GLA Anchor Support Programme
Open to organisations across the energy and utilities sector, the 2023 Inclusion Measurement Framework aims to provide clear evidence of where the sector, and individual employers, can take action to move diversity and inclusion forward.
The Mayor’s Skills Roadmap for London highlighted that adult education providers form a vital component of London’s infrastructure, contributing immensely to the communities that they serve, through the learning that they provide, by serving as local employers and through their supply chains.
The Mayor is committed to and ambitious for further and higher education providers to lead by example in their local communities, particularly those who are anchor institutions. He set three expectations of these providers in the Roadmap. These included being ‘good employers’ that meet or are working towards the Mayor’s Good Work Standard (GWS) including by paying a living wage, that they maintain a skilled, representative and inclusive workforce, and in addition, it also includes playing their part in helping London to become a net zero-carbon city by 2030.
Purpose of the Anchor Support Programme
The GLA recognises that providers are starting from different positions on their journeys to demonstrate progress against each of these expectations. To support providers meet these expectations, the GLA has published three toolkits with guidance, best practice, case studies and support.
However, the GLA’s engagement with stakeholders had identified demand for additional bespoke one-to-one support, as well as, the opportunity to learn from peers and those going through similar changes, as well as a forum to be able to discuss more nuanced challenges such how to bring about cultural change in their respective organisation.
For this purpose, the GLA has commissioned The Equal Group to deliver a 1:1 and small group coaching tailored support programme to 20 adult education providers to provide more intensive support to meet the expectations in the Mayors’ Skills Roadmap to:
The Mayor is committed to and ambitious for further and higher education providers to lead by example in their local communities, particularly those who are anchor institutions. He set three expectations of these providers in the Roadmap. These included being ‘good employers’ that meet or are working towards the Mayor’s Good Work Standard (GWS) including by paying a living wage, that they maintain a skilled, representative and inclusive workforce, and in addition, it also includes playing their part in helping London to become a net zero-carbon city by 2030.
Purpose of the Anchor Support Programme
The GLA recognises that providers are starting from different positions on their journeys to demonstrate progress against each of these expectations. To support providers meet these expectations, the GLA has published three toolkits with guidance, best practice, case studies and support.
However, the GLA’s engagement with stakeholders had identified demand for additional bespoke one-to-one support, as well as, the opportunity to learn from peers and those going through similar changes, as well as a forum to be able to discuss more nuanced challenges such how to bring about cultural change in their respective organisation.
For this purpose, the GLA has commissioned The Equal Group to deliver a 1:1 and small group coaching tailored support programme to 20 adult education providers to provide more intensive support to meet the expectations in the Mayors’ Skills Roadmap to:
- Be inclusive organisations that are representative of the communities they serve at all levels
- Meet or be working towards the Mayor’s Good Work Standard
The programme will target:
- 10 London based Further Education Colleges and
- 10 London based Independent Training Providers (ITPs)
Indicative activities include (but not limited to)
- Workshops giving providers dedicated time and space to work out how they can apply the content in the toolkits in practice within their organisation, share case studies, best practice, and learn from experts. Workshops should provide sector benchmarking and look at baseline data to enable providers to identify strategies for change.
- Coaching sessions to help providers implement the content of the toolkits, and to work through any challenges that are unique to their organisation and might not be covered in the toolkit (for example, complicated governance processes or challenges getting approval or buy-in from colleagues).
- Dedicated time and bespoke one-to-one support to develop an action plan to meet the expectations in the mayor’s Skills Roadmap for London to become more inclusive and representative employers and to meet the GWS
- Access to a community of practice with other providers, to share common experiences, successes, challenges and provide peer support, to stimulate sector-wide action on workforce diversity and inclusion and the Good Work Standard.
The benefits to participating providers include:
- Becoming Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion leaders in London’s adult education sector.
- Increased employee satisfaction, retention, and progression, by developing a more inclusive workplace and following best employment practices.
- Access to a network of peer support, and the ability to build connections with other providers who are on the same journey and may be experiencing similar challenges.
Key success metrics and outputs for this programme will be:
- 20 providers to have developed bespoke action plans for how they will develop more inclusive and representative workforces.
- Up to 20 providers becoming accredited Living Wage employers, as a step towards meeting the GWS (advice from the Living Wage Foundation is that large employers can be accredited within 6 months, but this can vary depending on the types of contracts organisations have and when these are due for renewal).
- Up to 20 providers to have met the GWS after 1 year.
- More Londoners from underrepresented groups to be represented in the FE workforce at all levels.
- The establishment of a network of ambassadors, made up of providers demonstrating excellence or best practice, as role models for others in the sector to learn from Suppliers will be expected to monitor and track progress against the achievement of the above success metrics, working with the GLA where required.
Recruitment of Providers for the Anchor Support Programme
On behalf of the GLA, we invite providers to send in their interest to participate in the Anchor Support Programme. The selection and recruitment of the providers will be on first come first serve basis.
Time Commitment
This is a 12 - month programme of support fully funded by the GLA. The supplier will agree with each individual provider a mutually agreeable time commitment. The attached appendix provides an overview of the programme wide activities that will be available to providers.
If you are interested in participating in this programme, please kindly fill in the form below.