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generally welcomed. But my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Education and Science and I were aware of some uncertainty about the place of adults within the new policy framework and the arrangements that would apply to them. We clarified a number of points before the legislation was introduced. The Bill addresses other concerns in a way that serves to underline our firm commitment to all kinds of further education for adults.Few of the provisions of the Bill belong uniquely to the 16-19 age group, but some have a very special application to the provision of further education for adults. I shall describe those provisions and how they will work for the adult sector at large, including the Croydon education and training service.
The Bill provides a clear duty for the provision of all kinds of further education for adults. The whole scope of the present duty set out in the Education Act 1944 as amended is retained. We intend that, in future, it should be divided between the funding councils and LEAs. Within their respective duties, the councils and LEAs will each be required to take account of students with special educational needs.
The funding councils' duty will embrace courses leading to academic and vocational qualifications ; access to higher education courses ; courses that provide access to qualification-bearing courses and higher education courses ; basic skills courses ; courses in English for speakers of other languages and, in Wales, courses leading to proficiency in Welsh. Those are the Government's priorities. They will be secured by the funding councils working through the colleges within the new sector. They cover courses which the Government believe should be secured at national level because of their national significance.
The second strand of the duty to provide further education for adults falls to the local education authorities. Their duty covers all kinds of further education for adults that do not come within the scope of the funding councils' duty. By contrast with the duty placed upon the councils, the LEAs' duty can be characterised as being generally of a more local nature and best catered for locally. It is a duty that goes very wide. It covers the provision of courses that meet the leisure interests of adults, but also many other important interests.
Courses coming within the remit of the LEAs' duty can help people progress to more advanced courses--my hon. Friend made that important point--help them in their jobs and prepare them for various roles, such as good parenthood, or for responsible functions within the wider community. They can make a significant contribution to the general health and well-being of individuals and local communities. The whole scope of the duty to secure provision for adults as it will be divided between the funding councils and LEAs will continue to be supported from public funds. My right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Education and Science made clear on 24 September that, in calculating the transfer of funds from local authorities to the funding councils in recognition of their new responsibilities, the resources attributable to those courses for which the LEAs will continue to be responsible will be left within local authorities' standard spending assessments. That means that there will be no question of our reforms causing fees to rise. LEAs will continue to be able, as now, to respond flexibly to local
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demand and to the needs and circumstances of their local communities, taking account of the ability of students to pay fees. My hon. Friends the Members for Croydon, North-West and for Ealing, North (Mr. Greenway) have referred to a vocational/non-vocational divide within our proposals. I hope I can reassure my hon. Friends that the framework of duties within the Bill does not create such a divide. The provision for which the funding councils will be responsible goes well beyond the purely vocational. Similarly, the duty upon LEAs can lead to provision which serves ends useful to the individual within his work, such as foreign language classes. The arguments which have been advanced that our proposals create a distinction between two types of provision is not borne out either in terms of the legislation or in practical terms.It is important to underline the role of access and progression within the proposed framework. My hon. Friend has mentioned the strong link between provision which falls respectively to the duties of funding councils and LEAs. We attach great importance to widening access as is evident from the Bill. Certain kinds of access have been given priority and fall to the duty of the funding councils, but progression routes from LEA sector provision to more formal qualification-bearing courses are also important.
The division of duties between the councils and LEA will not stand in the way of adults wishing to progress from informal study to courses leading to qualifications. Adults now study on all kinds of courses in a variety of institutions--further education colleges and adult education centres and colleges. They will continue to be able to enrol on courses in their local institutions, as they do at present, and to progress to more advanced provision. That might be within the same institution or elsewhere, depending upon the pattern of provision locally. Therefore, adults in Croydon will continue to be able to take full advantage of the access and progression routes provided by the Croydon education and training service.
