Written evidence from the Association
of Colleges
INTRODUCTION
1. The Association of Colleges (AoC) represents
and promotes the interests of the 352, Further Education Colleges
and Sixth Form Colleges established under the Further and Higher
Education Act 1992, and their 3.4 million students.
2. Colleges are making a vital contribution
to helping businesses recover from the recession and are a major
draw for inward investment because of the range of skills they
offer—a rich mix of academic and vocational education ranging
from basic skills to higher education degrees. Colleges currently
train many thousands of apprentices and provide 11% of higher
education places and 39% of all vocational qualifications achieved
each year,[6]
supporting key objectives of the Department or Business, Innovation
and Skills.
ROLE OF
COLLEGES LOCALLY
AND REGIONALLY
3. AoC welcomes this opportunity to contribute
to the Committee's inquiry into Local Enterprise Partnerships.
Further Education Colleges have a significant role within their
local and regional economies providing qualifications and training
opportunities to both individuals and employers. Their strategic
importance is evident in their significant links to major national
and multi-national companies which provide considerable employment
in each region. The table below sets out the proportion of vocational
qualifications that are awarded by Colleges in each region of
England.[7]
| % of NVQs & VRQs achieved
in FE College/Tertiary College
|
| England | 39.3% |
| North East | 44.6% |
| North West | 37.8% |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | 38.7%
|
| East Midlands | 38.2% |
| West Midlands | 46.5% |
| East of England | 41.3% |
| London | 31.6% |
| South East | 36.1% |
| South West | 42.5% |
4. Colleges are also major employers in their local areas.
To illustrate, Colleges in Committee members' constituencies alone
employ over 18,000 staff:[8]
|
| College | Number of staff employed
|
| Sandwell College | 711 |
| Liverpool Community College | 1,892
|
| Birmingham Metropolitan College | 1,025
|
| Newcastle College | 3,033 |
| Leeds City College, Leeds College of Art, Leeds College of Building and Joseph Priestly College
| 3,729 |
| South Essex College of Further and Higher Education
| 1,500 |
| Stourbridge College and King Edward VI College Stourbridge
| 895 |
| Loughborough College | 1,142
|
| Stratford-upon-Avon College | 462
|
| Bradford College | 2,489 |
| Northampton College | 1,746
|
5. Colleges are significant financial and capital assets
to the local communities and are therefore a major local draw
for inward investment. They are also central to the expansion
of technical and higher-level skills which are essential to the
recovery and long-term strength of the economy. Colleges provide
employer-designed foundation degrees and other professional higher
qualifications which businesses need and which play a major role
in retaining skills in particular localities.
A recent study by SQW Consulting[9]
concluded that Colleges were amongst the top 10 employers in each
borough of Greater Manchester, educating and training 134,000
students each year. Their annual impact on the Greater Manchester
economy was at least £894 million through direct expenditure,
with an earnings benefit to learners estimated at over £1
billion.
REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT
AGENCIES AND
SKILLS
6. Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) have had some
influence on the training and skills agenda over the past few
years by:
— Setting regional priorities, for example in their
Regional Economic Strategies and Regional Skills Strategies. These
priorities were reflected in the regional commissioning plans
drawn up by the Learning and Skills Council before its replacement
by the Skills Funding Agency (SFA);
— Playing a key role in decision-making in other organisations,
for example through organisation of Regional Skills Partnerships
or membership of regional committees;
— Delivery of the brokerage and business support services
which support employer decision-making about training;
— Providing financial and logistical support for capital
investment in education and training, seen for example in the
redevelopment of Burnley College, Bournville College and Sandwell
College; and
— Supporting training programmes through the European
Structural Funds and other grant programmes.
7. RDAs also enjoyed considerable freedom in deciding
how they meet their Public Service Agreements. To give two examples:
— Advantage West Midlands played a strong role in co-ordinating
work to help Rover workers in 2005 and 2006.
— The London Development Agency identified a need and
provided funding to support English for Speakers of Other Languages
in 2007 when national funding rules changed.
8. In July 2009, Ministers in the previous Government
set out plans to better integrate the work of the Skills Funding
Agency (SFA) more closely with RDAs which would draw up two documents:
— a single Regional Skills Strategy in consultation
with local authority leaders, sub-regional bodies and Sector Skills
Councils. This strategy would have a 20 year outlook and would
articulate skills needs in the region; and
— a Regional Priority Statement, which would be used
in drawing up the annual SFA budget.
19 staff were seconded from the Skills Funding Agency to
the RDAs[10] to perform
these new roles.
