Investment plans are invited from the Greater London Authority, all Mayoral Combined Authorities, and upper tier/unitary authorities outside of these areas in England. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland should refer to the wider UKSPF investment framework

Please ensure you complete this template in full and submit by 30^th June 2022 by emailing Multiply.investmentplans@education.gov.uk

Once investment plans are approved, provisional allocations will be signed off, grant agreements will be put in place incorporating information included in this investment plan and first payments made in autumn 2022.

At the end of the 2022-23 and 2023-24 financial years, areas will submit an annual progress report, and a revised investment plan for subsequent years of Multiply provision. This should take on board learning achieved through local delivery, peer to peer support networks and engagement events. It should align with the updated menu of interventions and any new guidance issued each year by the Department for Education.

For further information or to discuss a proposal ahead of submission please contact DfE at Multiply.investmentplans@education.gov.uk

Please note that information provided on this form, including personal information, may be subject to publication or disclosure in accordance with the access to information regimes, primarily the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the Data Protection Act 1998.

1. Who are the local authority representatives for Multiply (name, email, telephone)?

Multiply lead:Holly Aquilina, Holly.Aquilina@eastsussex.gov.uk, 01323 463538

Financial / Accounting Officer: Johanna Isted, Johanna.Isted@eastsussex.gov.uk

Section A: Multiply intervention summary

2. In the accompanying spreadsheet, please provide a high-level summary of the interventions to deliver Multiply in your local area, along with related output indicators and required budget?

Spreadsheet attached.

3. If you have described any Multiply provision in Section A that does not fit the menu of interventions, what is your rationale for proposing this additional intervention? We will consider this proposal against the aims of the Multiply programme. You can answer “None” for this question. (Approx. 250 words)

In Section 2A, ‘Off menu’ we have included our learner engagement and tracking activity, the development of new learning content and a programme of Tutor CPD. We are keen to train tutors who work with those harder to reach residents who lack maths training, who deliver other engagement provision such as cookery, music, coding, gardening etc so that they are able to deliver embedded maths, and so that they and maths tutors are equipped with the skills to increase learner confidence in their ability to learn and particularly to access and feel confident with maths. This programme will be created and led by the University of Brighton faculty of Education and we intend to deliver this to improve the quality of our Multiply programme, but also to leave a legacy post programme – of learning modules and experienced outreach tutors.

4. Please confirm and explain how your Multiply provision is in addition to and does not duplicate or offset fully funded maths courses delivered through the Adult Education Budget statutory entitlement, or other government funded maths provision. (Approx. 250 words)

Our IP has been developed through a process of stakeholder consultation. We have an established Skills and Employability Board and Network in East Sussex, which includes Careers, Training and Community Learning providers, including AEB providers, alongside business representative organisations, employers from key industries and DWP programme providers. Our Board and its subgroups map out current provision and collectively develop new initiatives to meet need in East Sussex.

For the purposes of this proposal, we have invited our FE, HE, Community Sector and Independent Training Providers to propose new ways of delivering maths and have liaised with all AEB providers in East Sussex to ensure that any proposed provision doesn’t duplicate anything that can be funded by AEB. Our proposal will not deliver any maths qualifications that would normally be delivered via AEB. We have chosen to deliver new provision that plugs gaps, supports those furthest from the workplace and targets those in work where there is little bespoke maths provision. Our Multiply offer seeks to support those who are least likely to enrol on a fully funded maths course. We will provide a mix of short engagement interventions and an approach that embeds maths in technical, employability or popular lifestyle courses and will use this taster provision from which we will refer participants into further learning via AEB. We have curated an complementary offer that will help create the conditions for progression – innovative provision that will build confidence in participants helping them move on in life and work.

5. Please briefly set out how you have considered the FE workforce needs (e.g. classroom, tutoring) for Multiply. How will you ensure Multiply workforce needs will not be at the detriment of other programmes you are delivering (eg under the AEB statutory entitlements)? Please note, FE workforce investment should support delivery of Multiply provision and should not be a standalone intervention. (Approx. 250 words)

In developing our programme, we have made sure that there are sufficient tutors in place to deliver the programmewithout impinging on current maths delivery. Our consultation process for developing our proposal asked providers whether they had the capacity to deliver the programme alongside current provision. Our approach, embedding maths in technical, vocational, employability and recreational learning, alongside sector based learning modules, means that, through a procurement process we will draw on the skills of a broad range of providers, including community providers and Independent Training Providers to deliver our Multiply programme.

