| Learning and Skills Council | |
|---|---|
| Abbreviation | LSC |
| Formation | April 2001 |
| Legal status | Non-departmental public body |
| Purpose/focus | Further education in England |
| Location | Cheylesmore House, Cheylesmore, Coventry, UK |
| Region served | England |
| Membership | Regional LSCs |
| Chief Executive | Geoff Russell |
| Main organ | National Council |
| Parent organization | BIS |
| Budget | £12.07bn (2008-9) |
| Website | LSC |
The Learning and Skills Council is a non-departmental public body jointly sponsored by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and Department of Children, Schools and families in England.
Contents |
History
Until June 2007, it was sponsored by to the former Department for Education and Skills).
It was established in April 2001, under the Learning and Skills Act 2000. The LSC replaced the 72 Training and Enterprise Councils and the Further Education Funding Council for England. In 2006 it had an annual budget of £10.4 billion.[1] It was described as Britain's largest Quango.[2]
Economic mismanagement in college re-building
In July 2009, the Public Accounts Committee described the LSC's handling of its college building programme as 'catastrophic mismanagement'. It resulted in a £2.7bn debt, with 144 college building contracts having to be terminated abruptly, and leaving many colleges with huge financial penalties for breach of contract with civil engineering companies. 23 colleges have debts of more than 40% of their annual income, with some facing possible financial collapse. The re-building programme has renovated over half of England's colleges since 2001.
Abolition
On 17 March 2008 the abolition of the LSC was announced; funding responsibilities for 16-19 year old learners will transfer to local education authorities and the new Skills Funding Agency will distribute funding for adult learners in Further Education colleges.[3][4]
The machinery of Government announcement heralded the end of the LSC by March 2010 making way for the Young People Learning Agency and the Skills Funding Agency, reporting to DCSF and DBIS respectively. These changes start from April 2009.
Mark Haysom's resignation
Mark Haysom CBE, the chief executive of the LSC, announced that he was stepping down from his role on 23 March 2009 - taking accountability as Chief Executive for difficulties that the LSC had encountered with a college (PFI) rebuilding programme.[5] He was replaced by Geoff Russell, formerly of accountants KPMG.
Function
The LSC is responsible for planning and funding further education (post-16 education and training other than higher education) in England.
Initiatives
- Train to Gain in September 2006
Organisation
National office
The LSC has a national office in Cheylesmore House, Cheylesmore, Coventry, nine regional offices and 47 local Learning and Skills Councils. The LSC's national office is not a typical headquarters - its main role is to produce guidelines and targets for its 47 local offices.[citation needed]
It was announced in 2005 that the LSC's organisation structure would change as part of the Agenda for Change programme, creating a streamlined configuration with more focus on the regional dimension. Although management and administration has been restructured on regional lines, the 47 local Learning and Skills councils were retained.
Redundancies
Around 1300 jobs were lost, 500 from the Coventry HQ, the remainder from local offices. The restructuring process was challenged by the PCS Union, with a strike that took place on 28 April, 2006, and a work-to-rule commencing in May 2006. The work-to-rule ceased on the 26 June, 2006 after PCS and LSC representatives reached agreement.
Since Gordon Brown replaced Tony Blair, a number of Ministerial and Departmental changes have taken place. The new Prime Minister announced the creation of three new government departments: the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF), Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) and the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR).
Regions
There are nine regions.
- East of England - Ipswich
- East Midlands - Meridian Business Park (M1/M69 junction), Leicester
- London - five offices in Stratford (East), Hounslow (West), Croydon (South), Palmers Green (North), and Centre Point on New Oxford Street (Central)
- North East - Team Valley, Gateshead
- North West - Arndale Centre, Manchester
- South East - Brighton and Reading
- South West - Bristol
- West Midlands - Birmingham
- Yorkshire and the Humber - Bradford
Criticism
Former leader of the CBI, Sir Digby Jones, was critical of the LSC during his time as the UK government's skills envoy. Speaking of the LSC management and outcomes, he said: "It is what I call the British Leyland model - you put a lot of money in at the top and an Austin Allegro comes out at the bottom. The money has not been spent in the right way and it is not delivering what the employers want." [6]
Similar organisations
The equivalent body in Wales was ELWa. In Scotland, colleges are funded by the Scottish Funding Council.
Also in England, until 2006, there was the Learning and Skills Development Agency, which split into the Quality Improvement Agency and Learning and Skills Network in March 2006.
See also
- Education in England
- Higher Education Funding Council for England
- Lifelong learning
- Qualifications and Curriculum Authority
- Vocational education
- Business Link
National Employer Service (for large companies)- UK Commission for Employment and Skills
References
- ^ "Apprenticeships Rise: But Budget Falls". Further Education News. http://www.fenews.co.uk/newsview.asp?n=1772.
- ^ Kingston, Peter (2003-08-05). "Former tabloid executive takes charge at LSC". The Guardian. http://education.guardian.co.uk/further/story/0,5500,1012817,00.html.
- ^ BBC NEWS | Education | £10.4bn skills agency scrapped
- ^ DfES, e-Consultation
- ^ BBC Education | College funding fiasco boss quits
- ^ "Can we fix the skills shortage?". File on 4 for the BBC. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/file_on_4/6366523.stm.
External links
News items
- College building £2.7bn in the red in July 2009
- College building is halted in March 2009
- 28 March 2008, LSC: LSC and Carter and Carter
- 13 February 2008, BBC: Anger over pupils database plan
Audio clips
Video clips
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