Plans and policies

Updated: 14th August 2024

Safeguarding Policy 2023-24

Statement

Calderdale Adult Learning (CAL) has a statutory and moral duty to safeguard everyone. CAL is committed to providing a safe learning environment that is based upon well-being; personal safety and security essential for all learners, staff and volunteers.

This policy aims to:

Raise awareness of issues relating to the physical and emotional wellbeing of everyone to promote a safe environment in which to learn.
Help with identification of those at risk of significant harm and to provide procedures for reporting concerns.
Establish procedures for reporting and dealing with allegations of abuse against members of staff.
Ensure the safe recruitment of staff.

CAL takes its duty of pastoral care seriously and will be proactive in seeking to prevent adults at risk becoming the victims of abuse or neglect. It will do this in a number of ways:

Through the creation of an open culture which respects all individuals' rights, discourages bullying and discrimination of all kinds and, while recognising the right to freedom of speech, does not accept the expression of violent extremist views.
By identifying a senior member of staff who has overall responsibility for adults at risk matters and a Safeguarding Team, who will receive training in this field and act as a source of advice and support to other CAL staff especially tutors and front-of-house staff.
By informing adults at risk of their rights to be free from harm and encouraging them to talk to CAL staff if they have any concerns.
Through an on-going programme of support, at an appropriate level, to promote self-esteem and social inclusion and address the issue of the protection of adults with support and care needs.

CAL's Policy Statement complements the Calderdale Safeguarding Board (CSB). This comprises:

The Calderdale Safeguarding Children Partnership

The safeguarding partners, include Calderdale MBC, West Yorkshire Police and Calderdale Clinical Commissioning Group, who have a shared and equal duty to make arrangements to work together to safeguard and promote the welfare of all children in a local area.

Calderdale statutory partners together with representatives from schools, the voluntary sector and all organisations working with children, young people and families have a duty to work together to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.

The Calderdale Safeguarding Adults Board

Consisting of a Safeguarding Board, Business Group and various Sub Groups. The Board has an Independent Chair who provides leadership for the Board and ensures that it operates effectively. A team of staff support the work of the Board and its sub-groups.

In developing the policies and procedures, CAL recognises that its practices are also bound by a broad framework of legislation which includes:

Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act (2006)
The Protection of Freedoms Act (2012)
Protection of Children's Act (1999)
Framework for the assessment of children in need and their families (2000)
Children Act (1989 and 2004)
Working Together (2018)
Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations (2014)
Data Protection Act (2018)
Human Rights Act (1998)
Protection from Harassment Act (1997)
Equality Act (2010)
Safer Recruitment in Education (2019)
The Education Act (2011)
What to do if you are Worried a Child is being Abused (2015)
Keeping Children Safe in Education(2018 and 2020) • Mental Capacity Act (2005). • Mental Health Act (2007) • Care Act (2014)
Further Education (Providers of Education) (England) Regulations (2006)
Coronavirus (COVID-19): changes to the Care Act 2014 (2020)
Review of sexual abuse in schools and colleges - GOV.UK – review published summer 2021

This policy (and future updates) will be communicated to key staff through senior management, curriculum meetings and staff induction. This will ensure that accurate and updated information is cascaded to all staff within their designated teams.

Prevent Duty

In accordance with the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015, there is a statutory duty on colleges/training providers to “have due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism”. This is known as the Prevent duty.

Calderdale Adult Learning (CAL) has a strong commitment to its obligations under the Counter Terrorism and Security Act 2015 and its duty to stop people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism. This is a safeguarding role ensuring that processes are in place to support those who may become susceptible to violent extreme ideologies that support illegal terrorist activity either here or abroad.

The Prevent Duty Section 26 contained within this legislation does not prevent learners and staff from having political or religious views and concerns, but contains details on how they might use these concerns or act on them in a non-extremist way.

This policy is designed to provide a clear framework to structure and inform our response to safeguarding concerns for those people who may be vulnerable to extremism and/or radicalisation. These people include children, young people and vulnerable adults.

Why Safeguarding is necessary at CAL

CAL staff have contact with children through open days, family learning classes and other community learning opportunities. We also support adults at risk in their studies, not only by including courses specifically for adults with learning and other disabilities in our course offer, but by facilitating their participation in our main and community outreach programmes.

Section 175 of the Education Act 2011, which reinforces the Children Act 1989, places a statutory duty on governing bodies of schools and colleges to promote the welfare and safety of children. The Department for Education's "Keeping children safe in education" provides statutory guidance for schools and colleges. The Safeguarding of Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 and the Further Education (Providers of Education) (England) Regulations 2006 extend this statutory duty to adults at risk.

Definitions of Persons

Learner

The term 'learner' for this policy covers all learners who study at either our main learning centre or at any of the other outreach and community centres.

Child

In accordance with The Children Act 1989 and 2004 and therefore in accordance with law, CAL shall regard any young person below the age of 18 as a child. Young people aged 18 and over may in some circumstances be regarded as vulnerable and may therefore fall within the remit of the Act.

Adults at Risk

People with care and support needs, such as people with disabilities, are more likely to be abused or neglected. They may be seen as an easy target and may be less likely to identify abuse themselves or to report it. People with communication difficulties can be particularly at risk because they may not be able to alert others. Sometimes people may not even be aware that they are being abused and this is especially likely if they have a cognitive impairment.

Definition of abuse

Abuse of children and young People

Child abuse is any action by another person – adult or child – that causes harm to a child. It can be physical, sexual or emotional, but can just as often be about a lack of love, care and attention i.e. neglect. All forms of abuse can have long lasting damaging effects on the child.

An abused child will often experience more than one type of abuse, as well as other difficulties in their lives. It often happens over a period of time, rather than being a one off event and it can increasingly happen online.

Abuse of adults at risk (aged 18 or more)

This means an adult at risk of abuse or neglect. This is an adult who has care and support needs and who is unable to protect themselves from abuse or neglect because of their care and support needs. In a small number of cases, it may include an adult with support needs, such as an unpaid carer of someone with care and support needs. It might be because of their age, mental/physical incapacity, sensory loss or physical/learning disabilities. It might be someone who is usually able to manage but is unable to do so because of an accident or illness. (Safeguarding Adults West and North Yorkshire and York Multi-Agency Policy and Procedures). This adult may have an Education Health Care Plan (EHCP) and tutors need to be aware of this.

Abuse can take many forms, which includes:

Physical Abuse

This may involve hitting, shaking, throwing, poisoning, burning or scalding, drowning, suffocating or otherwise causing physical harm. Physical harm may also be caused when a parent or carer feigns symptoms of or deliberately causes, ill health to a person they are looking after.

Psychological and emotional

Emotional abuse is the persistent emotional ill treatment of a person such as to cause severe persistent adverse effects on the person's emotional development. It may involve conveying to the person that they are worthless or unloved, inadequate or valued only insofar as they meet the needs of another person. Age or developmentally inappropriate expectations being imposed on the person, causing them frequently to feel frightened or the exploitation or corruption of children will also constitute emotional abuse.

Consent and mental capacity

In accordance with the Mental Capacity Act (2005), it should be assumed that an adult has capacity to make their own decisions, unless it is established that they lack capacity to make a decision for themselves. It is the right of adults who have capacity to make their own choices, irrespective of how unwise or eccentric we might consider that decision to be.

It is good practice to gain the person's consent to share information. As long as it does not increase risk, practitioners should inform the person if they need to share their information without consent. Adults have a general right to independence, choice and self-determination, including control over information about themselves. In the context of adult safeguarding these rights can be overridden in certain circumstances. For example, emergency or life-threatening situations may warrant sharing relevant information with the relevant emergency services without consent.

Sexual

This involves the sexual exploitation of children, adolescents and vulnerable adults. The abuser could be a parent/carer or any adult(s) with whom the child/vulnerable adult is in contact. The term includes rape, intercourse, buggery oral sex, fondling, mutual masturbation and involvement in pornographic activity or prostitution.

Neglect

This is the persistent failure to meet a person's basic physical and/or psychological needs. this is likely to result in the serious impairment of the person's health or development, such as:

Failing to provide adequate food, shelter and clothing;
or neglect of or not being responsive to a person's basic emotional needs.

Domestic violence/abuse

This abuse occurs between partners or by a family member and can be physical, emotional, sexual, neglect. This category also covers forced marriages and female genital mutilation.

Organisational/Institutional Abuse - the mistreatment of people brought about by poor or inadequate care or support or systematic poor practice that affects the whole setting. It occurs when the individuals wishes and needs are sacrificed for the smooth running of a group, service or organisation.

Financial or material

Such as stealing someone's money or belongings or misusing them for someone else's benefit.

Modern slavery

This includes human trafficking, forced labour and domestic servitude.

Discriminatory

This may include abuse, bullying and harassment based on the individual's sex, disability, religion, race or ethnicity or sexual orientation. Some of the recognised signs of discriminatory abuse might be very similar to psychological and emotional abuse.

Self-neglect

This covers a wide range of behaviours, such as neglecting to care for one's personal hygiene, health or surroundings and includes behaviours such as hoarding.

Staff recruitment and vetting

CAL will ensure compliance with Council policies for safe recruitment and vetting procedures. This applies for all newly appointed staff, in line with Safer Recruitment in Education (2016).

To ensure that CAL makes decisions about appointments with the full knowledge of the facts, regardless of whether or not a potential employee has previously worked in the education sector and is suitable to take up a particular appointment, the qualifications of potential employees will be photocopied from original certificates and rigorously scrutinised during the interview process and used as a point of discussion along with available references and completed application form.

There is a requirement that all staff have satisfactory Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) disclosures, at an appropriate level, before working with any CAL learners. of appointments will be issued once the central recruitment team has successfully completed all vetting procedures. Approval details will be logged onto the central CMBC database.

CAL will undertake a rolling programme of Enhanced DBS checks for existing staff in line with relevant CMBC policy. All information will be held in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018.

Staff training and development

All staff who have regular contact with children, young people and/or adults at risk will undertake basic child/adult protection training at a level that is commensurate to their roles, as part of their induction process or as part of the CAL staff development and mandatory training programme.

Safeguarding training will be mandatory and updated on a 3 year cycle in line with Education Act 2011 and Section 11 of the Children Act 2004. Staff will also receive annual refresher Safeguarding training through Induction and TAC meetings (Team Around the Curriculum) as well as regular updates (bi-weekly) through the staff newsletter.

Designated members of staff for safeguarding need to have safeguarding training every 3 years and their knowledge and skills should be refreshed at least annually.

