Government reforms could see colleges given greater freedoms under plans to deregulate further education (FE).

The Education Bill, which is at the Lords Committee Stage, contains a range of measures to give colleges greater freedom from government control.

However, the Department for Education (DfE) say they could go further. A spokesman for DfE said: “Ministers are committed to increasing the freedoms of colleges from central control and bureaucracy.

The Education Bill already contains a range of measures to increase freedoms. “However, we are considering actively whether we can go even further than this. We hope to come back with proposals when the Bill reaches Report Stage.”

A briefing document sent out by the Association of Colleges (AoC) to their members – which has been seen by FE Week  – says the sector could soon see “some significant changes” in the rules which govern colleges.

Although the details remain unconfirmed, the paper says it could see the law change in two ways – allowing a college’s governing body to make a decision on mergers and to have more freedom over their own instruments and articles.

The document adds: “It is likely that these changes would apply to all ‘1992 Act Colleges’, i.e. to both FE colleges and sixth form colleges.

“One key purpose of these reforms is to show that colleges are legally independent of Government and should be treated as such by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) and the National Audit Office (NAO).”

It also reads: “At the same time, there is a looming risk that new financial controls and reporting requirements will be imposed on colleges because of the ONS and NAO view that colleges are in the public sector. This could take effect in 2012.”

We are a grown up sector, and should be set free to stand up on our own two feet. “

Financial consultant Bob Deed, who works in the FE sector, said deregulation would be a “move towards a fully independent college sector” and would “remove bureaucracy around mergers, borrowing and governance”. He also said: “However, deregulation must be replaced by effective self-regulation. “Codes of governance penned by the AoC are useful, but more radical approaches may need to be developed.”

He added: “An important benefit for all colleges from the changes – which could almost go unnoticed – would be the heading-off of new annual financial returns necessary for the consolidation of college accounts into the Whole of Government Accounts. “Another piece of potential bureaucracy avoided might be the requirement for public sector organisations to publish details of all spending over £500.”

Principal of City College Norwich Dick Palmer, who is also a member of the department for business, innovation and skills (BIS) FE Performance and Review Board, said: “We are a grown up sector, and should be set free to stand up on our own two feet. Reclassification and greater Government ownership of colleges would be a retrograde step.”

FE Week approached AoC for a comment, but a spokesperson said: “We cannot comment on leaked documents.”

The DfE spokesman added: “The Government’s drive to give colleges greater freedoms have been welcomed by the AoC and the Sixth Form Colleges Forum.

“They share our view that colleges are best placed to respond to needs of students and employers, without being held back by unnecessary interference.”

The Education Bill is expected to go to Lords Report Stage on October 18.

The Skills Funding Agency (SFA) is rumoured to be shortly announcing a delay to the full roll-out of a new funding formula for 2012/13.

However, the SFA deny this is the case, and reassure FE Week  that: “Work to introduce a simplified funding system, as set out in the BIS document Further Education – New Horizon, Investing in Skills for Sustainable Growth November 2010 (click here), is continuing as planned”.

 

 

The 157 Group and Association of Colleges (AoC) have announced nine projects which will benefit from the Collaboration and Shared Services Grant.

AoC and the 157 Group were each given £2.3million by the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) for the grant, which launched in June for the further education sector (FE).

With the process complete and decisions – ratified by the SFA – made, the bodies have announced the successful bids.

Christine Doubleday, director of delivery models and innovation for the 157 Group, said: “It is crucial that the lessons learned from these projects are disseminated within the sector in a meaningful and dynamic way.”

Julian Gravatt, AoC assistant chief executive, said: “As we enter a period of austerity, the need for colleges to deliver efficiencies has never been more pressing.

“We’re convinced these projects will provide a valuable contribution to the development and implementation of significant and fundamental changes to the business model within the further education sector.”

The 157 Group and AoC produced a joint prospectus and evaluation process to manage bids, which covered the aims, scope and objectives of the programme alongside clarity on application response content and format.

These grants will help secure maximum and quantifiable efficiencies.”

In total, 69 applications were received from 64 different lead organisations by the 157 Group and AoC, with a total bidding request of more than £20 million.

Ms Doubleday added: “We wanted to go for big impact projects and those ready to deliver savings in the short and longer term. The money is from Treasury and it is grant aided, with the condition it produces savings in the sector.

“However we also wanted to ensure that the projects chosen are in tune with political and economic imperatives and will be of real use to the sector.

“The ability to scale up and disseminate was part of the process. In addition, the 157 Group wants to ensure the learning is dynamic, useful, applicable and inclusive.”

Mr Gravatt added: “The aims of the grant are myriad. They include the opportunity to work in partnership across the sector to maximise benefits and avoid any duplication or confusion; produce concrete tools and models which are ready to be adopted across the sector, and to disseminate learning.

“These grants will help secure maximum and quantifiable efficiencies. We hope that these projects encourage the development of strategic leadership in the sector and form the blueprint for future take-up and roll-out of sustainable models of efficient practice.”

Marilyn Hawkins, treasurer and director of the 157 Group and principal of Barnet College, said: “The innovative projects put forward are testament to the quality of FE and willingness to be adaptable and flexible in an ever-changing sector.

“We hope the legacy to come out of these bids is a powerful new precedent for collaboration and innovation within the sector.”

