Peter Lauener will donate the £25,000 salary he will earn as chair of one of the UK’s largest college groups to a student hardship fund.
Apparently one of the busiest men in FE, the former boss of the ESFA and the Institute for Apprenticeships, who currently leads the Student Loans Company, bagged himself yet another job last week, this time as chair of NCG.
Taking up the position in the spring, he’ll replace Jamie Martin, who has held the role for 11 years.
The post is not remunerated, but Mr Lauener will earn a salary as he will also cover Intraining, NCG’s national independent training provider, which is a wholly owned subsidiary.
The former civil servant has however asked that the money is paid directly to a student hardship fund, a spokesperson for the group told FE Week.
He retired from his government roles in November last year, but became interim chief executive at the Student Loans Company after the sudden departure of Steve Lamey, and will stay in post until a permanent replacement is found.
“I am looking forward to taking up this new role at NCG and getting to know the different colleges and organisations in the group,” said the new chair.
“There is nothing more important than developing the skills of all our people and NCG has a critical role in supporting learners, businesses and communities.”
In his spare time, Mr Lauener is also the official delegate for Worldskills UK, and was a major force behind in the IfA last year as its first chief executive.
Before taking the reins at the ESFA, he helped implement the Youth Training Scheme, worked for the Manpower Services Commission in the 1980s, and set up the Training and Enterprise Councils in the 1990s.
“Peter has played a leading role in the shaping of education and training in the UK for some years now,” said Joe Docherty, NCG’s chief executive.
“He has steered a course for the Skills Funding Agency and the Education Funding Agency through a period of great political and economic change, and consequently made a positive impact on the education and training of people across the country.”
His predecessor Mr Martin is now the managing partner of law firm Ward Hadaway.
During his 11 years as chair he oversaw NCG’s expansion, and leaves it as one of the biggest college groups in the country.
The group now comprises Carlisle College, Kidderminster College, Lewisham Southwark College, Newcastle College, Newcastle Sixth Form College, and West Lancashire College. It also runs two training providers: Rathbone Training and Intraining.
Mr Martin said it had been a “great experience” to have been involved with NCG’s “expansion and growing success” and to have “seen the difference which it has made and continues to make to the career prospects and the lives of thousands of people not just in the north-east, but across the country too”.
Mr Lauener will start on March 1, 2018.
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