Paul Eeles, director of 14 to 19, Association of Learning Providers - Transfer turmoil

His members - who deliver the vast majority of apprenticeships and Entry 2 Employment (E2E) programmes nationwide - are facing a period of turbulence as responsibility for 16 to 19 education and training transfers from the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) to local authorities from April 2010.

Where providers used to deal with the LSC, they will soon have to work with not one, but three new quangos: the Young People's Learning Agency (YPLA), the National Apprenticeship Service and the Skills Funding Agency, plus up to 43 sub-regional planning groups and numerous local authorities.

"My concern is that providers will not have the capacity to go out and engage with all of those agencies," Eeles explains. "I'm hoping that this is just a storm in a teacup and the real world won't be affected, but I'm not yet convinced."

Small organisations

The difficulty is that many of ALP's members are small third sector or independent organisations. They deliver programmes aimed at hard-to-reach young people, such as E2E, and offer work-based training opportunities to young people not suited to mainstream education.

Eeles says: "We've been working with the government and the shadow YPLA on what happens to providers of E2E, for example. It is clear that providers will have to have relationships with several individual local authorities or sub-regional planning groups at best."

Many organisations simply don't have the manpower or resources to build and maintain such relationships, he warns. The result could be that disadvantaged young people miss out on the courses they desperately need, including those that provide basic literacy and IT skills.

Independent providers

"Local authorities often say that independent providers are the key to 14 to 19 and tackling rising numbers of young people not in employment, education or training," he says. "But from April 2010, providers will be faced with lots of new challenges."

As well as igniting new relationships with numerous agencies, colleges and training firms must work hard to boost awareness about what they actually do, Eeles says. "The key thing is visibility. We have some good examples in which local authorities are working with providers. But many providers say local authorities don't understand them."

In some cases, providers are still not engaged in local planning of 14 to 19 learning because of "significant issues with getting representation on 14 to 19 partnerships and sub-regional planning groups".

The big transfer of employees from the LSC to local authorities is another source of anxiety. "We are concerned about how many staff are actually transferring to local authorities," he says. "Seventy-five per cent of key posts are vacant across the London boroughs and 60 per cent in Manchester councils. There is a resource gap in local authorities."

Senior posts

Eeles is worried because these vacancies are senior posts that are supposed to lead on important work such as allocating funding for 16 to 19. "My concern is that the posts won't be filled before April," he says.

The National Commissioning Framework, designed to guide local authorities through their duties post-April 2010, was published for consultation last week. It offers clarity on the commissioning process - but contains little to reassure providers. "The view that it has ironed out providers' concerns is more than a little bit optimistic," Eeles says.

He was involved in the development of the framework but has reservations about it, particularly over members' inability to air grievances. He says: "We're disappointed about how limited the remit of the YPLA is. At the moment, providers can't appeal to the YPLA if they have a grievance. I think that is a real mistake."

Clearly, the 16 to 19 reforms throw up challenges but Eeles insists providers are committed to making the transfer work. "There are some unknowns out there," he says, but adds that one thing is guaranteed: "This new world is all about relationships."

BACKGROUND - PAUL EELES AND THE ALP

- The Association of Learning Providers (ALP) is the UK membership body for independent learning providers

- Paul Eeles is the ALP's policy director for 14 to 19, apprenticeships, sector skills councils, inspection and workforce reform

- He has more than 17 years' experience of managing work-based learning

- He worked as a lecturer in the West Midlands for seven years and is an associate inspector for Ofsted

- Most of ALP's 470 members are voluntary, not-for-profit or private training providers that deliver government-funded education and skills training, such as apprenticeships and work-based learning.