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Learning and Skills Council
AbbreviationLSC
Dissolved31 March 2010;14 years ago(2010-03-31)
Legal statusNon-departmental public body
PurposeFurther education in England
Location
Region served
England
Membership
Regional LSCs
Chief Executive
Geoff Russell
Main organ
National Council
Parent organization
BISandDCSF
Budget
£12.07 bn (2008–09)
WebsiteLSC
Cheylesmore House,Cheylesmore,Coventry

TheLearning and Skills Council(LSC) was anon-departmental public bodyjointly sponsored by theDepartment for Business, Innovation and Skills(BIS) and theDepartment for Children, Schools and Families(DCSF) inEngland.It closed on 31 March 2010 and was replaced by theSkills Funding Agencyand theYoung People's Learning Agency.

History[edit]

The LSC was established in April 2001, under theLearning and Skills Act 2000.It replaced the 72training and enterprise councilsand theFurther Education Funding Council for England.In 2006 it had an annual budget of £10.4 billion.[1]It was described as Britain's largestQuango.[2]

Until June 2007, it was sponsored by the formerDepartment for Education and Skills(DfES).

Economic mismanagement in college re-building[edit]

In July 2009, thePublic Accounts Committeedescribed the LSC's handling of its college building programme as 'catastrophic mismanagement'. It resulted in a £2.7 billion debt, with 144 college building contracts having to be terminated abruptly, and leaving many colleges with huge financial penalties for breach of contract with civil engineering companies. 23 colleges have debts of more than 40% of their annual income, with some facing possible financial collapse. The re-building programme had renovated over half of England's colleges since 2001.[citation needed]

Abolition[edit]

On 17 March 2008 the abolition of the LSC was announced; funding responsibilities for 16- to 19-year-old learners were to transfer toEducation Funding Agencyand theSkills Funding Agency,which was created to distribute funding for adult learners infurther educationcolleges.[3][4]

The Machinery of Government announcement heralded the end of the LSC, to make way for theYoung Peoples Learning Agencyand theSkills Funding Agency,reporting to DCSF and BIS respectively. These changes started in April 2009 and were completed by March 2010.

Mark Haysom's resignation[edit]

Mark HaysomCBE, the second chief executive of the LSC, announced that he was stepping down from his role on 23 March 2009 - taking accountability as Chief Executive for difficulties that the LSC had encountered with a college (PFI) rebuilding programme.[5]He was replaced by Geoff Russell, formerly of accountantsKPMG.

Function[edit]

The LSC was responsible for planning and fundingfurther education(post-16 education and training other thanhigher education) inEngland.

Initiatives[edit]

Organisation[edit]

National office[edit]

The LSC had a national office in Cheylesmore House,Cheylesmore,Coventry,nine regional offices and 47 local Learning and Skills Council offices. The LSC's national office was not a typical headquarters – its main role was to produce guidelines and targets for its 47 local offices.[citation needed]

It was announced in 2005 that the LSC's organisation structure would change as part of theAgenda for Changeprogramme, creating a streamlined configuration with more focus on the regional dimension. Although management and administration has been restructured on regional lines, the 47 local Learning and Skills councils were retained.

Redundancies[edit]

Around 1,300 jobs were lost, 500 from the Coventry headquarters, the remainder from local offices. The restructuring process was challenged by thePCS Union,with a strike that took place on 28 April 2006, and a work-to-rule commencing in May 2006. The work-to-rule ceased on 26 June 2006 after PCS and LSC representatives reached agreement.[citation needed]

Staff[edit]

During its lifetime the LSC had three chief executives: John Harwood, Mark Haysom and Geoff Russell.

Regions[edit]

There were nine regions.[6]

Criticism[edit]

Former leader of theCBI,Sir Digby Jones,was critical of the LSC during his time as the UK government's skills envoy. Speaking of the LSC management and outcomes, he said: "It is what I call the British Leyland model - you put a lot of money in at the top and anAustin Allegrocomes out at the bottom. The money has not been spent in the right way and it is not delivering what the employers want. "[7]

There has also been significant press criticism for its handling of EMAs, capital, adult funding and numerous other areas of work especially by its own staff over its handling of various restructures and more recently its closure and transfer of powers to the 2/3 successor bodies and 150 local authorities.

Similar organisations[edit]

The equivalent body inWaleswasELWa.In Scotland, colleges are funded by theScottish Funding Council.

Also in England, until 2006, there was theLearning and Skills Development Agency,which split into theQuality Improvement AgencyandLearning and Skills Networkin March 2006.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^"Apprenticeships Rise: But Budget Falls".Further Education News. Archived fromthe originalon 20 August 2006.Retrieved14 August2006.
  2. ^Kingston, Peter (5 August 2003)."Former tabloid executive takes charge at LSC".The Guardian.London.
  3. ^"£10.4Bn Skills Agency Scrapped".BBC News.17 March 2008.Retrieved7 May2010.
  4. ^"DfES, e-Consultation".Archived fromthe originalon 20 May 2008.Retrieved20 April2008.
  5. ^BBC Education | College funding fiasco boss quits
  6. ^"Regions".www.lsc.gov.uk.Archived fromthe originalon 3 October 2009.Retrieved12 January2022.
  7. ^"Can we fix the skills shortage?".File on 4for theBBC.20 February 2007.Retrieved7 May2010.

External links[edit]

News items[edit]

Audio clips[edit]

Video clips[edit]

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