Support for residents to improve numeracy skills approved by Cabinet

The plan outlines how the council would use £2.6 million of allocated funding from the Department for Education to deliver the Multiply Programme across the county.

Multiply is a new government funded programme aimed to help adults improve their numeracy skills and is designed to support residents aged 19 and over who don’t have maths GCSE at grade C (or equivalent).

The Multiply programme grants them access to free numeracy courses to help build confidence with numbers, to gain a qualification, and to develop specific numeracy skills for their work, progression, or simply to refresh their skills.

The Council’s investment plan will also see extra jobs created and will aim to improve learning provision for residents in the following areas:

• Courses will be created for people who can’t apply for certain jobs because of a lack of numeracy skills or to upskill in order to access a certain job/career.
• Courses will be created for parents wanting to boost their numeracy skills in order to help their children and help with their own progression.
• Courses will be designed to help people use numeracy with a view to being able to manage their money and support in the cost of living crisis.
• Numeracy courses also aimed at supporting those aged 19 or over that are leaving, or have just left, the care system.

Councillor Marc Bayliss, Cabinet Member for Economy, Infrastructure and Skills, said: “Our plans through the Multiply Programme are a key indicator of how we’re helping our residents to develop their skills and get into employment, or perhaps change their career path. Alongside this we intend to support residents to be able to better manage their personal finances in this challenging time. This programme will be crucial to our communities and will hopefully encourage those who feel they would benefit from improving their numeracy skills to come forward and take that first step.”

Following the cabinet decision, the Skills and Investment team in the County Council will commence the roll out of the programme in communities across the county. 

Working alongside a number of Education and Employment support providers who work across Worcestershire including Seetec, lead for the DWP Restart programme, Independent Training Providers delivering Worcestershire employability contracts and the three Further Education colleges to embed the programme further into the county and support residents to upskill.

The Multiply Programme is a strand of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund designed as a core part of the Government’s Levelling Up mission and investment in adult skills.