Safeguarding Children and Adults training is available through the CMBC multi-agency training. There is a joint programme for Safeguarding Adults and Children which details training that is available to all staff.

For more details, visit: Training and Development.

The Designated Safeguarding Lead will hold a Level 3 qualification or higher.

The designated staff

All staff are made aware of the Safeguarding requirements in respect of reporting concerns or making referrals MAST and Gateway to Care.

In addition, CAL has a Safeguarding Team who will:

Support tutors, business support staff and managers in understanding safeguarding procedures, in being aware of good practice and in developing their policies, procedures and quality management.
Support the tutors and business support staff in their promotion to all learners of awareness of their rights and responsibilities in respect of safeguarding and their knowledge of how to respond appropriately to concerns.
Evaluate CAL's adherence to its commitment to safeguarding and identify improvements that CAL should make and report annually to the Council through its self-assessment report.
Enable CAL to keep up to date with legislation and good practice around Safeguarding Adults and Children.
Have Designated Safeguarding Leads who will have received additional training in child protection, adults at risk and inter-agency working, as required by the SAB and CSCP and will receive refresher training at least every 3 years.
Store safeguarding concerns securely and ensuring access is restricted to the safeguarding leads only.
Ensure staff are knowledgeable about confidentiality and information sharing.

The Safeguarding Team

Please contact the team on: 01422 392820 or 07866 943301 (mobile).

Grant Soames - Designated Safeguarding Lead and Head of Adult Learning.
Rachel Greenway – Deputy Safeguarding Lead and Operations Manager.
Jayne Stead - Quality Assurance Manager.
Sharon Pye - Programme Manager for Family Learning.

Useful contact numbers

Children and Young People

MAST (Multi Agency Screening Team), phone: 01422 393336 (8.45am to 5pm).
Emergency Duty Team (EDT), phone: 01422 288000 (out of hours).

Adults

Gateway to Care, phone: 01422 393000 (8.45am to 5pm).
Emergency Duty Team (EDT), phone: 01422 288000 (out of hours).

Evening classes

Any incidents or concerns that may take place during an evening class staff can contact in the first instance Facility Support Officers (FSOs) on 07923 440052 who will be onsite at Heath Campus until 9pm when classes finish.

A designated member of staff for safeguarding will be available at all times during opening hours at CAL and its outreach centres. All staff should be aware of out of hours contact numbers for reporting Safeguarding concerns.

Allegations of abuse and reporting suspicion of abuse

This procedure must be followed whenever any member of CAL staff hears an allegation from a child or adult at risk that abuse has or may have, occurred or where there is a significant concern that a child or vulnerable adult may be abused.

Safeguarding procedure

Not sure if an issue is Safeguarding or not? Review the procedure below.

Receive

Accept what you are told – you do not need to decide whether or not it is true.
Listen without displaying shock or disbelief.

Reassure

The person making the disclosure.
Acknowledge their courage in telling.
Do not promise confidentiality.
Remind them they are not to blame – avoid criticising the alleged perpetrator.
Do not promise that “everything will be alright now” (it might not be).

Report and refer to Designated Safeguarding Lead

Do not delay in registering your suspicions or concerns.
Respond to the person making the disclosure but do not interrogate.
Avoid leading questions but ask open ended ones. Clarify anything you do not understand.
Explain what you will do next, inform the Designated Safeguarding Lead.

Record

Make notes as soon as possible – during the interview if you can include:
- time;
- date;
- place;
- the individual's own words. Do not assume, ask. For example, "Please tell me what xxxxx means".
Describe observable behaviour and appearance.
Cross out mistakes. Do not use Tippex.
Do not destroy your original notes. They may be needed later on and must be given to the Designated Person, they will then complete the official documentation.

Support

Consider what support is needed for the person making the disclosure. You may need to give them a lot of your time or they may need to be referred.
Ensure you are supported – such interviews can be extremely stressful and time consuming.
Once reported to them, the Designated Person will take responsibility for the matter and will take the necessary actions.

Always contact a member of the Safeguarding Team.

Also see: Whistleblowing Policy.

Allegations of abuse made against Staff

If an allegation is made against a member of staff, this should be reported immediately to either:

Head of Calderdale Adult Learning - Grant Soames: Grant.Soames@calderdale.gov.uk.
Assistant Director - Economy, Housing and Investment - Kate McNicholas: Kate.McNicholas@calderdale.gov.uk.
The LADO can be contacted at LADOAdmin@calderdale.gov.uk.

Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) deals with allegations against staff and volunteers who have contact with children and young people. Actions will be taken both to protect children, young people or vulnerable adults and the accused member of staff. Each case will be treated on an individual basis and the staff concerned may be suspended whilst an investigation is undertaken, in line with the Council's policies.

Monitoring

It is the responsibility of the Team to review and monitor the effectiveness of this policy and to recommend change to it where necessary. This will be undertaken on termly basis and fed through to the CAL Strategic Board.

The effectiveness of the policy will be reported to the Management Team and the Local.

It will also be summarised in the CAL self-assessment report compiled by the Curriculum and QA Manager.

Complaints

In the event that any person is dissatisfied with practice undertaken under CAL Safeguarding Statement and Procedure, they should raise their concerns with the Assistant Director, Economy, Housing and Partnerships and where relevant, make a complaint using Calderdale Councils Complaints Department, details of which can be found at complaints and compliments.

CAL Management Safeguarding Referral Process

Management/DSL Process

Once a report of a suspicion including any reports from individuals or evidence has been given an incident form MUST be completed as soon as possible and sent to the relevant team.

Adult At Risk – this form should be forwarded to Gateway to Care
Serious incidents MUST be reported immediately
Call the police if any criminal offence has been committed
Report all incidents (for collation) to DSL

How to report abuse and who to Contact

Once the information has been given to you by a member of staff ALWAYS complete an incident form.

Child

Notify MAST and the Directorate Safeguarding Lead of the incident.

Adult

Notify and send form to Gateway to Care (with the consent of the adult) and the Directorate Safeguarding Lead of the incident.

Who to contact if you suspect abuse

Key contacts if you need immediate advice and support:

If you are concerned about a child: MAST (Multi-Agency Screening Team) 01422 393336 (9am-5pm). The team receives and responds to referrals and can provide general advice and support.
When MAST is unavailable, you can call the Out of hours Emergency Duty Team.
If you are concerned about an adult: Gateway to Care 01422 393000 (8.45am – 5.30pm). The team receives and responds to referrals and can provide general advice and support.
Contact Gateway to Care for adult safeguarding issues during office hours: gatewaytocare@calderdale.gov.uk
To alert Gateway to Care about adult abuse, visit Safeguarding Calderdale: Report a Concern.
When Gateway to Care is unavailable, call the Out of hours Emergency Duty Team

Emergency Duty Team

Phone: 01422 288000 (out of hours, including weekends and holidays).

Contact out of hours for both child and adult safeguarding issues when the other offices are closed.

Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO)

Email: LADOAdmin@calderdale.gov.uk.

Evening classes

Any incidents or concerns that may take place during an evening class staff can phone Facility Support Officers (FSOs): 07923 440052.

They will be onsite at Heath Campus until 9pm when classes finish.

CAL Safeguarding

Phone: 01422 392820 or 07866 943301 (mobile).

Online Safety

The key to staying safe online lies in raising awareness, improving digital skills and encouraging an understanding of the implications of unsafe or irresponsible behaviour. Promoting responsible behaviours in both staff and learners is key to raising awareness and enabling individuals to protect themselves, each other and the organisation.

An effective approach to online safety empowers the organisation to protect and educate their learning community in their use of technology and establishes mechanisms to identify, intervene and escalate into three areas of risk:

Content - being exposed to illegal, inappropriate or harmful material.
Contact - being subjected to harmful online interaction with others.
Conduct - personal online behaviour that increases the likelihood of or causes, harm.

Online Safety means:

Enabling staff to develop their skills and knowledge.
Encouraging learners to become informed users, spot the risks and know how to protect themselves and others.
Ensuring that all users are aware of and avoid potential misuse of technology.
Supporting staff and learners in identifying risks and acting to protect themselves.
Persuading users to behave responsibly online through education, policies and sanctions.
Provision of a clear procedure and confidential support process, so that users have a mechanism to report any concerns or communications they have encountered online.

We recommend an approach that promotes digital values and encourages everyone to think about the consequences of their behaviour online. At CAL we have put together guides for staff and learners to keep them safe online, please see Appendix 1 and 2.

Useful websites

Safety Centre (Child Exploitation and Online Protection command).

Managing and Safeguarding IT systems

At CAL we will ensure that access to the IT system is as safe and secure as is reasonably possible by undertaking the following monitoring and filtering checks:

Promotion of security awareness, such as using strong passwords and not sharing them
Learners will be supervised by staff while using the internet as this reduces the risk of exposure to extremist, illegal or inappropriate material.
Staff will take swift action should inappropriate material be accessed either accidentally or deliberately.
A seating plan is kept for every session to note where learners are sat for each computer.
All learners and staff are required to complete an IT acceptable user statement. This is a statement that users agree to before accessing the CAL IT system.
Ensure that all reasonable precautions are taken to prevent access to illegal and extremist content. The CAL network has a built in firewall to restrict the ability to search, download and share inappropriate material.
Internet and network use will be monitored every term by DSL to identify access to websites or internet searches which are a cause for concern.
Expect tutors to check websites they wish to use prior to sessions to assess the suitability of content.
Post notices in classrooms and around organisations as a reminder of how to seek help.

Cyber Crime

We are aware that criminals are preying on the fears of Coronavirus and sending scam emails that try and trick people into clicking on a bad link. The National Cyber Security Centre have produced guidance which explains what to do if you have already clicked and provides some of the tell-tale signs of scam emails to look out for.

For more about this, visit: Personnel security during a pandemic.

Staying safe from Scammers whilst self-isolating due to Coronavirus

Do not be rushed into making a decision, if it sounds too good to be true it probably is.
Only buy things from a reputable outlet and think before you give out money or your personal information.
Do not assume everyone is genuine. It is OK to reject, refuse or ignore any requests. Only criminals will try to rush or panic you.
If someone claims to be from a charity, ask them for ID. Be suspicious of requests for money up front.
Check with family and friends before accepting offer of help if you are unsure.
You can phone Citizens Advice Consumer Service: 03454 040506 to report a trader, scam or unfair trading practice. For the Police ring 101 or in an emergency, call 999.

To report a scam, phone Action Fraud: 0300 123 2040.

