The pattern of who does what in Community Learning and Development is a confusing one across local authorities, and is apparently becoming more so. Yet national policy requires strategic direction over what the role of Community Learning and Development is and what priority is given to it.

Although on average CLD did not appear to suffer disproportionate cuts in 2012/13, some areas saw reductions in budgets and staffing which will have seriously weakened their services. When taken in combination with the other areas that have seen such reductions in at least one of the recent years or which expect them in 2013/14 or thereafter, the ability of CLD services to respond to the high expectations for them is under severe pressure.

In the great majority of cases there is a substantial basis of partnership working in place from which to build the type of strategic partnership work promoted by the Strategic Guidance for CLD.  In addition a high proportion of services are setting priorities which allow them to maximise their impact. Many are also promoting awareness of their impact in imaginative ways, although more could be done

On 18 October the theme was ‘Prevention and Early Intervention: Why Community Learning and Development can play a key role’.

On 19 October the conference looked at a wide range of ‘New Opportunites and Challenges for CLD’.

• Full conference including Lunch x2, dinner and overnight accommodation: £130
• Thursday only, including lunch: £50
• Friday only, including lunch: £60 (the combination of both of these is possible)
•  If attending dinner in addition to day rate, add: £20.

The Thursday afternoon session takes the form of a conference on “Prevention and Early Intervention: why Community Learning and Development can play a key role”. The invitation to this Thursday session is an open one.

Speakers include Robert Black, retired Auditor General and Stewart Murdoch, Director, Leisure & Communities, Dundee City Council. We will hear about four invited case studies, established pieces of CLD work that can both provide numerical evidence of such an impact, and offer testimony about it. They will cover a range of types of CLD work (youth work, community capacity building etc.), types of preventative impact (on health, young people’s life chances etc.) and sectors (local authority and voluntary).

The overall theme of the Friday session is “New Opportunities and Challenges for CLD”. We will be looking at:

• Values, Principles and Standards
• The Policy Context and the Contribution of CLD
• Evidence, Self-evaluation and Quality Improvement
• Putting Strategy into Practice (including the new Strategic Guidance and the forthcoming Youth Strategy)

More details of the programme will follow. We would appreciate it if you could give us an indication of your booking as quickly as possible. Please use this Booking Form for each person attending. Completed forms should be returned to Neil Gunn’s office (neil.gunn@dundeecity.gov.uk) (further details are on the form). For further information please contact Peter Taylor (peter@pdtaylor.com)

• Clarity and definition: It should help to provide clarity, both for CLD workers and others about what we do and who we are.  CLD principles and practices are adopted by people across the public and voluntary sectors and within communities, including many people who do not identify with the label; they can and should influence other professional approaches. But the guidance needs to be clear about CLD as a delivery model working in and with communities and articulate the underpinning principles, practice and values of CLD. There need to be clear and consistent statements regarding priorities, a clear link to the CLD Competences and Code of Ethics, and a need to adopt and comply with an evaluation framework such as How Good is our Community Learning and Development.
• Recognition of contribution:  The guidance needs to help participants, decision makers, partners and policy makers to understand and value the impact that CLD makes on national agendas. It should assist them to understand and be confident about its impact on National Outcomes and in particular its capacity for contributing to early intervention and prevention as identified by the Christie Commission. The CLD approach is complementary to and adds value to social policy.
• Expectations and requirements: The new guidance needs to be explicit about what is expected or required of CPPs,  local authorities and other public bodies, and voluntary sector organisations supported by the public pound. Consideration should be given to establishing a requirement or expectation that such bodies should to sign up to the commitments outlined in the guidance. There should be a partnership fulfilling the function of a CLD Partnership, in every area. These should produce a resourced and evaluated CLD Strategy and Action Plan.