Through our development phase we determined that it would be beneficial to include a CPD programme to develop the ability of tutors for other subject areas (such as cookery or construction) to be able to teach an embedded maths approach, and to train tutors in how to help learners overcome a ‘fear of maths’, and to develop confidence with maths. This will support the quality of our programme but will also provide a legacy on conclusion of the programme, with a non-maths tutor base with the skills to be able to engage a broader learner cohort in maths. We are consequently working with the University of Brighton faculty of education to develop and deliver this programme of professional training and support.

Section B: Strategic fit

6. How does the proposed Multiply provision strategically fit with your local priorities, coordinating where possible with wider skills and employment interventions in local areas (for example through Local Skills Improvement Plans), and interventions funded through the broader UKSPF (e.g. in district council investment plans) or other programmes? (Approx. 500 words)

Multiply is a strong strategic fit for East Sussex and our local priorities. Skills East Sussex (SES) is the county’s strategic partnership Board for employment and skills and feeds directly into the SELEP Skills Advisory Panel and informs the regional SELEP skills strategy. The SES Board also feeds into Team East Sussex, which is the local economic growth board for East Sussex. SES is multi-stakeholder and is supported by eight employer-provider task groups focusing on:

· Engineering & manufacturing

· Construction

· Health & social care

· Creative, media and digital

· Visitor economy

· Land-based industries

· Careers provision

· Net Zero industries/skills

and what we know, from working with employers, that they often experience difficulties with the employability skills of new recruits, and numeracy is often a ‘hidden problem’ for these employers. Within the SELEP area, East Sussex lags behind other geographies due to our SME dominance, poor access to training/work in rural areas and coastal poverty. Our deprived communites were hit particularly hard during the pandemic, and Pro Bono Economics found that 59% of those who lost jobs in year one of the pandemic had low numeracy skills.

The SES Board has six priorities, which support the SELEP Skills Strategy, including:

· Upskilling our workforce to minimum Level 3

· Enabling our FE/HE establishments to recruit excellent educators with specialist technical knowledge

· Supporting the unemployed and unqualified

And our proposed Multiply programme supports these.

The SES Board coordinates employability and skills activity from school age to retirement – including careers advice and guidance, support for the unemployed, development of new curriculum – and works collectively to address issues such as pandemic recovery, sector skills shortages, responses to migration – to ensure that the county has joined up responses. The Board works to ensure that gaps in provision are filled – and that programmes ( ESF, AEB, DWP etc) are joined-up and not duplicated.

SES feeds in closely to the Sussex LSIP Trailblazer, who works through our Sector Task Groups to liaise with and consult local businesses. The LSIP provides research and data which is used by Skills East Sussex to inform provision and shape curriculum. The FE colleges deliver a range of provision via SDF – linked to the LSIP strategy, which has a strong focus on Net Zero skills. Net Zero skills in all sectors, with its increased emphasis on technology, will require maths.

Our Multiply programme has been devised by mapping the gaps – noting which ESF provision that includes functional skills will cease in Spring of 2023, acknowledging current AEB offers from our four AEB suppliers and consulting the DWP and Restart about maths in the context of their local provision. We have decided to deliver maths differently for Multiply, to explore if non-traditional approaches have an improved impact on supporting learners.

Our District and Boroughs sit on SES, and we are working with them to support their proposed people and skills interventions through the UKSPF. We aim to ensure that where there is already sufficient provision by DWP Restart, Colleges,HEIs, AEB and Multiply, UKSPF will not duplicate activity. It is likely that the SPF provision will offer employability and soft skills support, engagement activity, and support into work, and that these new programmes will refer participants into our Multiply offer.

Section C: High level delivery timeline

7. Please provide an outline of your high-level delivery timeline including major milestones and planned partnerships with local education providers, employers, and other local touchpoints

