks ETF for making this happen.
I loved Palvinder Singh's video discussing system leadership and value-led leadership.
AI Governance in FE and Skills
Digital transformation must be part of the holistic solution too. I really enjoyed Richard Foster Fletcher’s article unpacking some forward thinking on AI Governance in FE and Skills. I would highly recommend checking it out.
We also launched the new Innovation in Assessment Live stream season with NCFE this week. Ep1 was all about Inclusion. As Assessment has to be inclusive. This was a cracking episode. Check it out!
I hope you enjoy FE Soundbite this week.
Also, a massive thank you to CLA who are sponsoring FE Soundbite this week.
Epic Exclusives Thought Leadership Articles
Our Top 3 Thought Leadership Articles This Week
Firstly, Shaping The Future of Apprenticeships By Alison Morris, Head of Policy Skills Federation; Ann Watson, CEO of Enginuity and Justine Fosh, CEO of Cogent Skills
Secondly, Three tests for the Government’s health and disability benefit Green Paper By Stephen Evans, Chief Executive of Learning and Work Institute
Finally, From Classrooms to Boardrooms: How STEM Education is Reshaping Africa’s Tech Landscape By Khalid Baddou, Director of Institutional Affairs, University Mohammed VI Polytechnic (UM6P)
This week, we also had some other Epic Exclusives!
What’s New in the World of FE?
Further Forward - Event
Innovation in Assessment - Livestream
Reports
Voices
In The Know
Join us live 10am - 10.30am on Tuesday 18th March. Ep2 is all about data!
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We hope you enjoy FE Soundbite this week. Stay curious, keep innovating, and let's shake up the world of FE together – catch you next week!
By Danny O’Meara, Digital Project Manager, FE News
By Gavin O’Meara, CEO and Founder, FE News and FE Careers
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