9. In addition, the RDA already had staff working specifically
on education, employment or skills issues.[11]
| RDA | FTEs working specifically on education
and/or employment and/or skills issues
|
| AWM | 7.0 |
| EEDA | 6.5 |
| EMDA | 6.2 |
| LDA | 30.0 |
| NWDA | 16.0 |
| ONE | 10.8 |
| SEEDA | 7.5 |
| SWRDA | 9.1 |
| YF | 25.0 |
10. In December 2009, the then Government announced that
various powers over adult skills would be devolved to the Manchester
and Leeds city regions.[12]
11. Both before and after these changes some RDAs never
properly developed their understanding of and insight into the
education and training system despite the number of staff working
on this policy area. In a number of RDAs there was an unfortunate
tendency to concentrate on higher level skills and only involve
universities in various initiatives but not Further Education
Colleges despite their involvement in the development of regional
employability skills.
12. Since the establishment of RDAs however, there have
been some examples of positive and successful close working.
Case Study: Enterprise in the North
Fewer new businesses are created in the north of England than
in the south. Colleges in the north worked with the three RDAs
in the "Northern Way" to address this issue. The RDAs
funded an enterprise programme in 30 Colleges to encourage people
to start and grow new businesses. AoC ran this project and called
on Manchester Metropolitan University to provide staff development.
Each College in the programme nominated three enterprise champions
whose job it was to introduce training sessions for aspiring entrepreneurs
and to embed enterprise education in existing provision. Successes
saw City of Sunderland College students creating a portable nail-bar,
technology experts at Dearne Valley College launching an IT company
after receiving advice from a panel of local business people;
and Hull College hairdressing apprentices setting up their own
salons. In all, 16,000 students were involved in the projects,
learning business start-up skills and fostering innovation and
social enterprise.
Case Study: Examples of joint working involving individual
Colleges and the SWRDA
Increased local collaboration between SWRDA Area teams and
Colleges ensured new Capital Projects benefited from SWRDA involvement.
Higher Level Innovation, Enterprise and Technology Centres were
established at North Devon and South Devon Colleges; the regeneration
of Gloucester Docks and new Gloucester College Campus; the innovative
Centre for Sustainable Construction at Somerset College of Arts
and Technology are all examples of where the SWRDA supported FE
Colleges to maximise their support for local employment and business.
THE FUNCTIONS
OF THE
NEW LOCAL
ENTERPRISE PARTNERSHIPS
AND ENSURING
VALUE FOR
MONEY
13. In their letter[13]
to Local Authority leaders and Chief Executives and business leaders,
the Secretary of State Vince Cable and the Secretary of State
for Communities and Local Government, Eric Pickles, said LEPs
would:
— Provide strategic leadership in their areas.
— Set out local economic priorities.
— Be central to the vision of rebalancing the economy
to the private sector.
— Tackle issues such as planning, housing, transport
and infrastructure priorities, employment and enterprise.
— Support small businesses.
14. Colleges support an enhanced role for local authorities
and businesses through LEPs and their proposed functions. However,
if LEPs are to be more successful than RDAs in promoting skills
they will need to consult and involve representatives from Further
Education Colleges across the range of activities. Colleges should
have regular and significant opportunities to constructing local
plans, as well as delivering outcomes within these plans because
of their engagement with students of all ages, with businesses
of all sizes and their association with the communities they serve,
Colleges represent an unrivalled source of local employment market
intelligence.
15. In particular, the disappearance of the RDA, combined
with reduced overall funding for regional activities, will require
greater use of outside bodies alongside businesses to provide
information on local employment and skills needs. By involving
Colleges in LEPs can strengthen their own strategic access to
and influence with the Skills Funding Agency, Young People's Learning
Agency and HEFCE, as well as the fee and commercial income that
Colleges generate from both individuals and business. In this
light, we very much welcome that the letter from the two Secretaries
of State said that LEPs would want to work closely with Further
Education Colleges in view of their importance to local economies.
16. It will be essential that LEPs do not create unnecessary
bureaucracy nor develop their own planning powers which restrict
FE Colleges' ability develop their extensive existing relationships
with employers or grow new relationships.
CAPITAL FUNDING
FOR COLLEGES
17. RDAs have provided funding for a number of current
capital building projects in the College sector including Sandwell
College and Bournville College. RDAs had the necessary freedoms
and ability to fund College capital schemes where they felt it
would be of advantage to the region. We trust that LEPs will honour
existing RDA spending commitments and will have the ability and
willingness to fund future schemes which might help other LEP
areas as well as their own.
STRUCTURE AND
ACCOUNTABILITY OF
LEPS
18. By virtue of local authority involvement, LEPs will
be indirectly accountable to the public through local elections.