	Multiply provision	Delivery partners	Major milestones	Date	Comments
	For all East Sussex Multiply lots	ESCC will undertake a transparent and fair procurement process to engage delivery partners before September 22. It is anticipated the partnership base will be a mix of FE/HEI/Community Sector/Independent Training providers	· Procurement process launched · Providers complete due diligence · Framework of providers established/contracts awarded · Overarching Communications plan launched · Quarterly review cycles begin · Multiply Project Manager recruited	July-October 22	Procurement will take place by end September 22, enabling swift delivery once the DfE grant letter is received.
1	Courses designed to increase confidence with numbers for those needing the first steps towards a formal numeracy qualification.	Partners to be procured. Likely to be mix of FE/ITP and Community sector partners.	Contracts awarded	Sept 22	Transparent procurement process
			Winter delivery to feed into January starts on formal qualifications	Nov-Dec 22	Whilst some progression provision will be RORO – FEIs will have a Jan and Sept intake for Functional Skills
			Promotional push in run up to National Numeracy Day / Adult Learners Week	May & Sept 23 & 24	Seek to capitalise on national initiatives like NN day and Adult Learners Week
2	Courses designed to help people use numeracy to manage their money.	Procurement process to secure delivery partners. Likely to be community sector organisations who already have existing relationship with client group.	Contracts awarded	Sept 22
2			Promotion, Delivery commences & is reviewed quarterly with ongoing improvement	October- 22 start, review Jan 23	Reflect on challenges/successes - adapt approach in Jan 23 if necessary
3	Innovative numeracy programmes delivered together with employers – including courses designed to cover specific numeracy skills required in the workplace	Allocate ESCC tutors and procure delivery partners through open process and work with internal ESCC training team and University of Brighton to develop course content.	Contracts awarded and first raft of courses developed ( budget setting, financial planning, carbon calculating, using data using excel for work) Tutor CPD	Oct 22	Staggered lead in time with a view to rolling out provision to employers fully by March 23
			First raft of courses rolled out and reviewed	Oct-22	Reviewed and modified for year 2/3
			Sector specific courses devised with employers and rolled out	Feb-March 23	Summer 23 review pilots with a view and amend and continue delivery
4	Courses aimed at people who can’t apply for certain jobs because of lack of numeracy skills and/or to encourage people to upskill in numeracy in order to access a certain job/career	Transparent procurement process to secure delivery partners and work with new providers and University of Brighton Education faculty to develop course content. Close working with RESTART and DWP to promote referrals.	Course development with providers and employers	Sept/Oct 22
			Tailored messaging/marketing campaign materials created	Sept 22	Work through JCP, Community sector and REEDUK to promote the offer
			Contracts issed and rollout starts. Tutor CPD	Oct 22	Quarterly programme reviews
5	New intensive and flexible numeracy courses targeted at people without Level 2 maths, leading to a Functional Skills Qualification	Delivered by ESCC Library Learning Services	Devise course content and marketing materials	July – October 22	Currently holding a waiting list for adults seeking to develop numeracy skills
5		Delivered by ESCC Library Learning Services	Allocate tutors to new programme and commence rollout. Tutor CPD.	July 22	Review quarterly to improve provision
6	Courses for parents wanting to increase their numeracy skills in order to help their children, and help with their own progression.	To be procured externally with some delivery by ESCC tutors.	Create a plan for working with Hastings Opp Area and capitalising on recent work on numeracy.	Sept 22
6			Issue contracts, devise content, Tutor CPD and commence rollout	October 22	Embed quarterly reviews of progress & amend delivery programme accord to evaluation
7	Numeracy activities, courses or provision developed in partnership with community organisations and other partners aimed at engaging the hardest to reach learners.	Provision from community organisations to be procured.	New course content devised and developed by University of Brighton, ESCC Training and with partners	July-October 22
			Contracts issued, Tutor CPD, Roll out	Autumn 22	Reviewed and evaluated
			Amended provision rolled out	March 23

Section D: Evidence of need and demand

8. Please describe why improving adult functional numeracy (aiming to teach the numeracy skills that are needed in daily life and the workplace) matters to your local area. You should refer to specific characteristics of your local area in your answer and include supporting evidence - especially quantitative forms of evidence where available. (Approx. 250 words)

The East Sussex economy is characterised by a mix of micro/small businesses. We have a low skilled workforce with only 55% of our adults qualified at Level 3 or above. Three of our dominant sectors are Health and Social Care, Visitor Economy, Construction, where our lower skilled workforce is located. These are not industries that traditionally invest in skills of their entry level workforce and the SME nature of East Sussex means less funding to invest in staff skills.

22 neighbourhoods out of 329 (6.7%) are in the most deprived decile (Indices of Deprivation); including parts of Hailsham, Eastbourne, Newhaven and Hastings. Hastings was identified as an ‘opportunity area’ benefiting from funds to improve social mobility. The Hastings Opportunity Area focuses on raising attainment in maths for school aged children. The ability to provide parents with numeracy support is key to this aim and will be a focus of Multiply.

Unemployed Claimants in East Sussex currently stands at 3.8% compared to the regional 3%, with 5% in Eastbourne and 6% Hastings.

