Brief No: RBX17-03
October 2003
UNION LEARNING FUND: COLLECTION OF MANAGEMENT
INFORMATION FOR 2002-03 (YEAR 5)
Neil Shaw, Christine Armistead, Sula Sneddon, Matthew Wilton, Emma King
York Consulting Ltd
Introduction
The Union Learning Fund (ULF) was established in 1998 in support of the Government’s objective of creating a
learning society by encouraging the take up of learning in the workplace. The ULF has been evaluated annually for four
years. However this year, on the recommendation of the ‘Evaluation of the Union Learning Fund in Year 4’ (20012002), the management information system was reviewed and a new system was launched. As a result there was no
evaluation of Year 5 and York Consulting Ltd was commissioned to gather basic performance data on live ULF projects
as an interim measure to ensure continuity in 2002-03.
Key Data Findings

The Union Learning Fund in Year 5 (ULF5) has supported a total of 112 projects. This includes 65 new and 47
continuation projects of which 8 were first funded in ULF3 and 39 in ULF4.

The 112 projects supported received funding of £8.1m. Average funding per project was £80,000 and the
average funding per participating union was £200,000.

64 projects reported direct involvement of employers, with 198 employers involved actively and a further 180
partially involved.

The reported key outputs from ULF5 were:
- Approximately 2,000 union learning representatives have been trained;
- Approximately 8,800 people have started a course;
- Approximately 2,000 learners have achieved a qualification.
Background
The Department for Education and Skills requires continuity in collecting appropriate information on the progress of
projects supported through ULF5 and on the extent to which the target outcomes and outputs have been achieved.
The key themes for ULF5 were:
-
Developing systems to support the training and development of union learning representatives (ULRs);
Improving access to learning;
Basic and key skills needs;
Equal opportunity and social exclusion;
Information, Advice and Guidance;
Joint employer/union action on learning and skills;
Small and Medium Enterprises.
Figure 1: Geographical Distribution of Projects
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Table 1: Number of Projects Per Union
Union
n=112
n=82
1)
PCS
2)
POA
3)
AMICUS
4)
BFAWU
5)
NUT
6)
UCATT
7)
EQUITY
8)
TUC
9)
USDAW
10) GPMU
11) CWU
12) UNISON
13) TGWU
14) GMB
15) Other
Total
2
2
3
3
3
3
5
5
5
7
8
9
14
21
22
112
2
2
2
2
3
3
3
4
3
5
5
6
11
13
18
82
id
e
w
nt
ry
ou
C
t
on
Lo
nd
t
W
es
Ea
s
h
So
ut
nd
h
So
ut
nd
s
ng
la
of
E
es
t
Ea
st
M
id
la
ds
la
n
M
id
Ea
st
W
st
Ea
um
be
H
Region
Projects by Theme
The key themes and the number of projects addressing
each theme are presented in Figure 2. Note: Projects can
report multiple themes
Figure 2: Key Themes
100
90
80
70
Number of projects
The analysis is based on two sample sizes (n=112 and
n=82).
Where n=112, this is based on bidding
documentation supplied by DfES and confirmed by
projects in October 2002. Where n=82, this is based on
questionnaire returns from unions in May/June 2003.
Table 1 shows the breakdown of projects by union.
Yo
rk
sh
ire
an
d
th
e
W
or
th
or
th
N
N
Overview of ULF 5
r
N=112
N=82
es
t
Number of projects
In Year 5, ULF had no upper ceiling for bids, and types of
projects that might attract higher levels of funding were
identified as including sector wide projects, rolling
out/mainstreaming or embedding smaller scale activity
throughout a union and/or projects bringing high numbers
of people into learning and that can achieve outputs in line
with the level of funding sought.
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Developing
systems for the
training &
development of
ULRs
Improving
access to
learning
Basic and key
skills needs
Equal
opportunities
and social
exclusion
Key Themes
Information,
advice and
guidance
Joint
Engagement of
employer/union
SMEs
action on
learning and
N=112
skills
N=82
Project Funding
The 112 projects supported received funding of £8.1m.
Average funding per project was £80,000 and the
average funding per participating union was £200,000.
New projects received an average of £80,000 in ULF5
compared with averages of £50,000 for ULF3
continuation projects and £60,000 for ULF4 continuation
projects.
Partnerships
The range of funding for projects is between £10,000
and £554,656 across the 82 projects reporting. 8
projects have received funding of over £100,000, 2 of
which have funding of over £0.5m. 31 projects received
funding between £50,000 and £99,999 and the remaining
43 projects are funded below £49,999.
Projects reported on the numbers and types of
partnership arrangements and the engagement of
employers. Of 82 reporting projects, 7 (8.5%) had a
partnership or learning agreement in place with employers
before their ULF5 project began. 36 (44%) reported
that an agreement had developed with some or all of the
employers they were working with as part of ULF project
activities. Only 2 projects felt that it was unlikely that
they would seek a partnership or learning agreement with
employers. 64 projects reported direct involvement of
employers, with 198 employers involved actively and a
further 180 partially involved.
Projects by Region
Project Outputs for ULF 5
Figure 1 presents the geographical distribution of ULF5
projects throughout England. Countrywide projects have
the highest concentration with 21 (22.1%).
Targets have been split into two sections – core outputs
and additional outputs, which are defined as follows:

