1 Introduction
1. In October 2009 our Committee's remit was expanded
to include further and higher education, reflecting the Machinery
of Government changes which created the Department for Business,
Innovation and Skills. We take seriously this new area of responsibility
and this is reflected in the fact that we have sought to incorporate
an increased focus on both higher and further education in our
ongoing work as well as, in the short time available to us, conducting
this focused inquiry. It deals with the changes being made to
the funding of post-19 skills training with the creation of the
Skills Funding Agency. As the changes are being made on 1 April
this year, this is necessarily an interim report.
2. We held two evidence sessions, one with the Association
of Colleges, the Local Government Association, the South East
of England Development Agency and the UK Commission for Employment
and Skills, and the second with the Skills Funding Agency, the
Learning and Skills Council and the Young People's Learning Agency,
followed by Kevin Brennan MP, Minister for Further Education,
Skills, Apprenticeships and Consumer Affairs, Department for Business,
Innovation and Skills.
3. In addition, we received a number of written submissions.
We thank everyone for contributing to our inquiry.
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