All East Sussex sectors are struggling to recruit skilled staff into entry level roles, despite the high volumes of unemployed in the county. Maths skills are crucial to all sectors, for example our Health & Social care sector is currently suffering high turnover (34.4%) and needs to recruit adults who can to do calculations, measure medicines, record numbers, understand measurements in order to safeguard and provide high-quality care. Our landbased sector is becoming increasingly technical and demanding improved business/financial skills with the ability to analyse data an increasing need for food production land management and conservation, and our construction sector required skilled technicians who can calculate quantities, measure spaces accurately etc to provide a high quality service and avoid financial waste. The Sussex LSIP survey showed that 28% of employers surveyed recognised that maths skills could become a key issue over the next 5 to 10 years, and 10% stated they had issues recruiting staff with sufficient maths skills.

9. Please describe any qualitative or quantitative data you have on local adult numeracy levels (e.g., historic and current participation and achievement, etc) to evidence need and demand. (Approx. 250 words)

Data from the DWP, school leaver attainment, our Local Enterprise Partnership, our LSIP and our Further Education Colleges provides us with an understanding of local numeracy levels across the adult population of East Sussex.

45% of our working age adults in East Sussex do not have a Level 3 qualification. Our school maths attainment data shows improvement at Level 2 over recent years, improving from 65% attaining grade 4 or above in Maths GCSE in 2018/19 to 72% in 2020/21. However, this data indicates a significant proportion of adults will have left learning without a Level 2 qualification over the past decade and more.

Over the three preceding years to 2019, numbers of maths resits in Sussex FECs increased by over 50%, thus only exacerbating the issue over the medium term. However, we also know that of those adults who work towards gaining a GCSE in maths, in the SELEP region, around 72% will achieve, which is twice as high as the national average, so we know we have some excellent provision in the region but the main issue is engaging those who are not signed up to a course, or who are unemployed in maths offers. Our FE providers find it hard to attract learners to access maths AEB funded provision, perhaps because it is a ‘traditional’ learning offer. Our library services who offer a flexible learning approach however, have a waiting list for functional maths (but are not funded to deliver any maths learning). There is consequently need for maths provision, but perhaps not in a traditional learning setting.

Restart is being delivered by REED UK who has identified that approximately 2/3 of the unemployed that they work with lack a level 2 maths qualification, indicating a link between longer term unemployment and a lack of maths skills.

As part of the development of our Local Skills Improvement Plan, more than 10% of employers surveyed stated that they have issues recruiting employees with sufficient levels of maths and English, and almost 30% expressed concern that their existing employees would need better English and maths over the next 5 to 10 years. Only 3% said they had sufficient levels of English and maths in their workforce.

10. How does the Multiply provision outlined in section A meet this demand, on top of how existing entitlement is already meeting it, and what does success look like for your local area? (Approx. 250 words)

Our Multiply provision has been built taking a ‘bottom up’ approach, consulting across the county to better understand the root causes that have resulted in the current skills gaps.

The provision outlined in Section A, seeks to address the following barriers:

· ‘Adults lack confidence in numbers’ – Multiply will explore the relationship between confidence and a ‘growth mindset'. The flexibility of Multiply means that we can prioritise confidence building, using non traditional methodologies (embedded learning delivered in community settings and via 1:1) and help create the conditions for progression into existing entitlements.

· ‘Adults lack the required levels of workplace numeracy’ - one in four adults are deterred from applying for a job if the advert refers to numbers/ data in the job description (source: National Numeracy.) Multiply will work with both job seekers, providers and employers to explore and build resources for the kinds of ‘workplace maths’ required.

· ‘Too many parents experience maths anxiety’ - Multiply will work innovatively with parents to understand and address the levels of maths anxiety across the county. This will include working with parents in refuge accommodation through the county’s ESTAR team.

Project success will look like: -

· More adults become confident and competent with numbers and data

· More adults feel able to progress into a maths qualification

· Adults feel better equipped to make good decisions in their home and work lives using numbers and data

· Adults recognise the concept of a growth mindset

· Employers supported through the programme recognise improved maths skills among their workforce, leading to improved productivity

11. Please describe what you have done to ensure good value for money (e.g., has your plan been reviewed by an economist, have you reviewed local data?). Please also describe what controls you will put in place to ensure that good value for money continues to be achieved throughout the lifetime of the Multiply provision. (Approx. 250 words)

Multiply in East Sussex will demonstrate good value for money – it will run across all of East Sussex delivering across 7 investment strands (67%). Multiply will fund a network of provision and a number of core roles including a dedicated Project Manager and Project Officer. The administration allocation available will be fully maximised to pump prime the project so it has a direct impact on adults across the county.

