The Skills Funding Agency and further education funding - Business, Innovation and Skills Committee Contents


Appendix: Delivery partners in further education


The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS)

·  Determine overall investment and priorities.

·  Determine performance system (Framework for Excellence).

·  Meet the Skills Public Service Agreement.

·  Sponsorship of colleges and training organisations and their contribution to Department for Children, Schools and Families targets.

The UK Commission for Employment and Skills

·  Advise BIS on the current and future skills needs of the country, including what is identified in the Single Integrated Regional Strategies.

·  Monitor and challenge Government performance on employment and skills.

·  Manage the Further Education and Skills Research Function.

·  Manage Sector Skills Councils and ensuring their effectiveness.

·  Advise on Sector Skills Council relicensing.

Sector Skills Councils

·  Determine the skills required within their vocational area.

·  Raise employer engagement with, demand for, and investment in skills.

Regional Development Agencies

·  Work with employers, local authorities, sector skills councils, Jobcentre Plus and all other relevant sources to identify demand at the regional, sub regional and local level.

·  Produce Single Integrated Regional Strategies incorporating skills priority statements.

·  Ensure that sub-regions and city-regions are able to shape policy in line with their own priorities.

·  Spearhead multi-agency action to identify and resolve mismatches in the demand for, and supply of, skills.

·  Be an advocate for skills. Actively engage with employers to raise their demand for, and investment in, skills (e.g. through the Skills Pledge).

·  Manage the Skills brokerage service.

Skills Funding Agency

·  Fund colleges and training organisations through a Single Account Management System.

·  Lead and provide customer focused services and underpinning systems. (e.g. Train to Gain, the National Employer Service, the National Apprenticeship Service and the Adult Advancement and Careers Service)

·  Design and manage the underpinning systems for funding, settlement, data collection and exchange etc.

Employment & Skills Boards

·  Set the strategy for delivery of adult (post-19) skills in their area, taking into account key national priorities in Skills for Growth and other relevant strategies, such as the Single Integrated Regional Strategy.

·  Actively engage with employers to raise their demand for, and investment in, skills.

·  Provide feedback to Skills Funding Agency assessing how well the skills and employment system is responding to employer demand in its area.

Local Authorities

·  Statutory responsibility for assessing the economic needs of their areas, including skills and employment.

·  Convene local area agreements, bringing together the action of other public bodies and colleges.

Colleges and Training Organisations  

·  Meet the requirements of learners and employers.

·  Collaborate with relevant bodies and each other to respond to demand.

·  Collaborate with each other to provide a range of support services to the sector, including peer assessment, staff development programmes, shared services and improved procurement.

Ofqual

·  Regulate the qualifications offer.

Learning and Skills Improvement Service

·  Support college and training organisations performance and facilitate self regulation (owned by the bodies it supports).

Becta  

·  Champion use of technology to support learning.

Ofsted

·  Provide an independent view of college and training organisation performance.


 
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Prepared 6 April 2010