Petition details
Keep the Community Language Service publicly funded for a multilingual and multicultural Tower Hamlets
We the undersigned note that:
The Community Languages Service (CLS) has provided an invaluable
service to the communities of Tower Hamlets since its inception in
1985. The provision has been a unique feature of Tower Hamlets and
has a played a key role in:
• Fostering partnerships between the community and voluntary
sector and mainstream schools;
• Supporting young people aged 6-16 years to develop a better
understanding of their first language and culture through an
engaging and inspiring curriculum;
• Providing young people with a safe and secure setting;
• Empowering learners to accredit their learning through
recognised qualifications; and
• Promoting cohesion through events such as the International
Mother Language Day celebrations as endorsed by UNESCO which draws
over 1000 visitors including foreign dignitaries.
About the service:
• The catalyst for the service was the historic 1966 Local
Governments Act,Section 11 funding which aimed to help ethnic
minorities with English-language teaching, housing and work.
• The service currently caters for almost 2,000 learners
across the borough. Compared to enrolment figures of services such
as that of the Idea Store Learning Service, the Community Languages
Service represents exceptional value for money.
• Between 2009-2016, the Service played a major role in
encouraging young people to obtain GCSEs and A-Level qualifications
in a Community Language. This has not only enabled learners and
schools to ensure more learners achieved the EBacc, but also played
an important role in ensuring many of our young were able to
compete for places at Russell Group universities.
• The service has supported pass rates in excess of 92% year
on year for the 100 or more students entered for exams. However, In
July 2016, funding for this provision was withdrawn without any
consultation with service users or staff.
What are the Council’s proposals?
The Mayor and his administration would like to introduce a system
of fees which are due to be rolled out over a period of three
years. The objective at the end of the process is to see the
Community Languages Service become entirely dependent on generating
income from service users without any backing from a core council
budget.
Why do we oppose the cuts?
• The work in Tower Hamlets to preserve and promote languages
was underpinned by aims of raising educational attainment among
those whose first language is not English as well as building
community cohesion. The Community Language Service was born out of
the historic anti-racism movement and ground-breaking community
cohesion work in the 1970s and 1980s. Anti-immigrant sentiments and
hate crime against minority groups has increased since the EU
referendum. Against this backdrop, there is a need to foster
greater community cohesion by protecting and expanding the CLS
which has supported established and emerging migrant communities in
Tower Hamlets rather than dismantling it.
• There are at least 90 different languages used in the
borough (Census, 2011). Tower Hamlets is unique with regards to its
high proportion of speakers of community languages. A comparison
with services provided in other boroughs is inappropriate given
Tower Hamlets’ unique circumstances.
• Tower Hamlets has the highest child poverty rate in the
country and the highest worklessness rate in London with many
dependent on Universal Credit the welfare system. A recent
University of Oxford study found that ethnic minorities still face
discrimination at levels unchanged since the late 1960s and
experience higher unemployment, lower wages, poorer work conditions
and less security in work and life. The CLS supports young people
in getting the most out of their education by providing them with
an understanding of their first language and culture so that they
can compete and achieve against the discrimination they are more
likely to face in the job market and in the education system.
• Introducing fees will lead t
This Petition ran from 01/02/2019 to 15/03/2019 and has now finished.
4 people signed this Petition.
Council response
I am writing in response to your petition to the Council regarding
the Community Languages Service (CLS). The Council recognises the
benefits of language teaching for local young people and will
continue to support this. The Council’s budget was agreed at
its meeting on 20 February 2018, including the savings proposal of
£31,000 from the CLS for 2019/20. This saving will be
achieved by not recruiting to posts which become vacant while a
review of the service is undertaken. We will be undertaking a
review of the CLS in consultation with stakeholders, to look at
where sustainable alternatives can be put in place, for example by
exploring the possibility of introducing a limited financial
contribution from those who use the service or by working with
voluntary organisations. The objective of such a review will be to
continue the provision of community languages in Tower Hamlets with
a high-quality and sustainable teaching model delivered in a more
cost-effective manner. There will not be further savings from the
CLS until proposals from the review for the future of the service
progress to Cabinet for approval later this year. Please also note
that any significant changes to the CLS, stemming from the review,
will be subject to consultation and an equalities impact
assessment.
Judith St. John
Divisional Director for Sports, Leisure and Culture