Unit costs for the project have been calculated using real costs from a variety of local pilot schemes, including the Moving on Up project – that worked with people with complex needs and offers them support into training and work via taster programmes and confidence building activities, and local ESF projects which are underway and will demise in 2023. These have been looked at in conjunction with FE delivery costs and our own AEB Community Learning costings. These projects all had to demonstrate VfM and cost efficiencies while still addressing the learning and support needs of some of the hardest to reach learners. As well as benchmarking against these projects and provisions we have liaised with the wider Holex Adult Learning network to compare pricing to ensure VfM, and have also worked closely with our neighbouring authorities to ensure that our Multiply offers are comparable.

Our procurement exercise to secure delivery partners will be asking for evidence of VfM. We will ask organisations to provide a rationale explain their costings.

ESCC recognises that outputs and results represent a critical consideration around initial and ongoing value for money. Working with partners we have sought to make our forecasts realistic and achievable to reduce the risk of underperformance. Contract management controls will be put in place to support the ongoing achievement of value for money.

Section E: Engaging learners

12. Which cohorts of learners will be hardest to reach? How do you intend to maximise the reach of the programme and make sure Multiply provision engages those learners that are hardest to reach (e.g., communications; reaching out to people via employers, ‘touch points’ such as housing and other community groups)?(Approx. 300 words)

Our starting position in East Sussex is one of recognition that everyone deserves to feel confident with numbers. We also recognise that promoting this message will be easier to some groups than others.

The research we carried out to inform our proposal demonstrates that in East Sussex some of our hardest to reach cohorts fall into the following broad categories:

· Parents: especially those residing in areas of deprivation (e.g., wards in coastal towns)

· Adults affected by homelessness: there are 1000+ people affected by homelessness in East Sussex living in either temporary/ supported accommodation, most are low skilled and many have complex needs.

· Job seekers: especially those furthest from the labour market; those aged 50+, people who reach adulthood with poor numeracy skills are twice as likely to be unemployed

· Employees: where low skills and a lack of numeracy leads to mistakes/retention issues

We will run a range of marketing campaigns to promote Multiply, but are fortunate to have excellent skills networks in the county and projects and partners who aready access the above groups. To maximise our reach we will: -

· Work through existing networks (e.g. our own community learning) and successful local interventions e.g. the Hastings Opportunity Area to access parents from deprived wards, the Moving on Up programme for those in temporary and supported housing

· Provide peripatetic support and outreach provision in settings such as village halls, childrens centres, rural libraries, refuge accommodation/ social housing, food banks, community centres, churches and religious venues, Citizens Advice Bureau etc

· We have agreed a referral process with JCP and Restart into Multiply offers and have agreed with our Districts and Boroughs that they will use SPF money for engagement and mentoring activities and to signpost people into local training including Multiply.

· Embed some of the short multiply offers into other job search related provision – as course or add ons to current programmes

· Work with our sector business task groups to develop and promote the ‘in work’ bitesize maths offers to their staff.

13. How will you ensure Multiply provision will be available and accessible to a diverse cohort as per Public Sector Equalities Duty (PSED) including those with dyscalculia or other protected characteristics? (Approx. 100 words)

Multiply will operate within the principles of the ESCC Equality Policy Statement, seeking to create an ‘inclusive learner journey’.

In practice this means: -

· Completing an Equality Impact Assessment on Multiply and carrying out recommended findings.

· Designing systems and processes to optimise access in relation to: digital content, teaching and learning activities and assessments

· Including questions in our procurement process about how contractors will address PSED

· Making best use of technology to help level the field e.g., providing captions on video content

· Ensuring providers have access to assistive technology where required e.g., screen reader/text to speech tools

· Creating links to the Dyscalculia Network - sharing best practice across partners or locating a Dyscalculia specialist in our region

Section F: Measuring success

14. We expect Multiply learner data to be inputted into the Individualised Learner Record (ILR). Describe your approach to data collection, management, and reporting to meet these requirements (Approx. 250 words)

ESCC will collect data from partners and be responsible for inputting all Multiply data into the ILR. We currently use the Plus Business Systems Ltd AEC Management Information System (MIS) but are currently reviewing our MIS and are likely to adopt a new recognised MIS by project start.

