5 Conclusion
119. In this short, focused inquiry we have considered
the new structures which the Government has put in place to administer
further education. While the transition from the Learning and
Skills Council to the Skills Funding Agency appears to have been
well managed, the result has been the creation of an even more
complex structure. The relationships and lines of communication
between the large number of delivery partners with oversight by
two Government Departments will need to be closely managed and
monitored. "Hiding the wiring" of such a large bureaucracy
from those it serves is going to be a challenging task for all
concerned. It must never be forgotten that complexity and repeated
organisational change almost inevitably deter the users of any
public service, and this is especially true of those most in need
of help from those services, in this case learners and smaller
businesses.
120. We wish the new system success, but have grave
concerns that the increased complexity may prove to be both cumbersome
and unwieldy. Ultimately the success of the SFA and its ability
to deliver the demand-led service for adult skills will be judged
not on the efficiency of the component parts of the new structure
but on the ability of colleges to provide a responsive service
to learners and business.
121. The fact that the reorganisation appears to
owe more to changes in the Machinery of Government—the separation
of education between two Government Departments—than to
any inherent logic or desirability gives us particular cause for
concern. The two new organisations may work perfectly well but
the unanswered question will be whether it would not have been
preferable from the point of view of the people and organisations
that really matter in all this—colleges, learners and businesses—to
stick with the devil they knew, which was the Learning and Skills
Council.
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