Safeguarding Policies and Procedures for Partners

All organisations delivering programmes funded by CAL must:

Have their own or adopt the CAL Safeguarding policy, which is reviewed and updated annually by the Strategic Board and/or the Councils Safeguarding Boards, with robust procedures on how to deal with alleged or suspected cases of abuse regarding both the person experiencing the abuse and the alleged perpetrator. This policy must include procedures for dealing with allegations of abuse against staff an volunteers.

Include in their Safeguarding Policy detail how the provider will meet the duty to report concerns under the Prevent policy.

Include in their Safeguarding Policy a specification that any incidence of alleged or suspected abuse must be reported to a Designated Safeguarding Lead/Officer in their organisation; who would be a senior staff member. There should also be a named Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead/Officer. Both should have received Safeguarding training of a suitable nature for this role.

Ensure learners know and understand Safeguarding policies and procedures, including who is responsible for Safeguarding within the organisation and who they can talk to inside and outside the organisation.

Ensure that Safeguarding records are clear, transparent and kept centrally and securely.

Include in their Safeguarding Policy reference to the Prevent Duty, where Prevent us about understanding the factors which make people vulnerable to being drawn into terrorism. A separate Prevent policy or distinct section in Prevent should be included.

Ensure that all staff members cover Safeguarding of Learners, Prevent, Code of Conduct, Whistle Blowing and Professional Boundaries in their induction programme.

Ensure that staff members involved with education are adequately trained in Safeguarding Learners at a level appropriate for their role and have a schedule for regularly receiving on-going training, which is reported to CAL.

Provide learner information, including a section on Abuse, Bullying and Harassment, explaining the types of abuse and giving examples of what may constitute abuse.

Provide learner information that includes a policy on Bullying and Harassment, explaining the procedures learners should follow to report their concerns.

Have procedures to ensure safe recruitment, including ensuring that qualifications and previous employment history are checked and that professional references are obtained before acceptance into a post. A record of the checks should be held centrally.

Have a Code of Conduct for staff guidance, including processes for eliminating personal gain though position.

Staff:

Are responsible for their actions and behaviours and should avoid any conduct which would lead any reasonable person to question their motivation and intentions.

Work in an open and transparent way.

Work with other colleagues where possible in situations open to questions.

Discuss and/or take advice from management over any incident which may give rise to concern.

Record any incidents or decisions made.

Apply the same professional standards regardless of gender, sexuality or disability.

Comply and are aware of the confidentiality policy.

Are aware that breaches of the law and other professional guidelines could result in criminal or disciplinary action being taken against them.

Ensure that staff have the appropriate level of Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), checks for the post they hold and that these are regularly reviewed. Enhanced DBS checks should be completed for all staff and volunteers who may be unsupervised with learners. Governors and visitors should always be accompanied by a staff member with an enhanced DBS and should never be left alone with learners. It is good Safeguarding practice to renew DBS checks every three years.

Ensure that effective arrangements are in place to sign in at reception and undertake ID checks.

Have policies and procedures to address online safety and ensure appropriate filtering and control mechanisms are in place, in addition to ensuring online safety procedures when delivering online.
Notify CAL about all incidents immediately and ensure monthly returns of the Safeguarding, Prevent and incident log are completed, including if there are no incidents/nil returns.

Appendix 1 - Guide for Learners: Staying Safe Online

At CAL we are committed to keeping learners and staff safe during the current climate. CAL has been risk assessed and is COVID secure for staff to enter the building, we hope learners will return to the building in the very near future, however, whilst lessons continue to be delivered on-line we feel the following guidance will help to safeguard you and your tutor:

Joining an on-line meeting/class

Your tutor will send a new invite each lesson • Please be on-line ready for your lesson on the correct day and time

Wait to be admitted by the tutor

If you are late for the lesson, you can still join. The tutor will be delivering the input for approximately the first 20 minutes of the lesson and will also take the final 20 minutes of the lesson; they will however, still be on-line throughout the lesson to support you

Please have your camera switched on.
Mute yourself once you have joined and wait instruction.
Turn screen sharing off.
Please use professional and appropriate language, please advise family members or people in the background of this also.
No one-to-one lessons will run, only groups will take place.
Do not share or publicise your meeting's link on social media.
Please talk to us before using anything on the internet that you are unsure about.
We advise that you do not give our phone number or address to anyone online.
Please dress appropriately.

Things to avoid doing in on-line meetings

Talking too much
Keeping your microphone on
Having your computers in an inappropriate area, for example the bedroom or bathroom
Having a busy background
Having pets and other distractions in the room

If you have concerns or are not sure how to access online learning, please phone the Learner Support Team: 01422 392820.

Appendix 2 - Guide for staff: Teaching Safely Online

At CAL we are committed to keeping learners and staff safe during the current climate. CAL has been risk assessed and is COVID secure for staff to enter; the building, however, whilst lessons continue to be delivered on-line we feel the following guidance will help to safeguard you and the learners.

Running an on-line meeting/class

Use a new meeting room each time.
Send links to your learners through your Google g-mail account in advance of the lesson.
Do not allow attendees to join before you (the host).
Do not allow anyone to join the meeting who you are unsure of or have no t invited.
Mute attendees on joining.
Turn screen sharing off (unless specifically using it).
Language must be professional and appropriate.
Please dress appropriately.
No one-one lessons should take place, groups only.
Let learners know that if they are late for the lessons, they can still join. The tutor will be delivering the input for approximately the first 20 minutes of the lesson and will also take the final 20 minutes of the lesson; they will however still be on-line throughout the lesson.
Do not publicise your meeting's link on social media.
We advise that you do not give your phone number or address to anyone online.
Professionalism is required at all times.

Things to avoid doing in online meetings

Inviting too many people to the meeting.
Talking too much.
Keeping your microphone on.
Having a busy background.
Any computers used should be in appropriate areas. For example, not in bedrooms) and where possible be against a neutral background.
Having pets and other distractions in the room.

Appendix 3 - Specific Safeguarding Issues

These include:

Author: Grant Soames, date of policy: March 2023, review date: September 2024.

Prevent Policy 2023-24

Statement

We have a strong commitment to its obligations under the Counter Terrorism and Security Act 2015 and its duty to stop people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism. This is a safeguarding role, ensuring that processes are in place to support those who may become susceptible to violent extreme ideologies or that support illegal terrorist activity either here or abroad.

Definitions

Vulnerable adults are defined as people aged 18 years or over who may be in need of community care services by reason of mental or other disability, age or illness. They are or may be unable to take care of themselves or unable to protect themselves against significant harm or exploitation.

Extremism is vocal or active opposition to fundamental British values, including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of different faiths and beliefs. We also include in our definition of extremism calls for the death of members of our armed forces, whether in this country or overseas.

Radicalisation refers to the process by which a person comes to support terrorism and extremist ideologies associated with terrorist groups.

Terrorism is an action or threat designed to influence the government or intimidate the public. Its purpose is to advance a political, religious or ideological cause.

Critical	An attack is highly likely in the near future.
Severe	An attack is highly likely.
Substantial	An attack is likely.
Moderate	An attack is possible, but not likely.
Low	An attack is highly unlikely.

British Values are defined as “democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance for those with different faiths and beliefs”. The Prevent Duty guidance requires that:

Institutions encourage learners to respect other people with particular regard to the protected characteristics set out in the Equality Act 2010.
all staff exemplify British Values in their management, interactions with learners and through general behaviours in institutions, including through opportunities in the further education curriculum
staff and board members have undertaken training in the Prevent duty as identified by their leaders and managers including the principal or CEO
all staff are aware of when it is appropriate to refer Prevent related concerns about students, learners or colleagues to the provider's safeguarding officer
all staff challenge extremism

Prevent is one of the four elements of 'CONTEST', the Government's counter-terrorism strategy. The four elements are Pursue - Prevent - Protect - Prepare.

Following a review of the Governments Counter Terrorism strategy CONTEST in 2018, the objectives of Prevent have been revised to:

Tackle the causes of radicalisation and respond to the ideological challenge of terrorism.
Safeguard and support those most at risk of radicalisation through early intervention, identifying them and offering support.
Enable those who have already engaged in terrorism to disengage and rehabilitate.

The strategy covers all forms of terrorism, including far right extremism and some aspects of nonviolent extremism.

Calderdale Adult Learning - Staff training

CAL is committed to supporting vulnerable learners through its staff training programme in order to prevent potential radicalisation.

All staff members at Calderdale Adult Learning are required to undertake mandatory online training in Equality and Diversity (Equality Act, 2010), Prevent and Safeguarding on a three yearly cycle. This training is recorded centrally along with all other training. New staff must undertake this training as part of their initial induction. This training ensures all staff have the skills and knowledge to refer any concerns appropriately. All concerns are referred to the Safeguarding Lead.

Regular Prevent updates are provided in the Adult Learning newsletter and further training opportunities are provided through the CMBC e-learning portal.

All staff at Calderdale Adult Learning attend mandatory training in promoting British Values and embedding them within the curriculum.

Channel intervention programme

At annual induction, staff are briefed on the Channel process and how to raise concerns. Channel is a programme which focuses on providing support at an early stage to people who are identified as being vulnerable to being drawn into terrorism. The programme uses a multi-agency approach to protect vulnerable people by:

identifying individuals at risk;
assessing the nature and extent of that risk; and
developing the most appropriate support plan for the individuals concerned.

Where members of staff raise a concern about an individual, CAL Safeguarding Leads will consider the evidence and the circumstances and may then make a referral to the Prevent Regional Co-ordinator. The Prevent Regional Co-ordinator may then take further action through the Channel programme.

Partnerships

Calderdale Adult Learning is part of Calderdale Council. Managers are members of both the Safeguarding Adults and Calderdale Safeguarding Children Partnership.

Partner organisations acknowledge as providers they must comply with all of the CMBC's policies including Safeguarding and Prevent for the purpose of Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006. Details of which can be found in the CAL Fund Service Agreement.

External speakers and events

Following the Counter Terrorism and Security Act 2015, educational organisations are required to have robust policies and procedures in place to mitigate the risks of people being drawn into terrorism. CAL is committed to ensuring that risks around external speakers and events are rigorously assessed and managed.

Freedom of Speech

The Education Act 1986 imposes a duty on CAL to take all reasonable steps to ensure that freedom of speech within the law is secured for learners and staff at CAL. This also applies to external speakers visiting CAL.

CAL recognises that free speech is a qualified privilege subject to the limits imposed by law including those governing the protection of national security.

External Speaker Code of Conduct

CAL expects external speakers and external organisations using CAL facilities to act in accordance with the law and not to breach the lawful rights of others.