Data will be collected via a standard issue enrolment form, this form will collect the learner’s details which, in addition to name, address, date of birth etc will include standard ESFA requirements of disability, ethnicity, contact preferences, employment status, prior attainment etc.

ESCC will provide clear and transparent guidance to our delivery partner network regarding the range of data that needs to be collected (including Initial Assessments and End Point Assessments) for Multiply. We will provide a Multiply project Handbook that includes a pro forma enrolment form (paper or online), mapped to the data required. Delivery partners will benefit from clear dates and deadlines for returning data.

With regards to data management, we will store Multiply data in the MIS tool which can export ILR data directly. We will maintain individual learner files in line with the requirements of GDPR. ESCC will ensure all Multiply learners have seen the relevant Privacy Notice.

In terms of data reporting our current MIS system includes all ESFA tables and the LAD with the capacity to add additional tables via staff, course and enrolment menus. Data validation is constant across the platform which reduces errors at ILR download time. A comprehensive range of reports are available and the AEC MIS front screen provides a dropdown of ILR return reminders e.g., 30 days due/7 days due.

We will use our MIS to provide regular reports to DfE as required, and will use a combination of online ILR and paper forms (latter for light touch/short interventions). Our internal audit team will inspect and review our processes, to ensure that we are keeping records accurately and have the correct management processes in place to oversee the scheme.

15. What additional data (in addition to the Individualised Learner Record), if any, will you use to measure learner progress and achievement? If you do not have any additional data, you can answer “none”. (Approx. 100 words)

We are currently exploring options to measure Learner progress as we wish to adopt a consistent approach for initial learner assessments and end point assessments to demonstrate distance travelled.

We are considering working with National Numeracy to explore what additional data could usefully be collected through their National Numeracy Challenge. Included in the online Challenge is a free 10 min ‘quick check’ service. The Challenge seeks to build adults confidence and competence with numbers. Potential additional data that could be collected via the Challenge, to demonstrate distance travelled, includes: -

· Levels of confidence

· Indicative skills levels

· Completion of Essentials of Numeracy (once a participant scores 80+ they can print off an ‘Essentials of Numeracy’ certificate – whilst unaccredited this demonstrates distance travelled)

However, our ESCC Training Team and AEB Team also have a range of assessment material and we are also exploring how we can improve on these and roll them out across the partnership once procured, to monitor learner progress for both our short and substantive interventions. We will also invite our partners to propose additional reporting and data, to see if we can enhance our reporting further.

16. Are there any other local measures of success against your plan that you intend to monitor? You can answer “not applicable” for this question. (Approx. 100 words)

As numeracy appears to be a hidden issue amongst employers, a local measure of success will be the impact on employer identified skills gaps.

For those who are unemployed, a measure of success will be the extent to which numeracy support offered via Multiply helps people move into further learning via AEB or facilitates progression to employment, further education.

All of the above would be supported by qualitative feedback and evaluation from learners, providers and employers, the monitoring of referral routes into provision by our local FE and AEB stakeholders, and we will also capture Case Studies to show the impact that Multiply has had on our participants.

Section G: Stakeholder management

17. Which organisations have you engaged with to develop your investment plan, including public sector, private sector, and civil society organisations? How have you engaged these organisations? (Approx. 100 words)

ESCC held a Multiply consultation session with over 50 local organisations who form part of Skills East Sussex in May including HEI, FE, Community, Independent Training Providers, Careers Providers, Employability Support and AEB leads. We also consulted our business sector task groups (over 50 employers inc NHS, HEE, Jacobs) about potential use of Multiply funding to support maths skills for employment. The employer voice was also captured through conversations with Sussex LSIP lead.

We subsequently issued a survey asking our SES stakeholders to provide us with details about what they currently offer, what they could offer that is new or additional, innovative or best practice approaches and where they identified needs/gaps in numeracy provision. Where ideas that emerged that had traction we conducted 1:1 interviews with stakeholders to work up concepts.

18. Detail how have you engaged lower tier local authorities, if any, within your local area in the development of your investment plan? You can answer “not applicable” to this question. (Approx. 100 words)

We have met several times with our five Districts and Boroughs to identify how to align UKSPF with Multiply provision and wider adult learning offers. We have agreed that our Districts and Boroughs will reserve ‘People and Skills’ theme funding to fill the gaps in provision between AEB, Multiply, the ending of ESF programmes, Restart, NCS and JCP delivery. Their local People and Skills initiatives will have limited funding of less than £100K, but will be used for undertaking engagement activity, confidence building, soft skills and employability skills, which, post ESF will not be being delivered through other adult focused funding. They will refer hard to reach learners engaged in their local interventions who have no L2 maths into multiply provision to ensure join up.