FE factfile on…the projects

The following 157 Group projects have been accepted:

• Sunderland College, City of Sunderland College, Hartlepool Sixth Form College, South Tyneside College and Tyne Metropolitan College working as North East Shared Services Project Limited to build on a joint venture company model for shared services and collaboration.
• Central Sussex College, Northbrook College Sussex, Chichester College, Brooklands College, Guildford College, City College Brighton, Sussex Downs College, Sussex Coast College Hastings working together for services in Sussex / Surrey Colleges to develop ‘share ready’ services collaboration between geographically connected colleges.
• Highbury College, four non-157 Group colleges and any 157 Group colleges who wish to take part in collaborative curriculum development and delivery enabling colleges to work together to develop and share learning resources to deliver an effective curriculum.
• There is also one additional college project under discussion and the 157 Group also has agreed to award the Third Sector National Learning Alliance a sum to support development of collaboration and shared services across third sector providers.

The following AoC projects have been accepted:

• The Enterprise Agenda for Adults: Richmond Adult Community College, Open College Network London, Morley College, Tower Hamlets College, City of Bath College, Community Links, Paypal (partner), HOLEX (partner), WCL. The project aims to create an Adult Enterprise curriculum, supported by an efficient delivery approach which can be rolled-out nationwide.
• Wessex Federation: Yeovil College, Bournemouth and Poole College, Brockenhurst College, Kingston Maurward College, Weymouth College. The project will examine the creation of a central shared service centre and implementation of a series of cost, efficiency and improvement initiatives across the five colleges.
• Federation Development and Shared Services Programme: City College Norwich, City Academy Norwich, Wayland Community High School, EAGIT. The project will focus on developing an innovative organisational infrastructure for delivering technical/vocational further education, A-levels and higher education in further education colleges.
• Federation of Strategic Services Project (FeSSP): a joint collaboration between Bishop Auckland College, City of Sunderland College, Tyne Metropolitan College. This project will look at the development and implementation of a federation model for colleges in the delivery of non-core strategic services.
• There is one additional college project which is still under discussion.

Apprenticeships are most effectively delivered by colleges working in partnership with employers, according to a new policy paper.

The 157 Group has published its latest policy paper Expanding apprenticeships – colleges are key to employability during Colleges Week, run by the Association of Colleges and just before WorldSkills London 2011.

The policy paper underlines that apprenticeships are not an alternative to FE but are delivered most effectively by colleges working closely with employers.

A foreword from Rolls Royce illustrates just one of the effective partnerships happening up and down the country to deliver skills training.

Lynne Sedgmore CBE, executive director of the 157 Group, said: “There is no better time to publish this policy paper than during Colleges Week. We need to create more awareness so that employers understand the scale of support colleges give to both individual apprentices and employers.

“Colleges not only provide training and assessment services, they are a consistent and supportive point of contact for learners and employers, from pre-apprenticeship programmes to higher-level apprenticeships.

“At present it is a shame that a young person wishing to progress from a pre-apprenticeship programme through to an intermediate, advanced and higher apprenticeship would need to be involved with five quangos plus two government departments but could learn all of this at one college.

“We urge the government to underline that colleges are at the heart of its apprenticeship agenda.”

Rob Bird, apprentice development leader at Rolls-Royce, said: “Rolls-Royce is pleased to be able to contribute a foreword to this important and timely policy paper which conveys the drive and determination of the FE sector to support the government’s apprenticeship agenda.

“We see a growing role for FE colleges in apprenticeship training if we are to improve the UK’s economic competitiveness.”

Frank McLoughlin CBE, chair of the 157 Group and principal of City and Islington College, said: “There has been some negative press recently surrounding 12 week apprenticeships which seem to have exploited those learners, but we need to emphasise the fantastic provision and the opportunities that most apprenticeships lead to, and we must ensure the government and employers understand the distinctive and critical role of FE colleges at every stage of the apprenticeship process.”

Calls are being made for guaranteed face-to-face careers guidance in the wake of a startling report.

Research released today by the Association of Colleges (AoC) shows considerable confusion among young people about post-GCSE options.

The study, released to mark the start of Colleges’ Week, found half of pupils do not feel they have received enough advice from their school or academy in planning future careers and that only half receive advice from a specialist advisor.

The research highlights the confusion among pupils about post-GCSE options.”

It comes in the wake of the government’s planned changes to create a National Careers Service by April.

Schools will be given duty to offer careers advice to their pupils – with the emphasis on how it is conducted, in their hands.

However, Joy Mercer, Director of Education and Policy at the AoC, said: “The research highlights the confusion among pupils about post-GCSE options.

“They are having to make serious decisions which will significantly impact on their futures, without enough information about the choices available to them.”

She added: “Young people deserve to know about all of the post-GCSE options available to them and their peers – including apprenticeships.

“These results suggest guaranteed face-to-face guidance from an independent source would be preferable to asking schools and academies to be the primary source of advice.

A spokesman for the Department for Education said: “From September 2012, schools will be responsible for securing access for their pupils to independent, impartial careers guidance.

“They will be free to determine how best to do that, including through engaging with external providers of face to face guidance.”

The AoC study involved interviews with 500 pupils, aged 14 and currently studying for GCSEs.

It found while 63 per cent of young people are able to name A levels as a post-GCSE qualification, few can name any other available choices.

Only 7 per cent of pupils are able to name apprenticeships as a post-GCSE qualification, while 26 per cent could name NVQs, 19 per cent named BTECs, nine per cent identified diplomas and only three per cent named foundation learning courses.

The report can be found here.