CAL reserves the right to not permit an external speaker to speak at or attend an event, to refuse to permit an event and/or to halt an event at any time if it reasonably considers there may be a breach of this code of conduct or of any legal obligation. During the course of the event at which he or she participates, no speaker shall:

Act in breach of the criminal law.
Incite hatred or violence or any breach of the criminal law.
Encourage or promote any acts of terrorism or promote individuals, groups or organisations that support terrorism.
Spread hatred and intolerance.
Discriminate against or harass any person or group on the grounds of their sex, race, nationality, ethnicity, disability, religious or other similar belief, sexual orientation or age.
Defame any person or organisation.
Raise or gather funds for any external organisation or cause without express permission of CAL

This is not an exhaustive list of unacceptable conduct.

Risk assessment of proposed external speaker(s)

Prior to the confirmation of any external speaker, all risk is assessed by the Head of Service.

Online safety (Prevent)

Through its Information Technologies Acceptable Use Policy, CAL sets out its duty with regard to Prevent:

The network may not be used directly or indirectly by a user for the download, creation, manipulation, transmission or storage of Unlawful material or material that is:

defamatory,
threatening,
discriminatory,
extremist or which has the potential to radicalise themselves or others.

There are two IT security systems at CAL which monitor usage:

The corporate (staff only) system is monitored. Staff are subject to Calderdale Council filtering, firewalls and monitoring procedures. Any concerns regarding breaches of security or unacceptable use will be flagged up by the Council cyber security team and the Head of Service notified.
The learner system has the JANET/JISC monitoring system. CAL had Smoothwall software installed (December 2018) onto the system to add additional protection for the learners.
The Smoothwall system will also be added to our Wi-Fi network to provide additional security

Any breaches of security or concerns will be reported to the Safeguarding Lead. Those responsible will be subject to the CMBC Disciplinary Procedure.

Information on Prevent for learners

CAL has a strong commitment to protect its learners from the risks of radicalisation and violent extremism. It is CAL policy to promote this awareness through the following methods:

Induction

During induction at the beginning of courses, tutors are expected to inform learners about the Prevent duty and possible indicators of radicalisation, extremism and grooming. They are also informed about their rights to feel safe and how to raise any concerns. This information is reinforced in the CAL Learner Handbook with contact details for appropriate Safeguarding Leads.

Classroom displays and posters

Throughout the campus, posters and classroom displays reinforce awareness of extremism, radicalisation and grooming. They also provide information about further reading and Safeguarding contacts.

Embedding British Values

CAL actively promotes the British Values of democracy; freedom of speech; individual liberty; the rule of law; mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and belief, as outlined in the Government's Prevent strategy. Through class content and activities, tutors are expected to demonstrate how British Values inform attitudes, expectations, vision and values and see how they relate to active citizenship in a modern and diverse UK. Staff are expected to ensure that learners are made aware of their rights to freedom of speech and remind them that it is a qualified privilege subject to the limits imposed by law. British Values are also used to underpin group agreements and expectations of learners/staff.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

CAL is committed to the promotion of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. The purpose of this is to ensure that learners and staff benefit from an environment which nurtures inclusion and celebrates the diversity of backgrounds and cultures. Equality and diversity is fully integrated into the learning experience and is evident in curriculum planning, schemes of work and delivering teaching, learning and assessment. All tutors use resources and activities that are free from discriminatory or stereotypical assumptions or images and reflect the cultural diversity of learners. Teachers are also expected to challenge discriminatory or defamatory comments and behaviour.

Indicators of radicalisation and /or extremism

There is no such thing as a 'typical extremist' and those involved in extremism come from a range of backgrounds and experiences. The following indicators may help to identify factors that suggest an individual may be vulnerable or involved with extremism:

Identity Crisis: distance from cultural/religious heritage and uncomfortable with their place in the society around them.

Personal Crisis: family tensions; sense of isolation; adolescence; low self-esteem; disassociating from existing friendship group and becoming involved with a new and different group of friends; searching for answers to questions about identity, faith and belonging.

Personal Circumstances: migration; local community tensions; events affecting country or region of origin; alienation from UK values; having a sense of grievance that is triggered by personal experience of racism or discrimination or aspects of Government policy.

Unmet Aspirations: perceptions of injustice; feeling of failure; rejection of civic life.

Criminality: experiences of imprisonment; poor resettlement/reintegration, previous involvement with criminal groups.

Access to extremist influence

Reason to believe that the person associates with those known to be involved in extremism
Possession or distribution of extremist literature/other media material likely to incite racial/religious hatred or acts of violence
Use of closed network groups via electronic media for the purpose of extremist activity

Experiences, behaviours and influences

Experience of peer, social, family or faith group rejection
International events in areas of conflict and civil unrest had a personal impact on the person resulting in a noticeable change in behaviour
Verbal or written support of terrorist attacks
First-hand experience of racial or religious hate crime
Extended periods of travel to international locations known to be associated with extremism
Evidence of fraudulent identity/use of documents to support this
Experience of disadvantage, discrimination or social exclusion
History of criminal activity
Pending a decision on their immigration/national status

More critical risk factors include:

Being in contact with extremist recruiters
Articulating support for extremist causes or leaders
Accessing extremist websites, especially those with a social networking element
Possessing extremist literature
Justifying the use of violence to solve societal issues
Joining extremist organisations
Significant changes to appearance/behaviour

Prevent Procedure

Not sure if an issue is Prevent or not? Review the procedure below.

Notice

What have you noticed? Who was involved?
Does the incident relate to a recent local, national or international news story or event?
Has the individual been involved in similar incidents?
Why do you feel the individual is vulnerable to radicalisation? Was it a one off comment or statement and out of context for the individual?
What makes the individual at risk? Are there any apparent vulnerabilities or concerns that make the individual at risk of radicalisation?
Can the concern be dealt with in house?
Discuss with a member of the Safeguarding Team

Check

Have you checked your concern with your Safeguarding Lead/Team/Management? Do they share your Prevent related concerns?
From your checks has any other information come to light?
Has the individual of concern been spoken to for clarity? If not, why? Do they offer a reasonable explanation and or account?
Are any other agencies currently or historically working with the individual or family? Have they been consulted?
Is the concern Prevent specific? Have there been any historical concerns, i.e. school?
Could the concern be addressed in house? Is there a genuine radicalisation risk? Could you or the individual benefit from additional support?
Discuss with a member of the Safeguarding Team

Record, Report and Share

Are you confident a referral is necessary? If so, all referrals should be made using the Calderdale Prevent Referral Form.

On the referral form ensure you have included all the relevant contact details and basic information for the individual of concern, including parent/ guardians details and any siblings.
Have you checked the date of referral and date of incident or incidents? If there is a gap, have you provided an explanation, for example; waiting for a meeting with individual to discuss concerns before making referral?
Have you provided as much detail as possible in the form? Have you provided a rounded picture of the individual?
Have you detailed your actions as the referrer? Who have you consulted? What intervention has there been?
Have you made any other referrals or discussed the case with other agencies?
Have you discussed with the Prevent team and been advised to make this referral?

Always contact a member of the Safeguarding Team.

Appendix 1 - Coronavirus

Coronavirus (COVID-19) is an infectious disease. Most people infected with the Coronavirus will experience mild to moderate respiratory illness and recover without requiring special treatment. Older people and those with underlying medical problems like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic respiratory disease and cancer are more likely to develop serious illness. The best way to prevent and slow down transmission is to be well informed about the Coronavirus, the disease it causes and how it spreads. Protect yourself and others from infection by washing your hands or using an alcohol based rub frequently and not touching your face.

Coronavirus and Terrorism

The coronavirus is having a dramatic impact on all organisations, large and small. We appreciate that managing your work and home lives is your main priority right now. However, it is important we remind everyone that when Coronavirus is over, the threat from terrorism will remain.

NaCTSO Crowded Places Guidance

The UK faces a real threat from terrorism and crowded places do remain a target. Crowded places include areas which are easily accessible to the public and attractive to terrorists. Coronavirus has created a new environment, one of the features of this is the queues outside shops and businesses as people maintain social distancing. Whilst there is no specific intelligence of an attack, there is a recognised and ongoing threat to crowded places from a vehicle being used as a weapon. For more about this, visit: Crowded Place Guidance (GOV.UK).

Online activity

Safeguarding and PREVENT is everybody's business; we all have a role in spotting when things are not right and sadly, in times of crisis and isolation such as now, risks may increase for vulnerable children and adults. We all need to be aware that the use of IT also poses a Terrorist threat and there will be increased risks to children and vulnerable learners from engaging in more and/or unsupervised online activity.

If you have specific concerns about potential terrorist activity, please report it at: Action Counters Terrorism.

To report a crime call 101 or in an emergency call 999.

We encourage all referrers to discuss their concerns with the individual and guardians (if applicable) and make them aware of the referral to prevent (with reasons) unless sharing this information places the individual or another person at serious risk of harm.

Prevent Referral Form

Please complete and return this form to Prevent@calderdale.gov.uk.

The referenced media source is missing and needs to be re-embedded.

Supplementary Guidance to Referral Form

It is important that the referral form contains as much accurate detail as possible. Please ensure that basic information such as the name, age and date of birth of the person being referred is correct.

In emergency situations, Please ensure that you contact the police. Do not wait for a response from the Prevent Coordinator where there is an immediate concern for welfare or safety.

Where a young person or child under the age of 18 is being referred, you must have a conversation with the Prevent Coordinator and the discussion will include whether a referral to Children's Social Care is appropriate.

If you identify support needs for the person being referred/the person's family, then do not wait for Channel Panel for these needs to be considered i.e. if there are parenting issues or if there are drug and alcohol issues. Please discuss these with the Prevent Coordinator.

The Channel process is entirely voluntary and therefore once a person enters the Channel process they will be made aware of the referral. Please follow your own agency guidelines around consent and encourage, where possible, people to engage with the Channel Process. If you have not got consent at the point of referral, then please advise why in the referral so that this can be considered.

Please try to include as many details as possible such as any planned travel, details of why you are concerned, any evidence to support your concerns and how long you have had these concerns for. If you referral is about a child or young person, please include any details about whether you have discussed concerns with parents/carers and what their views are of the concerns. If you have any concerns then please discuss the referral with your agency Safeguarding lead in the first instance and with the Prevent Coordinator.

Remember: If you have concerns around the immediate welfare of any persons then please make sure that you contact the Police on 999.

Author: Grant Soames, date of policy: January 2022, review date: January 2024.

Information Technologies Acceptable Use Policy 2023-24

Introduction

Calderdale Adult Learning Service is committed to providing learners with easy access to computing facilities. However it needs to ensure that these facilities are used appropriately.

