A note from Alan Tuckett Director NIACE on his presentation to the UCU Adult Learning Vision Conference 30th April 2009

Alan spoke without a prepared speech at the Conference. He kindly supplied this note on what he said:
In my remarks to UCU, I opened by celebrating the outstanding contribution Paul Mackney made both as leader of the union, and more recently in his work for NIACE, where his impact was most visibly seen in the co-ordination of the CALL campaign.  I also noted the enormous passion and commitment of the work of Dan Taubman, evidenced in the adult learning policy discussion paper discussed at the conference, and regretted the absence of the General Secretary.
I considered the challenges posed by the impact of recession (medium term reductions in public expenditure, prospects for no better than a sluggish recover in private sector funding and a limit to individuals’ appetite or capacity to pay more) and the potential pressures likely to arise from reduced public provision for community cohesion.  I suggested that this would put a premium on provision making claims on the public purse which strengthen our civic society.
I took issue with UCU’s fee-free policy, highlighting the findings of our 2009 survey on public perceptions on who should pay for adult learning.  The evidence was strong – 1 in 5 adults don’t feel adult literacy and numeracy should receive any subsidy, and across the board the general public believes that government should offer smaller subsidies that it currently does.  I argued, too, that there would always be a limit, however generous, for public investment and that a balance needed to be struck between intensive and extensive opportunities.  Some at least of the provision lost in the last 2 years had been redirected to an expansion of Skills for Life provision.  A fee-free policy for some would be bought at the expense of any provision being available for others.
I reviewed the provisions in The Learning Revolution, and the opportunities they provided.  But by contrast expressed real pessimism about the wider context facing adult learning.