My hon. Friend raised two particular concerns. The first was about the funding relationship between the Croydon education and training service and colleges in the new further education sector in respect of the provision made by the service which falls to the duty of the funding council. We want to see all resources available for adults used properly--whether they are in further education colleges or in adult education colleges and centres run by LEAs. It follows therefore that we will expect further education colleges in the new sector to support provision which falls within the funding councils remit where this is made in adult education colleges and centres. We have considered carefully how our legislation will help to achieve that end. We propose that the governing body of an institution outside the funding council sector will be able to make to an institution within that sector a request that it should apply to the council for support on the external institutions behalf. The funding council sector institution will forward the application to the funding council if facilities for the kind of courses in question are not adequate in the locality. If the further education college does not forward the application, its decision will be subject to review by the Secretary of State on the grounds of unreasonableness or failure to perform a duty.
The councils have a duty to secure facilities which are in such places, of such character and so equipped as to meet reasonable need. In addition, the regional advisory
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committees will have an important role in advising the funding council for England on significant local issues. Their role will be to see that local people are properly served. I hope that I can reassure my hon. Friends and you, Mr. Speaker, on that point. Those are substantial safeguards. They mean that the Croydon education and training service will continue to be able to make provision which falls to the duty of the funding council and to receive council funding via the local further education college or colleges for the purpose. I note that the Croydon service has good collaborative links with Croydon further education college. These links, together with the safeguards within the legislation, will provide a firm basis for continuing collaboration in the interests of adult students.My hon. Friend asks whether the Croydon education and training service might be able to bid directly to the funding council. We think that our Bill has taken account of concerns of adult education colleges and services, such as Croydon, about funding for the range of provision they make. However, we recognise that some institutions may be interested in exploring the possibility of incorporation within the new further education sector by reason of the balance of provision they make. That is not ruled out.
The Government had to set criteria in the Bill for the automatic transfer of further education colleges to the new sector, but the White Paper made it clear that the funding councils could propose that other institutions which fell outside the criteria might be included in the new arrangements. The Bill provides for this. Institutions which want to take forward the possibility of incorporation should make application to the funding councils. We propose to ask the funding councils to deal with such applications as one of their first tasks.
Sir William Clark (Croydon, South) : I fully support what my hon. Friend the Member for Croydon, North-West (Mr. Malins) has said, and I am delighted that the Minister supports funding. There is a problem about adult education in Croydon, but many other constituencies must suffer from the same problem. Does the Minister think it extraordinary that no Opposition Members are present for this important debate?
Mr. Howarth : My right hon. Friend makes a pertinent point. Some Opposition complaints about our policies
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have been factitious. Thanks to my hon. Friend the Member for Croydon, North-West, we have an opportunity to debate an immensely important issue about which there is great interest in the country. It is extraordinary that the Opposition Benches are empty and that neither Labour Members nor Liberal Democrats have bothered to attend the debate. I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for drawing the matter to our attention.It is important that each institution considers very carefully whether such an application for incorporation would be appropriate in its case. LEAs have important duties to fulfil through these institutions and will continue to receive public funds in support of these duties. Under the Bill, they will also be able to give recognition to the status of their institutions by establishing governing bodies and by delegating functions to them. The best place for some institutions may indeed be within the funding council sector, but for others it may be within the local education authority. The second concern of my hon. Friend the Member for Croydon, North-West is about the future of those premises of the Croydon service which are dedicated to the further education of adults. Let me put his mind at rest. A further education college can apply for an order to gain the use of local education authority premises after April 1993 only in tightly defined circumstances. First, the premises in question must have been used for further education purposes and have been, or be about to be, taken out of use for that purpose. Secondly, the further education college must have been unable to secure use of the premises by agreement with the local education authority. Our intention is to secure that facilities used for further education continue to remain available to the local community for further education purposes, where the college governors consider it important in order to carry out their responsibilities. This provision poses no threat to the Croydon service's premises. We have had a useful debate. The aim of our policy is to develop a better education system which will provide a wide range of important opportunities for adults in the interests of meeting the needs of the nation and of individual citizens. The Government are deeply committed to adult education. I am confident that our Bill will achieve its aims and that it will serve well the Croydon education and training service and the citizens of Croydon.
Question put and agreed to.
Adjourned accordingly at one minute to Eleven o'clock.
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