This Policy provides clear guidance on the use of the Service's internet, printing and computer facilities. Any queries about this Policy should be addressed to the Operations Manager.

This Policy will be reviewed on an annual basis.

Scope

In this Policy, “inappropriate”, “offensive”, “obscene” or “pornographic” material is material that the Service considers (at its absolute discretion) to be:

Racist, sexist or otherwise discriminatory.
Containing nudity or images of a sexual nature or which does or could cause offence to people or material that is illegal or defamatory.
Material that promotes terrorism or promotes radical ideologies.

In this Policy, the term “Information Technology” refers to any computers, peripherals, computer software, files generated regardless of the medium on which stored, computer networks, email, internet and all other forms of electronic communication owned or operated by the Service.

In this Policy “data” refers to all communications and information created, sent, received, deleted, stored or otherwise associated in any way with the Service's information technology systems. “Data” is not the property of any user.

Unless otherwise stipulated, application of this Policy extends to the use of all such Information Systems equipment wherever situated.

Use of the Service Information Systems is also subject to relevant UK law.

Non‐compliance

Breach of any part of this Policy may lead to disciplinary action and / or learners being withdrawn from courses.

Material that is likely to “deprave and corrupt” if published may constitute a criminal offence under the Obscene Publications Act and, if found on the Service's systems, may be treated as a criminal offence as well as gross misconduct.

Accessing websites or material that promote terrorism or violent extremism or that seek to radicalise individuals to such causes may constitute an offence under the Counter Terrorism and Security Act 2015 and be treated as a criminal offence as well as gross misconduct. Learners who wish to use Service facilities to research terrorism or counter terrorism in the course of their learning must notify their tutor who must submit due authorisation to the Operations Manager before such research is commenced.

The Service may at its discretion withdraw or restrict access to internet sites it believes are disrupting the Service or being accessed excessively for personal use.

Action taken by the Service does not mean that the individual may not also be liable to civil or criminal action in the courts, if appropriate.

Personal use

Learners may only have use of the Service internet services for course purposes, researching further courses and/or job searches.

Bring your own device

As part of your learning at CAL you may choose to bring and use your own device on your course. By accessing CAL's guest WiFi you are agreeing to abide by CAL's IT acceptable usage Policy.

Devices considered in this section, but not exclusively, are iPads, laptops, tablets and mobile phones.

Acceptable Use

The Service's Information Systems are provided to allow learners to undertake activities relating to their studies.

They may not be used for:

Personal financial interests or commercial ventures to secure personal advantage including profit or gain‐making activities not formally sanctioned by the Service.
Wasting resources (for example, people, capacity, computer equipment, consumables).
Altering or destroying the integrity of computer‐based information.
Compromising the privacy of users.
Downloading, installing or removing software without authority.
Downloading, storing, creating or viewing obscene material.
Making defamatory statements about a person or organisation; - viewing, storing and engaging in activities deemed to be inciting terrorism.
Playing computer games.
Propagating unsolicited commercial or advertising material, chain or junk emails.
Online gambling.
Infringing copyright.
Streaming audio and visual files not for professional use.
Political campaigning, petitions or fund raising, including activities relating to party political and single issue political campaigns or events.
Any activities incompatible with the Service's policies on Equality and Diversity.

Learners who make use of the Service IT systems for the following will automatically be deemed to have committed an act of gross misconduct:

Using IT systems within the service to access, create or distribute obscene or indecent material including that which is pornographic, racist, sexist or violent or which promotes terrorism or seeks to radicalise individuals to such causes.
Deliberate or repeated introduction of computer viruses, Trojans or malicious software.
Using the Service's systems to threaten, harass, discriminate or bully.
Gaining unauthorised access to computer systems.
Any illegal activity including the use of unlicensed software or date.
Unauthorised disclosure, alteration or removal of data processed or stored on computer systems owned or operated by the Service.
Posting online comments that brings the Service into disrepute.

Learners should refrain from consuming food or drink in areas relating to IT systems. Smoking is not allowed anywhere on the premises, which includes the use of e-cigarettes.

Learners should refrain from making any excessive noise that may disrupt others.

Learners may be liable for the costs of remedying any deliberate damage they cause to the Service's Information Systems.

Email and Social Media (ESM)

While ESM is seldom used on most of our courses, UK legislation requires very little formality in order to create a binding contract that incurs legal liabilities. Learners should therefore not enter into contractual commitments via the ESM unless they have explicit authority to do so while using Service facilities.

Learners should be aware that UK legislation including:

Defamation, Protection form Harassment, Criminal Justice and Public Order.
Malicious Communications, Copyright, Designs and Patents Act.

All the above legislation applies in some way to ESM communications, interactions including the production or distribution of electronic documents.

When using ESM learners should communicate in a professional manner, thinking carefully about what is said about other persons or organisations. Learners should be mindful that emails may be used as an official record and therefore should not be overly familiar or informal.

Learners should never use ESM hastily or out of anger use aggressive, abusive or deliberately anti‐social language in emails. The use of capitalised text in email should be avoided as this conveys shouting. Etiquette advice is included on courses which use email or social media.

Learners should not send sexual, racially biased or other inappropriate materials.

Learners should consider whether alternative means of communication such as the telephone or meeting in person, may be more appropriate when discussing complex, confidential or urgent matters.

Learners should take care when disclosing their ESM address details to ensure it will not be misused for unsolicited purposes, some of which may contain malicious code.

Printing

Learners are only able to use the printing equipment in the IT suite in relation to their course or at the discretion of the course tutor.

To reduce the impact of paper usage, materials will be stored on the learners drive space and only printed when evidence of their work needs to be presented for assessment or display purposes.

Learners will be made aware of restrictions on printing or distributing of materials which may result in infringement of copyright.

Software

Calderdale Adult Learning Service uses computer software in all aspects of its business.

The Service is required by law to have a license for every piece of software as both individuals and the Service can be liable in the civil and criminal courts for software theft.

No computer software of any kind may be installed on any part of the Service's Information Systems without the prior permission of IT support services. IT support services also lock-down IT systems to block both downloading and installation of software.

Learners should not attempt to download software from either the Internet or from email attachments.

Software will only be installed if covered by a license and authorised by IT support services to ensure compliance with copyright law and to prevent the introduction of viruses or sub‐standard software which might interfere with other applications.

Learners should not use the Service IT systems to duplicate or distribute software either within or outside of the Service.

Security

The Service has a duty to protect its data and the IT systems that support them in order to ensure business continuity and minimise the effects of security incidents.

The CAL network has a built in firewall to restrict the ability to search, download and share inappropriate material.

It is the responsibility of all users of the Service's IT Systems to comply with the Local Authorities Data Protection Policy and the Data Protection Act.

Learners are allocated a user name and password when they first attend a course with our organisation.

Learners may also be allocated a temporary account for use during IT classes or for accessing exams in other curriculum areas.

Learners should only access the Services' IT Systems using their allocated user name and password. Do not divulge passwords and log-in details to others.

Learners should ensure they log out of or shutdown their computer when they have finished using it.

All equipment is password protected to reduce the risk of unauthorised access and learners are to take all reasonable steps to safeguard against damage.

All computers have automatic, up to date, anti‐virus software installed.

Monitoring

The Service hereby notifies learners that use of the Service's Information Systems may be automatically logged to permit the investigation of infringements of Policies.

Learners are also notified that this will include automated scanning of internet access on the Service's computer systems, undertaken as a control mechanism to:

Detect abuse, inappropriate language or images.
Prevent viruses and malicious code from entering the network.

Automatic logging and filtering is deemed the least intrusive method and will be used to prevent access to websites deemed unsuitable in a working environment.

Should a learner find they are blocked from accessing a website they require for their studies, they should inform their tutor who will contact the IT Services helpdesk.

An automatic back up of IT Systems will be administered by IT Services.

The Service hereby notifies learners that the premises are monitored by CCTV for security reasons.

Author: Rachel Greenway. Date of Policy: January 2023. Review Date: January 2024.

Adult and Community Learning Service Plan 2020-24

Vision

To improve the life chances and opportunities of adults and their families in Calderdale by developing and delivering a high quality learning and support offer that:

Improves qualifications, skills and employability
Addresses the needs and issues of particular groups
Supports families to learn with their children
Enhances health and wellbeing
Equips individuals with the skills, knowledge and behaviours to succeed in life and work
Contributes to developing strong, cohesive and resilient communities

Priorities

Widening access

Advance social and economic prosperity by extending our work with the wider community. Supporting a more vibrant, tolerant, safe and healthy communities where everyone has the opportunity to learn, build skills and gain employment.

Objectives

Build successful partnerships to meet local objectives, engage with local communities and promote adult learning and social cohesion
Maintain strong partnerships with schools, enabling us to respond to their needs via Family Learning
Develop a curriculum offer to reflect national, regional and local priorities that meet the outcomes of regulatory and funding bodies.
Robustly review learner engagement in activities within the annual Self-Assessment Review

An Outstanding Learning Experience

Deliver an outstanding educational experience to enrich our learners life chances and opportunities

Objectives

Ensure our learners have access to a safe, secure and good quality learning environment
Ensure our learners receive the best possible Information, Advice and Guidance (IAG) to support their learning
Provide high quality, comprehensive and accessible adult and community learning provision
Ensure learners improve their emotional health and wellbeing, increase their skills, confidence and knowledge to enhance their ability to engage
Improve achievement rates for all learners across accredited and non-accredited provision
Actively engage learners, staff and partners in the culture of the Service by involving them in the decision-making process
Raise the quality of teaching and learning through the sharing of good practice
Maintain high levels of engagement leading to learners progression to further study or employment

Stronger Local Community

Ensure that the support we provide for individuals and communities will focus on building their resilience and independence so that we can help adults to be as independent as they can be.

Objectives

Support higher rates of employment, by offering provision that supports developing skills for higher productivity for a stronger local economy –
Engage with vulnerable and disadvantaged groups and promote community cohesion
Provide opportunities to increase the number of learners from areas with high levels of deprivation
Improve learners understanding of Safeguarding, Prevent and British values.

Developing Our Staff

Create a diverse, agile and adaptable workforce that can respond to the demands of the learners and changing priorities.

Objectives

Have strong and consistent recruitment, selection and induction processes that support our capacity for growth and improvement and increase staff diversity
Improve organisational performance and professional development via a robust performance management and observation process
Create a learner-focused culture where improvement is driven by the innovative, inspirations and talents of staff who have the confidence to respond
Equip tutors with the skills to effectively self-evaluate
Support staff by providing high quality Continuing Professional Development (CPD) opportunities.
Use peer support effectively to drive up improvements

Financial Management

Improving our sustainability and efficiency and future proofing the service.