Section H: Risks

19. Please set out any key risks including financial and fraud that could affect Multiply delivery. Describe these risks or issues, including the contingency measures you have put in place to mitigate them.

	Description of risk	Actions you will take to mitigate	After mitigation what is the likelihood of the risk occurring (High >70%, Possible 70-30%, Unlikely <30%)	After mitigation what would be the impact of the risk materialising? (High: significant impact of unable to deliver, Medium: delivery compromised, Low: Minor / no impact)
1	Procurement fraud risk/’supply chain risk’ e.g. conflict of interest/market sharing	Independent team within ESCC will lead Multiply procurement with transparent procurement procedures/specifications Mandatory use of standard templates for tender evaluation & clear due diligence checks/PQQs Standard T&Cs in contracts	5%	Medium
2	Contract Management risk e.g., duplicate payments/false claims /performance reporting	Procurement processes provide assurance of capacity Authorisation of single sourcing and waivers Regular contract reviews & audit/spot checks/sampling	10%	Low
3	Project financial risk e.g., cash flow/partner payments	Financial delegations/authorisations limits Record keeping/audit trail – internal systems Named Financial Officer 1^st payments October 22 (cash flow)	20%	Medium
4	Data risk e.g., failure to protect personal data from security breaches (breach of GDPR)	GDPR training in place for all staff Privacy Notice – participants aware of their rights with regards to data Multiply delivered within the principles of ESCC Data Protection policies	5%	Medium
5	Performance risks e.g., low volume of outputs	Procurement process checks provider delivery capacity & Procurement Framework enables additional or alternative providers to be sought Regular contract reviews & output monitoring Governance procedures /high level reporting leads to early mitigation	40%	Medium
6	Stakeholder engagement risk e.g., referral agencies slow to promote /low confidence in project	Core referral agencies briefed early (June 22) Established working relationships in place Stakeholders included in regular reports/sharing of case studies etc	30%	Medium
7	Capacity risk e.g., internal capacity and capability to deliver Multiply	Early recruitment of dedicated post holder (JD & Person Spec prepared during Summer 22) Capacity bolstered by trusted freelance consultant capability	30%	Low
8	Low participant take up of Multiply provision (including lack of diversity in enrolments)	Marketing & Communications strategy (‘benefit rich’ marketing) using positive case studies Equality Impact Assessment Stakeholder engagement & Accessible provision Procurement Framework enabling additional or alternative providers	60%	Medium
9	Lack of employer engagement	Marketing & Communications strategy Close working with LSIP colleagues Engagement via our existing Task Groups, Growth Hub & Industry champion C&EC network and business representative organisations (Chambers, FSB, Lets Do Business Group etc) Close working with sector bodies e.g. Skills for Care	50%	Low
10	Change in Government funding rules or conflicting/duplicating funding brought in	Employability and Skills Team lead oversees Project Manager and is skills policy lead Regular communication with DfE and via Holex network Multiply programme designed with flexibility, so option to vire funds between intervention strands if required or create new and different modules	50%	Medium
11	Online Digital Platform replicates elements of local multiply provision	Multiply programme designed with flexibility, so option to vire funds between intervention strands if required or create new and different modules	30%	Low
12	Reputational Risk to ESCC	Delivering the programme in line with proposal and ensuring residents benefit as intended.	30%	Low

Section I: Capacity and Capability

20. Do you have dedicated capacity and capability to deliver adult skills interventions and adult education? How many FTE will be working on delivery of Multiply and what functions are being undertaken by those FTE including who will be responsible for data collection, contract management and how you will coordinate delivery? (Approx. 250 words)

ESCC has an employability and skills Team of 20 staff and is well practiced in overseeing externally funded initiatives and interventions. Current project management and delivery includes:

· ESF Transform Apprenticeship Levy transfer programme

· Careers & Enterprise funded Careers Hub

· Moving on Up – Public Health funded employability for the vulnerably housed and homeless

We also have an in house Corporate Training Team, delivering Apprenticeships and Qualifications as well as short courses to internal and external staff, and an AEB Team overseeing our successful £200,000 AEB Community Learning programme. We have tutors who are employed as well as a pool of high quality freelance tutors that we can readily access.

