ELWa was an Assembly Sponsored Public Body responsible for post-16 learning in
WalesWales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom, bordered by England to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It is also an elective region of the European Union...
, active from 2000 to 2006. ELWa's functions are now exercised by the
Assembly GovernmentThe Welsh Assembly Government was firstly an executive body of the National Assembly for Wales, consisting of the First Minister and his Cabinet from 1999 to 2007....
's Department for Children, Education, Lifelong Learning and Skills.
ELWa - Education and Learning Wales was the brand used by the National Council for Education and Training for Wales (NCETW), an Assembly Sponsored Public Body (ASPB) or
quangoQuango or qango is an acronym used notably in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and elsewhere to label colloquially an organisation to which government has devolved power...
established by the
Learning and Skills Act 2000The Learning and Skills Act 2000 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It made changes in the funding and administration of further education, and of work-based learning for young people, within England and Wales....
.
ELWa was an Assembly Sponsored Public Body responsible for post-16 learning in
WalesWales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom, bordered by England to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It is also an elective region of the European Union...
, active from 2000 to 2006. ELWa's functions are now exercised by the
Assembly GovernmentThe Welsh Assembly Government was firstly an executive body of the National Assembly for Wales, consisting of the First Minister and his Cabinet from 1999 to 2007....
's Department for Children, Education, Lifelong Learning and Skills.
Formation and activities
ELWa - Education and Learning Wales was the brand used by the National Council for Education and Training for Wales (NCETW), an Assembly Sponsored Public Body (ASPB) or
quangoQuango or qango is an acronym used notably in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and elsewhere to label colloquially an organisation to which government has devolved power...
established by the
Learning and Skills Act 2000The Learning and Skills Act 2000 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It made changes in the funding and administration of further education, and of work-based learning for young people, within England and Wales....
. NCETW merged the functions of the former
Training and Enterprise CouncilThe Training and Enterprise Councils or TECs were local bodies established in England and Wales in the early 1990s to administer publicly-funded training programmes, replacing the former Manpower Services Commission. The first group of 19 TECs were launched in 1990...
s in Wales with the
Further Education Funding Council for WalesThe Further Education Funding Council for Wales was a non-departmental public body of the Welsh Office and later an Assembly Sponsored Public Body which distributed funding to Further Education and Sixth Form Colleges in Wales between 1992 and 2001....
. The organisation's remit was to plan and fund post-16 learning (excluding
higher educationHigher education refers to a level of education that is provided by universities, vocational universities, community colleges, liberal arts colleges, institutes of technology and other collegiate level institutions, such as vocational schools, trade schools and career colleges, that award academic...
) in Wales, including
further educationFurther education is a term mainly used in connection with education in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. It is post-compulsory education , that is distinct from the education offered in universities...
, publicly-funded
work-based trainingVocational education or Vocational Education and Training , also called Career and Technical Education , prepares learners for jobs that are based in manual or practical activities, traditionally non-academic and totally related to a specific trade, occupation or vocation, hence the term, in which...
,
adult community learningAdult education is the practice of teaching and educating adults. This often happens in the workplace, through 'extension' or 'continuing education' courses at secondary schools, at a college or university. Other learning places include folk high schools, community colleges, and lifelong learning...
and
schoolA school , is an institution designed to allow and encourage students to learn, under the supervision of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools...
sixth formThe sixth form , in the English, Welsh and Northern Irish education systems, Commonwealth West Indian countries such as Barbados, Belize, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, and Malta is the final two years of secondary schooling when students are sixteen to eighteen years of age and normally prepare...
s.
NCETW/ELWa's main statutory responsibilities were to:
- Secure the provision of facilities for post-16 education and training in Wales (with the exception of higher education (covered by the other ELWa partner, Higher Education Funding Council for Wales
The Higher Education Funding Council for Wales is an Assembly Government Sponsored Body. HEFCW is anintermediary body between the Welsh Assembly Government and the higher education sector in Wales.- HEFCW business :...
);
- Encourage young people and adults to participate in learning; and
- Encourage employers to participate in, and contribute to the costs of, post-16 education and training.
The Welsh Assembly Government treated ELWa as a single entity although it was not constituted as one.
Re-organisation
Initially the ELWa brand was used by both the NCETW and the
Higher Education Funding Council for WalesThe Higher Education Funding Council for Wales is an Assembly Government Sponsored Body. HEFCW is anintermediary body between the Welsh Assembly Government and the higher education sector in Wales.- HEFCW business :...
(HEFCW), and both organisations shared a common executive with some joint staff co-located in
LlanishenLlanishen is a district in the north of Cardiff, the capital city of Wales. Llanishen is well-known as the home of the 'Tax Offices', the tallest buildings in north Cardiff and a landmark for miles around...
(NCETW also maintained the former TEC offices in
BedwasBedwas is a town 2 miles north-east of Caerphilly, south Wales, situated in the Caerphilly county borough, within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire.It neighbours Trethomas and Machen, and forms a council ward in conjunction with those communities....
,
SwanseaSwansea is a coastal city and county in Wales. Swansea is in the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan. Situated on the sandy South West Wales coast, the county area includes the Gower peninsula and the Lliw uplands...
, Newtown and
St AsaphSt Asaph is a town on the River Elwy in Denbighshire, Wales. In the 2001 Census it had a population of 3,491.The town of St Asaph is surrounded by countryside and views of the Vale of Clwyd. It is situated close to a number of busy coastal towns such as Rhyl, Prestatyn, Colwyn Bay and Llandudno...
). Following a review in 2002 the
Welsh MinisterThe Welsh Assembly Government was firstly an executive body of the National Assembly for Wales, consisting of the First Minister and his Cabinet from 1999 to 2007....
for Education and Lifelong Learning,
Jane DavidsonJane Davidson, AM is the Labour Assembly Member for Pontypridd and the Minister for Environment, Sustainability and Housing in the Welsh Assembly Government. She lives in Gwaelod-y-Garth with her husband and three children...
, decided that each Council should have a full-time dedicated Chief Executive and Director of Finance. Around the same time it also became apparent that there was no legal basis for the two Councils to jointly employ staff. Subsequently the brand name ELWa was retained solely by NCETW.
Criticism
During its short history, ELWa attracted criticism for a series of failures in
financial managementAccountancy or accounting is the art of communicating financial information about a business entity to users such as shareholders and managers...
, poor
risk managementRisk management is the identification, assessment, and prioritization of risks followed by coordinated and economical application of resources to minimize, monitor, and control the probability and/or impact of unfortunate events...
and
organisational restructuringLayoff is the temporary suspension or permanent termination of employment of an employee or a group of employees for business reasons, such as the decision that certain positions are no longer necessary or a business slow-down or interruption in work...
.
Merger with Welsh Assembly Government
ELWa was merged with the
Welsh Assembly GovernmentThe Welsh Assembly Government was firstly an executive body of the National Assembly for Wales, consisting of the First Minister and his Cabinet from 1999 to 2007....
on 1 April 2006, along with the
Welsh Development AgencyThe Welsh Development Agency was an Assembly Sponsored Public Body established in 1976 to encourage business development and investment in Wales...
and Wales Tourist Board. ELWa's functions are now exercised by the
Assembly GovernmentThe Welsh Assembly Government was firstly an executive body of the National Assembly for Wales, consisting of the First Minister and his Cabinet from 1999 to 2007....
's Department for Children, Education, Lifelong Learning and Skills.