The Union Learning Fund was set up in 1998. It was announced by the former Secretary of State for Education and Employment, David Blunkett, in the Green Paper, the Learning Age.
The Government recognises that unions play a key part in helping to achieve its objectives for upskilling the workforce, by promoting learning opportunities for working people and contributing to workforce development.
Central to the union contribution is the role of the Union Learning Representative (ULR). The Government has quickly recognised the importance of the role and has acted to put ULR's on a statutory footing, alongside Health and Safety Representatives and Shop Stewards. The Employment Act 2002 has enshrined these rights. Further details on these new statutory rights can be found in the TUC Union Learning Representatives’ Handbook. This can be obtained from TUC Learning Services or can be downloaded from their website: www.learningservices.org.uk
The Union Learning Fund has supported over 400 projects and has helped unions to: Train Union Learning Representatives Set up workplace learning centres - many linked to Learndirect Support union members, many with literacy and numeracy needs, back into learning.
Union Learning Fund projects are organised in several ways. They may be national, regional, sub-regional or local. Their focus may be sectoral, occupational or geographical. They may be large and linked to other ongoing work, small and trailblazing, or part of a union’s strategy for learning. They may be multi-union or single union. They may be national or relatively autonomous, owned by a branch or unions in a workplace.