To oversee our Multiply programme we will engage a FTE Project Manager and a 0.8 Project Administrator. The Project Manager will oversee contract management, procurement, marketing, planning and financial management and will support project evaluation and reporting, alongside oversight given from an internal steering board that will meet on a quarterly basis. They will meet monthly with providers, to ensure that contract terms are being fully adhered to. They will work with external organisations (e.g. University of Brighton and our internal training team) to assure quality and coordinate Tutor CPD.

The Multiply Manager will be supported and overseen by our Employability and Skills Strategy Manager, and will have access to our Finance, Procurement, Audit and Legal teams to support Project Management process as delivery progresses.

The Project Administrator will be responsible for record keeping including ILRs and paper trails for audit purposes and for supporting marketing and financial processing activities. They will coordinate quarterly meetings of delivery partners who will meet quarterly to review progress, share best practice and lessons learned.

21. If you have capacity, would you be prepared to take a leading role in a regional peer-to-peer network to share learnings with other local authorities (eg host quarterly Multiply sessions, share best practice, etc)? This does not commit you at this stage and we will use this information to develop our learning plans across the Multiply programme. (Approx. 100 words)

If we have capacity we would be happy to take a leading role in a regional peer learning network. The Employablity and Skills strategy Managers currently represent Local Authorities on a number of regional networks (SELEP and LSIP’s) and our East Sussex Careers Hub is a leading contributor to sharing best practice on Careers Activity in Schools at a national level, so there are already several precedents for us leading and undertaking networking and sharing sessions in this way.

22. Please describe the key capacity and capability challenges (if you have any) for delivering skills interventions. This could include challenges within your local authority (e.g., gaps in areas such as procurement, contract management, communications) and/or in your local delivery system? This information will be used to inform what support could be made available nationally. (Approx. 100 words)

We have capacity within our local authority to support the oversight and delivery of this project.

23. Please describe what further support would help address these challenges? We will use this information to inform what central government support is made available nationally but cannot commit to fund every individual request. (Approx.100 words)

We will need to move to a more sophisticated MIS over the summer months as our current system is fit for purpose for the delivery of a small AEB programme, but not for a more expansive offer. Guidance from the DfE re suitable systems for supporting Multiply alongside AEB community learning would be of help if this is available. However, we feel that we have the expertise and capacity in house to move our project forward.

24. Are there interventions or capability areas where you can partner with other local authorities, providers, or employers in your region? (Approx.100 words)

We work closely with our counterparts in West Sussex, Brighton and Hove, Surrey, Kent and Essex and will share best practice and expertise. We have already shared ideas and amended some common interventions to suit local delivery infrastructure and targeted maths needs.

In Sussex, the three authorities will meet regularly to review our Multiply projects, which have been designed to address specific local needs so are divergent in scale and scope. However, we have agreed to discuss ‘what works’, to review each other’s course content, project management and communications plans, and may adapt our provision in years two and three should any common themes or best delivery models emerge, or may see if we can collaborate on delivery interventions if it becomes pertinent to do so.

Section J: Declaration of the Chief Executive of the lead local authority

As the lead local authority (Greater London Authority, Mayoral Combined Authorities, Upper Tier/Unitary Local Authorities) you will act as the accountable body and submit this application on behalf of your local area. By submitting this investment plan, you confirm:

· All the information included is true and accurate to the best of your knowledge.

· You have read, and confirm this plan is in accordance with, the expectations set out in the Multiply investment prospectus and technical guidance.

· Lower tier local authorities within your local area support this application and are committed to work with you.

· You will comply with the Assurance and Grant management process as outlined in the technical guidance and submit a statement of expenditure at mid-point and end of financial year.

· You understand that the grant will become repayable and further payments put on hold or reduced, if Multiply outputs are not on track for delivery and/or grant funding is not spent on eligible activities by the mid-point and end of each financial year.

· You understand that you will be responsible for ensuring data on Multiply learners is submitted through the Individualised Learner Record (ILR) and will submit regular monitoring reports as set out in the technical guidance.

· You will submit an annual progress report including an assurance statement to confirm spend was used wholly for the purposes for which it was given, and a revised investment plan for subsequent years of Multiply provision as set out in the technical guidance.

· You will support the sharing of learning as requested by the Department for Education – this may involve providing case studies, contributing to webinars and other activity as identified.

· You will comply with the Public Sector Equalities Duty and put in place equality policies and implementation plans as well as processes for learners to raise complaints about unfair practices or treatment.

· You will ensure value for money, seeking competitive costs for all activities and complying with the procurement governance as set out by your governing body.

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