core outputs are the outputs that projects have been
targeting over several rounds of ULF, many since the
Fund’s inception;

additional outputs are outputs that are not included
in the core list, but that a number of the Year 5
projects are targeting.
Core Outputs
The core outputs are presented in Table 2 below.
Table 2: Cumulative Core Outputs for ULF 5 n=82
Identifying Learning Needs
Number of people attending
awareness sessions
Number of people undertaking a
training needs analysis
Partnerships
Number of employers engaged in the
project
Learners
Number of LRs trained - initial
Number of LRs trained - advanced
Number of learners starting courses
Number of learners achieving
qualifications
Materials and Resources
Number of Learning centres opened
Number of Materials Developed
Cumulative
Output
Number of
Projects
9575
38
10896
39
229
43
2005
397
8861
53
27
47
2033
24
81
160
21
42
Additional Outputs
The additional outputs and the number of projects
reporting each output are presented in Table 3.
Table 3: Projects reporting additional outputs n=82
Number
of
Outputs
Projects
reporting
Identifying Learning Needs
Number of learners undertaking a basic skills
2747
29
assessment
Learners
Number of learners starting a basic skills
1106
28
course
Number of learners undertaking an accredited
701
14
basic skills course
Number of learners on taster courses
1525
19
Information, Advice and Guidance (IAG)
Number of union members receiving IAG
4528
27
Partnerships
Number of partnerships developed with
173
34
providers
REVIEW OF ULF OUTPUT MEASURES
For a number of measures there were significant variants
on target outputs and actual numbers recorded at the end
of the year. For example, shortfalls occurred in the
number of learners starting courses (shortfall of 56%)
and the number of learners achieving qualifications
(shortfall of 44%). Yet there were increases in other
measures, for example, number of learners on taster
courses (up 200%) and number of union members
receiving IAG (up 340%). It is unclear why this has
occurred, but possible reasons are that projects
managers set unrealistic targets at the outset, or that
there has been a concentration on Union Learning
Representatives at the expense of other activities, or
projects that run over 2-3 years have had had longer
lead-in times than anticipated or had difficulties with
estimating targets for the first year.
Previous reports into ULF (see the Evaluation of the
Union Learning Fund in Year 4) have indicated that the
current standard set of indicators can mask the positive
outputs and innovative activity that projects have
instigated, in particular the ‘additional’ outputs shown
above. One possible solution is to refine existing output
measures to incorporate additional activities that will
enhance the quality of information collected and will
increase the relevance of the core output measures.
Measures fall into two broad groups:

those related to learning activity (awareness, needs
assessment, course development, learner
engagement/qualifications);

those related to union capacity to support learners
(ULR training).
In 2002 a Management Information system was piloted
and in 2003 a new system was launched.
Method
York Consulting undertook an initial analysis of project
bids and prepared a draft summary performance matrix
of objectives, outputs and outcomes for each project.
The draft summary performance matrix for each project
was sent to one key individual – a “union learning manager”
- in each union for comment and agreement. At this stage
the ULF database was updated with the relevant
information for each project including agreed expected
outcomes.
In early March 2003 a copy of the performance matrix
agreed for each project was sent to each of the unions’
learning managers. The union managers were asked to
update the matrix for each project, reporting on actual
results for each of the performance areas and adding
additional outcomes, and the ULF database was again
updated to reflect actual results.
Additional information
Copies of this Research Brief (RBX17-03) are available
free of charge from DfES Publications, PO Box 5050,
Sherwood Park, Annesley, Nottingham NG15 0DJ, (tel:
0845 60 222 60). Research Briefs and Research Reports
can also be accessed at www.dfes.gov.uk/research/
Further information about this research can be obtained
from Susanna Greenwood, N611, DfES, Moorfoot,
Sheffield S1 4PQ.
Email: susanna.greenwood@dfes.gsi.gov.uk
The views expressed in this report are the authors’ and
do not necessarily reflect those of the Department for
Education and Skills