Objectives

Maximise staff efficiencies
Maximise funding streams through complementary working between providers and supporting agencies
Improve fee Income from users of the Service
Strengthen the focus on value-for-money measures within the Service and with partner providers
Develop greater internal capacity to deliver 'profitable' provision linked to local priorities
Shape the Service to reflect future funding priorities and arrangements

Purpose/Role within the Council

Calderdale Adult Learning adheres to the Council's Values and Behaviours

We Care - Think commercially, encourage ambition
We Create - Maximise resources, share ideas
We Invest - Understand customers, outcome focused
We Improve - Collaborate with others, service quality

And link in with the priorities of the borough:

Grow the Economy .
Reduce Inequalities
Build a Sustainable Future

Key Performance Indicators

We are committed to widening participation, building communities' self-confidence and promoting good citizenship and personal development. We aim to play an important role in providing first steps to learning and helping learners to improve their skills and gain employment. We also help them to enrich their lives, venture into new areas and learn something new, opening doors for future opportunities.

In order to support:

Higher rates of employment and better jobs
Higher productivity for a stronger local economy
Equality and inclusion for more social justice
Active citizens and healthy communities

Management Team

The Management Team will lead on different functions that will support effective implementation of the new Strategic plan and enable the Service to maximise our funding grant while meeting the requirements of Ofsted and our stakeholders:

Head of Service: Strategic Leadership
Quality Manager: Quality Assurance, Funding and Performance
Programme Manager: Accredited Learning and Full Cost Recovery
Programme Manager: Non Accredited Learning and Subcontracted provision
Operations Manager: Planning, Localities and Learner Services

Appendix 1 - Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council: Vision 2024

Our vision is to make Halifax and Calderdale as a whole, an even more thriving place where people want to live, work, learn, visit and invest.

CMBC Vision	CAL: Current and Continuing Delivery	CAL: Proposed Delivery
Distinctiveness: a place where you can realise your potential whoever you are, whether your voice has been heard or unheard in the past.	GCSE and Functional Skills in English and maths Accredited and non-accredited courses in ICT Life skills for LD learners Volunteering courses ESOL Outreach (CAL Fund)	Citizenship for ESOL Confidence Building workshops: assertiveness, advocacy, conflict resolution Wider outreach Learner focus groups Learner representative meetings
Distinctiveness: A great place to visit, but most importantly, a place to live a larger life	Modern languages, cookery, art and textiles. Employability courses Customer Service, Enrichment courses for LD learners	Interest groups (reading, walking, local history etc.) Links with organisations needing volunteers Classes for people in residential homes: crafts, seated exercise Community choirs
Kindness and resilience: Places defined by our kindness and resilience, by how our people care for each other, are able to recover from setbacks and are full of hope.	Group agreements Embedding of British Values Fund-raising events Family Learning	Mental Health Awareness Supporting SEND children for Parents/Carers Dementia Awareness 5 ways to wellbeing embedded in curriculum content Inter-generational projects
Enterprise: A place where talent and enterprise can thrive.	Creative arts courses Professional development and training courses Sage courses Introductory vocational courses (Childcare) Customer Service	Start Your Own Enterprise Start-Up Workshops Links with creative and social SMEs CAL Craft Fairs Social media for Enterprise

Appendix 2 - Calderdale Adults and Children's Directorate: Adults' Strategic Priorities

We will ensure that the support we provide for individuals and communities will focus on building their resilience and independence so that we can help adults to be as independent as they can be. Adults will have their rights promoted, for some this will include protecting them from all forms of abuse or discrimination and we will enable people to take appropriate risks and balance this with the duty of care.

AHSCP 2018/19	CAL: Responses
Respect rights and values: Promote your rights and values in a way that both enable you or someone that you care for, to take risks in a way that minimises harm. We will take prompt and effective action, which respects your rights and values, if you or someone that you care for are at risk of harm.	Mandatory training for all new staff on Safeguarding, Prevent, Equality and Diversity Annual updates for staff on mandatory training Clear communication of rights to feel safe for all learners Annual reviews of relevant policies and procedures
Maximise choice and control: Meet your individual needs and lifestyle, in ways that are as flexible as possible and provide any help and support in a way that gives you the most choice and control.	Citizenship for ESOL Confidence Building workshops: assertiveness, advocacy, conflict resolution Wider outreach to disadvantaged groups 5 Ways to Wellbeing classes Parenting workshops Independent Life Skills for LD learners
Effective integration: We will work with other organisations, service users and carers (co-production) so that we can provide seamless services and make the best use of the limited resources that we have.	Collaboration with local HWB organisations (such as Andy's Man Club. Asian Women's Resources Association (AWRA), Women Centre, Calderdale & Kirklees). Seated exercise and healthy living workshops for people with disabilities.
Make available a quality market and a skilled and supportive workforce: Work jointly with our providers and support them to provide high quality services and be the best that they can be.	Mental Health Awareness and First Aid training for CAL staff CPD events on supporting and promoting independence of learners with disabilities (such as autism, Aspergers, dyslexia)

Appendix 3: Ofsted Education Inspection Framework (EIF) 2019

Ofsted criteria 2019	CAL: Responses
Quality of education: Intent	Enriched and ambitious curriculum to develop cultural and social capital for all, especially disadvantaged learners. All curriculum areas to incorporate embedding of wellbeing, English, maths and employability/active citizenship. Curriculum to promote social inclusion, Equality and Diversity and British Values. Curriculum areas to incorporate same academic, vocational and technical ambitions for almost all learners (uniform high expectations). Curriculum for LD/SEN learners to be designed to promote independence, encourage greater engagement with the community and where possible, prepare for employment or volunteering.
Quality of education: Implementation	Well qualified and enthusiastic staff with up-to-date knowledge and expertise. Support and training for tutors delivering new or unfamiliar courses outside main specialism. Coherently planned SoWs with contextualised embedding of English, maths, employability (where relevant) and wellbeing. Resources and materials to reflect coherence of planning. Emphasis on incremental learning: opportunities for recap, consolidation and application of knowledge and skills. Creative use of assessment for learning (for example, prompt and probe Q&A techniques, reflection, self and peer assessment, effective use of feedback). Less reliance on assessment of learning. Emphasis on careful sequencing of learning (coherent steps towards knowledge and skills needed for further learning or employment. Less emphasis on differentiation.
Quality of education: Impact	High achievement. Positive learner feedback (including qualitative). Progression and destinations. Learners well prepared for next steps. Results at or above National Benchmark. Confidence of learners to transfer new skills and knowledge.
Behaviour and attitudes	Clear communication of high expectations (attendance, punctuality, commitment, conduct). Create culture of learning from mistakes resulting in positive attitudes and increased resilience. Promotion and embedding of effective study skills. Effective promotion of safeguarding and rights to feel safe. Zero tolerance of bullying and hate crime. Promotion of digital resilience and reputation (such as cyber safety and responsible use of social media). Challenging of discrimination, prejudice and stereotyping Create opportunities for learners to work independently on group projects.
Personal development	Enrich curriculum in order to discover and develop learners' talents and potential. Contextualise work within learners' interests and aspirations. Create learning activities that nurture resilience, independence, confidence and wellbeing. Active promotion of British Values and Equality and Diversity. Celebration of difference and diversity.
Leadership and management	Effective communication of high expectations, ambitions, shared values and policies/procedures. Focus on CPD to nurture and sustain high quality teaching, learning and assessment. Promote appropriate and effective use of assessment for learning. Implement and monitor strategies for improving retention. Positive and supportive engagement with staff Effective recognition and management of staff workload Effective protection of staff from bullying and harassment Effective and robust governance ensuring clarity of vision and accountability for high quality teaching, learning and assessment. Robust culture of Safeguarding. Effective Safeguarding policies and procedures including staff training and updating. Effective identification of learners at risk from abuse, neglect, exploitation or grooming.

Fees Policy 2024-25

These rules apply to all learners starting new Adult Skills Fund (ASF) courses on or after 1st August 2024

Policy Objectives
WYCA Funding Rules and Learner Eligibility
Fees for Adult Skills accredited provision
Fees for Tailored Learning (TL) non-accredited provision
Discounts
Refunds
Withdrawals
Subcontracting Local Fee Remission Policy

1. Policy Objectives

CAL’s Fees Policy seeks to ensure that the Service can respond to market forces, government policy and law, including fee guidance issued by the West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA).

By researching the charges in the local marketplace annually CAL ensures course fees are competitive – the fees will not necessarily be the lowest but will represent good value in relation to the quality of the product.

CAL must have and operate a fair and transparent adult learning Fees Policy that requires learners to pay a course fee where they can afford to, but also sets out clear eligibility criteria for those who qualify for a fee remission or discount. Course fees are collected to contribute towards costs of tuition, awarding organisation costs and materials relevant to the course, where applicable.

Annual review of the Fees Policy and any subsequent amendments will be subject to approval by the Strategic Board.

2. WYCA Funding Rules and Learner Eligibility

Our courses are subsidised, fully funded or co-funded, by the government through the WYCA funded Adult Skills Fund (ASF). CAL must therefore adhere to the latest funding and performance management rules as set out by WYCA. The purpose of WYCA ASF funding is to support adult learners in West Yorkshire to gain skills which will lead them to meaningful, sustained, and relevant employment, or enable them to progress to further learning which will deliver that outcome.

In addition to qualifications, the ASF enables tailored programmes of learning to be made available through Tailored Learning (non-accredited) provision that supports wider outcomes such as to improve health and wellbeing, equip parents/carers to support their child’s learning, and develop stronger communities.

Learners must be aged 19 and over on the 31 August within the funding year they start on a learning aim to be eligible for funding . They must also live in Calderdale or the WYCA funding area (Leeds City Region) and the learning must take place within Calderdale, or online. Learners must be a British citizen or have citizenship within the EU or the European Economic Area for at least the previous 3 years on the first day of learning; or have settled status or Right of Abode in the UK and fulfil the residency requirements specified.

Individuals with certain types of immigration status and their family members are exempt from the 3-year residency requirement rule. The learner’s immigration permission in these circumstances must be seen and verified.

