39 delivery projects are currently underway in 44 local authority areas, developing and testing approaches to increasing participation and preparing for the introduction of raising the participation age (RPA), ready to share learning with other areas in the build up to full participation.
This is the fourth phase of local work to prepare for RPA and will run from April 2012 to March 2013. The programme is locally-led and areas will be developing their projects to address their local needs.
RPA is coming into effect in summer 2013, when the participation age will increase to the end of the academic year in which young people turn 17. This will then increase to their 18th birthday from 2015. These projects will focus on developing and implementing the local arrangements that need to be in place to ensure they are ready.
The areas involved in phase 4 are:
| Area | ||
|---|---|---|
| Barnsley* | Ealing* | Norfolk |
| Berkshire sub-regional group1 | East Riding | Nottingham* |
| Bexley | East Sussex* | Plymouth* |
| Blackburn and Darwen* | Essex* | Portsmouth |
| Brighton and Hove* | Gateshead | Rotherham |
| Camden | Hartlepool | Staffordshire* |
| Croydon | Herefordshire | Swindon* |
| County Durham | Hertfordshire* | Torbay |
| Derby* | Hounslow | Wakefield |
| Derbyshire | Isle of Wight | Wiltshire |
| Devon | Kingston-Upon-Thames | Wirral |
| Doncaster | Leeds | Worcestershire* |
| Dorset* | Medway* | York* |
* Indicates an area previously involved in phase 3 of the projects
Eight areas are also acting as ‘local leaders’ for the programme, taking on a greater leadership role and disseminating learning more widely across the country. These are Barnsley, Blackburn with Darwen, Derby, Dorset, Ealing, East Sussex, Plymouth and Swindon.
This page will be updated shortly to include more detail on the work of the projects and contact details.
Footnote
1 Six LAs in this sub-region: West Berkshire, Reading, Wokingham, Bracknell Forest, Windsor and Maidenhead, and Slough.