We understand Government desire not to be too prescriptive about
the structure of LEPs but again we stress FE Colleges must be
closely involved in LEPs' work. Colleges already work across local
authority and regional boundaries so LEP boundaries must in no
way restrict this successful work. We would like LEPs to involve
Colleges in their governance structures both because of Colleges'
role as providers of education and training but also because of
their significance as major employers.
THE REGIONAL
GROWTH FUND
AND FUNDING
ARRANGEMENTS UNDER
THE LOCAL
ENTERPRISE PARTNERSHIPS
19. The Government has issued a consultation on the Regional
Growth Fund to which AoC will respond separately. We are particularly
supportive of the idea of co-ordinating and integrating projects
across organisational remits and feel that LEPs might offer a
better vehicle for such activity than RDAs. We are less convinced
that all projects should require private investment as this might
limit some useful activities. If LEPs are to administer the Fund
then the local authority representation will be vital but they
will need, of course, to consider all local views including those
from Colleges.
GOVERNMENT PROPOSALS
FOR ENSURING
REGIONAL CO
-ORDINATION OF
ROLES BETWEEN
DIFFERENT LEPS
20. We note the Secretary of State's view, in oral evidence
to the Committee,[14]
that there would be no restrictions on local authorities in effect
replicating the RDA geographical areas. It will be important to
ensure the LEP area is sufficiently large enough to cover functional
economic areas, ensure activity is strategically significant,
avoid parochialism and offer good value for money. There is an
additional important issue relating to the interaction between
Sector Skills Councils (SSCs) and LEPs. Currently, SSCs which
represent different business sectors at a national level, liaise
with RDAs about the regional and sectoral skills needs of an area.
We have concerns about how effective SSCs will be at performing
a similar role in relation to LEPs and this highlights again the
need for Colleges, with their local employment market intelligence,
to be integrated fully into the development of LEPs.
THE LEGISLATIVE
FRAMEWORK AND
TIMETABLE FOR
CONVERTING RDAS
TO LEPS,
THE TRANSITIONAL
ARRANGEMENTS, AND
THE ARRANGEMENTS
FOR RESIDUAL
SPENDING AND
LIABILITY OF
RDAS
21. The BIS Structural Plan[15]
states that Local Enterprise Partnerships will be created via
the Localism Bill. Meanwhile, the Regional Development Agencies
will be abolished via the Public Bodies Bill with the actual changes
being confirmed by November 2011. We have no principled objection
to the timetable as long as RDAs honour financial commitments
entered into particularly in relation to College capital programmes.
MEANS OF
PROCURING FUNDING
FROM OUTSIDE
BODIES (INCLUDING
EU FUNDING) UNDER
THE NEW
ARRANGEMENTS
22. Both RDAs and regional Government Offices play a
major role in the delivery of European Structural Fund programmes.
RDAs are responsible for management of the ERDF programme worth
over €3.2 billion over the programme period (2007-13). They
are also a major source of match funding for projects funded through
the programme. Government Offices are responsible for managing
ESF programmes at the regional level worth another €3 billion.
Given the scale of these resources there is a clear need for effective
regional arrangements to be in place for the governance, management
and administration of this funding over the remaining programme
period.
23. Thus far EU funding has provided significant resources
for business support, innovation, infrastructure, employment and
skills development. The role LEPs will play is not yet clear but
if they are to be a significant source of match funding they will
need the resources to enable them to carry out this role. This
will also apply to any domestic resources which require match
funding. Any future governance arrangements for European funding
should include representatives of FE Colleges given their economic
and social significance.
13 August 2010
6
AoC key facts http://www.aoc.co.uk/en/about_colleges/facts_and_figures/ Back
7
Source: The Data Service-Vocational Qualifications in the UK 2008-09
Supplementary Tables Back
8
Lifelong Learning UK Staff Individualised Record (SIR) 2008-09
except for Birmingham Metropolitan College and South Essex College
where the information was provided directly. Back
9
Presentation given to joint Greater Manchester Colleges and Association
of Greater Manchester Authorities Conference on 26 February 2010
available from www.aoc.co.uk Back
10
House of Commons Written Answer, 19 July 2010: Column 155W Back
11
House of Lords Written Answer, 2 Dec 2009: Column WA59 Back
12
City region announcement made in Pre-Budget report, December 2009 Back
13
http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/localgovernment/pdf/1626854.pdf Back
14
Response to Q10, http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201011/cmselect/cmbis/uc384-i/uc38401.htm Back
15
http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/biscore/corporate/docs/b/10-1086-bis-draft-structural-reform-plan.pdf Back
| 