Refugee Status
Discretionary Leave to Enter or Remain
Exceptional Leave to Enter or Remain
Indefinite Leave to Enter or Remain
Humanitarian protection
Leave Outside the Rules
Ukrainian Family Scheme / Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme (Homes for Ukraine)
Section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016 Leave
Husband, wife, civil partner or child of any of the above
Calais leave to remain
British Nationals evacuated from Afghanistan under Operation Pitting
British Nationals evacuated from Afghanistan by UK government before 6 January 2022

3. Fees for Adult Skills accredited provision

The funding approach assumes that all learners other than those eligible for a fee waiver are charged a tuition fee as a contribution towards the costs of their learning.

For Adult Skillslearning aims the government will contribute 50% of the funding rate specified for the qualification on the GOV.UK Find a Learning Aim website. As a general principle, CAL’s default fee level will be 50% of the unweighted published funding rate.

3.1 Funding Rates

New Adult Skills funding rates were introduced by the Department for Education with effect from 1 August 2024 (see below). The funding bands reflect the subject sector area assigned to a qualification learning aim. WYCA has adopted the new rates, but where this would have resulted in a lower funding value for a learning aim a 10% WYCA uplift has been applied to these.

Funding Band	Base	Low	Medium	High	Specialist
New hourly Adult Skills funding rate	£6.00	£7.20	£8.40	£9.60	£12.00

3.2 Fee Waivers and Legal Entitlements

Learners eligible for a fee waiver or legal entitlement do not pay any fees for Adult Skills courses that are valid for full funding. Learners in receipt of an eligible benefit or low earnings must provide proof when enrolling on the course. We require sight of the original documents and will not keep copies to comply with GDPR regulations.

Circumstances that qualify for the unemployment fee waiver are enrolment to a course directly relevant to both the individual’s employment prospects and the needs of the local labour market, plus the learner must be available for work and in receipt of one of the following benefits:

Job Seeker’s Allowance (JSA)
Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
Universal Credit (UC), where take-home pay, disregarding UC payments and other benefits, is less than £892 per calendar month (sole claimant) or £1473 (joint claim with a partner).
Asylum Seekers will also be fully funded by WYCA and fees waived on eligible courses, if: they have lived in the UK for 6 months or longer while their claim is being considered by the Home Office, and no decision on the claim has been made,
or if an appeal has been made against a decision and no decision has been made within 6 months of lodging the appeal.

A learner may qualify for a low wage fee waiver (if they are employed or self-employed and earn below £25,000 annual gross salary) on certain courses.

Legal entitlement to education and training and local flexibilities for full funding will also apply to the following provision:

Eligible maths and English qualifications up to and including Level 2/GCSE where the learner has not previously attained a GCSE grade 4 (C) or higher in the subject, or if they have been assessed as having an existing skill level lower than grade 4 (even if they have previously achieved a GCSE or equivalent qualification in English/maths).
Aged 19-23 and enrolling on an Entry Level, Level 1 or Level 2 course (not ESOL) without having already obtained a Full Level 2 qualification, supporting progression to further study and/or employment.
Essential Digital Skills qualifications (EDSQs) or Digital Functional Skills qualifications (FSQs) up to and including Level 1 for individuals aged 19 and over who have digital skills assessed at below Level 1.

NOTE: Eligibility for all fee waivers will be determined on a case-by-case basis and the relevant documents verified by CAL staff before a decision is made.

4. Fees for Tailored Learning (TL) non-accredited provision

There are 3 TL pathways at CAL, to reflect the different needs and circumstances of learners.

4.1 ‘First Step’ / ‘Next Step’ courses of 18 weeks (36 Guided Learning Hours)*

These courses will enable Calderdale residents to develop strong social networks and learn new skills in order to live a larger and healthier life. Learners are able to progress from a ‘First Step’ to a ‘Next Step’ course. These courses will be co-funded and we will therefore charge a fee based on a set hourly rate for all courses, unless otherwise indicated. Includes our courses for adults with learning disabilities (LD).

‘First Step’ = £4.00 per GLH (or £5.00 per GLH for courses that include materials)
‘Next Step’ = £5.00 per GLH (or £6.00 per GLH for courses that include materials)

*Skills for Life courses in English, maths and ESOL run on a flexible “roll on/roll off” (RO/RO) basis over 36 weeks. Following assessment, learners can join a class at any point during the year. RO/RO courses allow learners who have developed their skills and confidence sufficiently in a non-accredited Skills for Life class to transfer, when appropriate, onto an accredited course. TL courses in this programme area are provided FREE to all learners who are assessed as below Level 2 and needing support with their English, maths or ESOL skills to help them in everyday life, work or to progress towards a Level 2 qualification.

4.2 ‘Engage’ courses of 6 weeks (12 Guided Learning Hours)

These short courses will take place in community venues across Calderdale. They will be provided free of charge to eligible learners and will focus public funding on those who need it most, making learning accessible to the disadvantaged, least likely to participate and those who experience particular barriers to learning. As part of the ‘Engage’ course learners will complete an initial assessment for English, maths and digital skills, and will receive support and guidance regarding suitable progression opportunities. To be eligible for CAL’s ‘Engage’ courses learners must be in receipt of one of the following means-tested benefits.

Jobseekers Allowance (JSA)
Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
Universal Credit
Income Support
Housing Benefit
Working Tax Credit
Council Tax Benefit
Pension Credit Guarantee

4.3 Family Learning programme

These courses are delivered in local schools and are fully funded (no fees charged). Activities are designed to encourage adults and children to learn together and promote and facilitate increased parental participation and engagement in the life of school, and in children’s learning at home. Provision will be targeted and available to schools prioritised by the High Pupil Premium funding allocation. This will support the School Improvement Plan, breaking down barriers through both academic and wellbeing sessions of varying lengths. Learners will also have access to information, advice and guidance regarding next steps and progression as part of this programme.

5. Discounts

There may be an early enrolment or other discount available for those paying fees on selected courses from time to time. For the latest information and full terms and conditions please see the website or current brochure.

For 2024/25 a 10% early enrolment discount will be applied when a learner enrols and pays for a course (starting in autumn term only) before 1 September 2024, exclusions apply.

6. Refunds

Learner Support staff will obtain the learner’s fees prior to the learner starting their course. Fees are non-refundable, except in the following circumstances:

When CAL has cancelled the full course, in which case all fees paid will be refunded.
Where CAL has cancelled 25% or more of the course’s total guided learning hours, for example due to bad weather or tutor illness, and the session(s) missed cannot be provided via the Google G-Suite platform and/or on an alternative date/time. In this instance the learner will be refunded on a pro-rata basis for the session(s) missed only.
Where there is a complaint made through the Complaints Procedure about the quality of the course which is upheld (this could be a full or partial refund).
When a fee has been paid in advance of the course start date and CAL has received formal notification from the learner of withdrawal no later than 10 working days before the learner’s start date. If you withdraw later than this, you will not be entitled to a refund. Please note, refunds in these circumstances will have a £15 administration fee applied to help cover our processing and handling costs.
Where there are exceptional mitigating circumstances.

CAL will endeavour to make all refunds due within 14 days of authorisation of the refund.

Refunds will be made to the person who paid for the course where this is different from the person who attended the course.

If the Service needs to alter, postpone or cancel courses or services (e.g. a course may close or merge because there are not enough learners) CAL is not liable for any additional costs incurred by the learner because of the changes.

In the case of earners enrolling on the third or subsequent week of a course, where permitted, the learner fee amount should be pro-rata to reflect the number of course hours remaining.

7. Withdrawals

CAL reserves the right to withdraw the learner from the course where the learner has missed a substantial or critical element of the course or in the case of gross misconduct.

If a learner wishes to withdraw from his/her course during the period of study, then they must notify CAL of their reason for withdrawing. The learner’s last date of attendance will be recorded as their withdrawal date.

8. Subcontracting Local Fee Remission Policy

The service subcontracts some of its provision through the CAL Fund and Direct Awards scheme to enhance the existing curriculum offer in working with vulnerable and hard to reach groups of learners who might not yet be ready to access, or who may have barriers to accessing, mainstream learning and work. This involves the delivery of inclusive ASF provision that meets the needs and aspirations of learner groups currently under-represented in learning as well as contributing to tackling unemployment and increasing employability skills.

Courses may be accredited and/or non-accredited. Fee waivers as described under 3.2 will apply to this provision, and in addition, a local fee remission policy is currently in place for subcontracted provision which aligns to the expectations of the WYCA with flexibility to waive fees for those who would ordinarily be required to contribute towards the cost of their course , excluding them from taking part in learning. All CAL Fund courses are provided free to learners where they fall into one or more of the following key priority groups:

The learner is in insecure work
The learner is disadvantaged/vulnerable
The learner has been assessed as having digital skills below Level 1 and the learning will reduce social isolation (for IT/Digital Skills courses)
The learner is a mental health service user or has mild to moderate mental health problems and a Health and Wellbeing course will benefit them

Author: Lisa Noble (MIS, Data and Funding Manager). Policy Date: August 2024 Review Date: July 2025.

Subcontracting Policy 2023-24

CAL Fund and Direct Awards (updated October 2023)

Rationale for subcontracting

Calderdale Adult Learning (CAL) service is part of The Borough Council of Calderdale and it receives government Adult Education Budget (AEB) funding through the West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA). The service subcontracts some of its provision to enhance the existing curriculum offer in working with vulnerable and hard to reach groups of learners who might not yet be ready to access or who may have particular barriers to accessing, mainstream learning and work. This involves the delivery of inclusive AEB provision that meets the needs and aspirations of learner groups currently under-represented in learning as well as contributing to tackling unemployment and increasing employability skills. Subcontracting enables CAL to deliver high quality niche provision in areas where subcontractors have existing community links and focused specialist expertise. It also allows progression routes for the learners from partners courses to our mainstream provision and vice versa.

This document describes the principles underpinning the selection process and management of subcontracted provision to ensure that it meets the required standard.

Subcontracting arrangements

CAL will only work with high quality providers it determines to be of high strategic value and low risk. The CAL Fund application process invites applications from appropriate learning providers for a 2-year contract to be appointed as approved subcontractors for the provision of accredited and/or non-accredited for adults aged 19 and over. All delivery must take place within Calderdale and engage learners living in the WYCA area. Subcontracted provision will be offered free to the learner and a local fee remission policy is in place which describes the eligibility criteria. For those learners able to pay and without significant barriers to learning, other provision is available through CAL or the wider WYCA partnership and learners should be signposted to alternative provision as appropriate.

The CAL Fund brief outlines CAL’s reasons for subcontracting and examples of the type of learning opportunities we would like to offer through partners, which will be based on local priorities and in alignment with the Combined Authority AEB strategy and will detail the services and support we will provide. Interested organisations are invited to tender for delivery of accredited and/or non-accredited learning provision to adults in Calderdale who are furthest from learning and employment. The following items need to be completed and submitted via the YORtender procurement portal and shall comprise a Tender Submission:

Pricing Schedule(s);
Responses to Quality Questions;
Form of Tender;
Declaration of Non-Collusive Tendering;
Declaration of Commercially Sensitive Information;
Privacy Notice;
Suitability Assessment Form (including declaration).

The application includes an estimate of how many learners the project will engage as part of the subcontracting arrangement and the total amount of funding for which they wish to bid. The maximum indicative budget for these Contracts is £275,000 per annum (excluding VAT), to be split between non-accredited Community Learning (£175,000) and accredited Adult Skills (£100,000) provisions. Each Tenderer will only be able to bid for a maximum of £40,000 of the annual £275,000 budget available. Tenderers must ensure they build into their costs any increases associated with inflation. Inflation increases are not awarded.

The tender must be submitted by the deadline stated on the portal and applications submitted after that date cannot be considered. A panel comprising of appointed members meets to score the applications and applicants are notified of the outcome. The evaluation panel must have a minimum of three members of staff and no person with a personal or financial interest in any of the tenderers should be involved in the evaluation or be involved in any way in influencing the decision of the evaluation panel. The evaluation of tenders must be in accordance with the evaluation criteria specified in the ITT document and no deviation from this evaluation criteria or introduction of undeclared sub-criteria is permitted.

Subcontracting arrangements will be reviewed regularly in line with the Council's policies and WYCA's regulations.

Contracts and Due Diligence Process

Following the pre-contracting due diligence checks stated below, successful applicants are issued a legal contract for provision of services which must be signed by the appointed subcontractor before starting any delivery. The subcontractor agrees to work within the terms of our contract and is willing to engage in a mutually supportive relationship. All CAL Fund partners will be provided with a copy of this document which can also be accessed from Plans and policies.

Due Diligence Checks

The first stage in establishing the partnership is the completion of a rigorous Due Diligence process which includes a series of pre contracting checks. This ensures that each partner's financial, quality and learner support arrangements are robust. The potential subcontractor must provide CAL with details, these include:

Organisation Details including UKPRN.
Contact names, addresses and telephone numbers of all Company Directors/Secretary/Partners.
Details of any other prime or subcontracting arrangements.
Two years audited accounts for a financial viability health check.
Employer, Public and Product Liability Insurance.
Plan of Learning (lesson plan) for proposed programmes.
Details of approved centres for examinations.
CVs including professional qualifications and DBS checks of all staff.
Evidence that all staff have undertaken safeguarding and Prevent training.
Performance Data.
All information and evidence as requested on the Suitability Assessment Form within the ITT document.

Additional information may be requested.

Quality Assurance (QA) and Monitoring

Subcontracted provision is equally as important as CAL's directly delivered provision. The quality of the provision is therefore monitored and managed through CAL's existing QA processes and procedures and all tutor and learner paperwork must be submitted at the end of the course along with learner evaluations and the required evidence. Quality assurance visits to partners are made during the year by a member of the Quality Team to provide support and ensure teaching is of a high quality. Partner providers are invited to attend CAL staff Continuing Professional Development activities and staff training where relevant throughout the year.

Learner enrolments and achievement data are input by CAL's Data Team, and the MIS, Data and Funding Manager at CAL will monitor compliance, learner numbers and spend against targets throughout the year. Individualised Learning Record (ILR) data entry and submission is all completed centrally. CAL do not charge management fees for any of these services.

Payments

Subject to achieving the relevant payment milestones, satisfactory data/Traffic Light Report returns, and services being delivered to the required standards (proven by satisfactory evidence), subcontractors will be paid for completed provision termly during the funding period and must therefore submit invoices at the end of each term for all completed courses. CAL will only pay subcontractors for learners who complete their course. Payments will normally be made by CAL within 30 days of receiving an invoice.

The current payment rate is £20 per GLH for all non-accredited Community Learning. This was agreed by CAL’s Strategic Board for the current contracting period as representing both value for money and cost effectiveness to deliver the highest quality provision to the maximum number of Calderdale residents, whilst ensuring fair payment for services delivered by CAL Fund providers. Payment rates for accredited Adult Skills provision are variable depending on the qualification learning aim and the full amount specified on the Find a Learning Aim site will be paid (half for co-funded learners) plus 10%. Rates will be reviewed by CAL every 2 years.

Direct Award Contracts

If the allocated annual CAL Fund budget is not fully spent, CAL has the ability to award Direct Award contracts. This process will be used to ensure recruitment numbers are achieved and to provide smaller organisations with delivery opportunities. The budget will be limited to £30,000 per provider annually and will be awarded by the lead officer for subcontracting arrangements. The funding will be fixed. The outcomes will be established and a signed contract put in place. The Direct Award Contracts will be promoted each Spring Term and an open invite will be circulated for interested parties to submit an expression of interest, each submission will be assessed by the Lead Officer and awarded in relation to the set criteria.

Subcontracted Provision 2023-24 Fees and Charges

In line with funding guidelines, we will publish our current Subcontracting Policy on our website (by 31st October). The table below includes details of our approved CAL Fund partner providers for the current year and the estimated value of the subcontracting arrangements. Note: The 2023-24 academic year is Year 1 of the current contracts. The next CAL Fund subcontracting opportunity will be advertised in summer 2025.

Provider name	UKPRN number	Type of provision	Contract start date	Contract end date	Value (£) of subcontracting arrangement
Calderdale College	10001093	Classroom Learning	16/10/23	31/07/24	£39,342.60
DIP Ltd	10010178		16/10/23	31/07/24	£39,820
Halifax Opportunities Trust	10013225		16/10/23	31/07/24	£39,600
Noah's Ark Centre	10062080		16/10/23	31/07/24	£33,500
Proper Job Theatre Company	10021171		16/10/23	31/07/24	£34,920
JIF Training	10088443		16/10/23	31/07/24	£39,754
PATH Yorkshire	10005006		16/10/23	31/07/24	£39,600
				Total amount	£266,536.60

Subcontracted Provision – Actual Fees and Charges 2022-23

The actual funding paid by CAL to subcontractors (CAL Fund and Direct Award Contracts) in the previous academic year is provided in the following tables. Any underspend from CAL Fund/Direct Award Contracts is re-distributed to other areas of CAL delivery where there is a demand for funding and CAL do not charge management fees for subcontracted provision.

CAL Fund

Provider name	UKPRN number	Type of provision	Contract start date	Contract end date	Actual funding paid (£) to subcontractor	Funding retained by CAL*
AALFY	10041511	Classroom Learning	01/08/22	31/07/23	£0	£17,500
C&K Careers	10001091		01/08/22	31/07/23	£4,264	£5,576
Calderdale College	10001093		01/08/22	31/07/23	£28,711.47	£0
Find Your Voice	10064607		01/08/22	31/07/23	£19,575	£7,200
Halifax Opportunities Trust	10013225		01/08/22	31/07/23	£21,231	£6,887
Noah’s Ark Centre	10062080		01/08/22	31/07/23	£23,625	£375
Proper Job Theatre Company	10021171		01/08/22	31/07/23	£28,480	£1,120
The Skills Network	10029308		01/08/22	31/07/23	£29,700	£0
Total amount paid and retained					£155,586.47	£38,658.00
Amount paid to CAL by subcontractors for services or support					£0.00

(*Funding retained by CAL due to under delivery on target learner numbers by subcontractor(s).)

Direct Awards

Provider name	UKPRN number	Type of provision	Contract start date	Contract end date	Actual funding paid (£) to subcontractor	Funding retained by CAL*
Calderdale College	10001093	Classroom Learning	27/03/23	31/07/23	£29,615.30	£0
The Skills Network	10029308	Classroom Learning	27/03/23	31/07/23	£8,481.68	£6,518.32
Total amount paid + retained					£38,096.98	£6,518.32
Amount paid to CAL by subcontractors for services or support					£0.00

(*Funding retained by CAL due to under delivery on target learner numbers by subcontractor(s).)

Total amount paid to subcontractors in 2022-23:

£193,683.45.

CAL's total WYCA funding used for subcontracting in 2022-23:

17.3%.

Date updated:

4th October 2023.

Position: Head of Service, Calderdale Adult Learning.

Agreed by Accounting Officer and CAL Board.

Privacy notices

Please read our privacy notice to find out how we use your information:

Calderdale Adult Learning (WYCA funded) - privacy notice

Room hire terms and conditions

For details on how to hire a room, please read:

Room Hire Agreement(PDF 99KB)

Translation disclaimer (Translation disclaimer)

Safeguarding Policy 2023-24

Statement

The Calderdale Safeguarding Children Partnership

The Calderdale Safeguarding Adults Board

Prevent Duty

Why Safeguarding is necessary at CAL

Definitions of Persons

Learner

Child

Adults at Risk

Definition of abuse

Abuse of children and young People

Abuse of adults at risk (aged 18 or more)

Physical Abuse

Psychological and emotional

Consent and mental capacity

Sexual

Neglect

Domestic violence/abuse

Financial or material

Modern slavery

Discriminatory

Self-neglect

Staff recruitment and vetting

Staff training and development

The designated staff

The Safeguarding Team

Useful contact numbers

Children and Young People

Adults

Evening classes

Allegations of abuse and reporting suspicion of abuse

Safeguarding procedure

Receive

Reassure

Report and refer to Designated Safeguarding Lead

Record

Support

Allegations of abuse made against Staff

Monitoring

Complaints

CAL Management Safeguarding Referral Process

Management/DSL Process

How to report abuse and who to Contact

Child

Adult

Who to contact if you suspect abuse

Emergency Duty Team

Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO)

Evening classes

CAL Safeguarding

Online Safety

Useful websites

Managing and Safeguarding IT systems

Cyber Crime

Staying safe from Scammers whilst self-isolating due to Coronavirus

Safeguarding Policies and Procedures for Partners

Appendix 1 - Guide for Learners: Staying Safe Online

Joining an on-line meeting/class

Things to avoid doing in on-line meetings

Appendix 2 - Guide for staff: Teaching Safely Online

Running an on-line meeting/class

Things to avoid doing in online meetings

Appendix 3 - Specific Safeguarding Issues

Prevent Policy 2023-24

Statement

Definitions

Calderdale Adult Learning - Staff training

Channel intervention programme

Partnerships

External speakers and events

Freedom of Speech

External Speaker Code of Conduct

Risk assessment of proposed external speaker(s)

Online safety (Prevent)

Information on Prevent for learners

Induction

Classroom displays and posters