Learning and Skills Council
Encyclopedia
Non-departmental public body
In the United Kingdom, a non-departmental public body —often referred to as a quango—is a classification applied by the Cabinet Office, Treasury, Scottish Government and Northern Ireland Executive to certain types of public bodies...
jointly sponsored by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills is a ministerial department of the United Kingdom Government created on 5 June 2009 by the merger of the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills and the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform .-Ministers:The BIS...
(BIS) and the Department for Children, Schools and Families
Department for Children, Schools and Families
The Department for Children, Schools and Families was a department of the UK government, between 2007 and 2010, responsible for issues affecting people in England up to the age of 19, including child protection and education...
(DCSF) in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It closed on 31 March 2010 and was replaced by the Skills Funding Agency
Skills Funding Agency
The Skills Funding Agency is one of two successor organisations that emerged from the closure of the Learning and Skills Council...
and the Young People's Learning Agency
Young People's Learning Agency
The Young People's Learning Agency is a government organisation based in Coventry. It funds further education in England and apprenticeships for ages 16-19.-History:...
.
History
The LSC was established in April 2001, under the Learning and Skills Act 2000Learning and Skills Act 2000
The 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....
. It replaced the 72 Training and Enterprise Council
Training and Enterprise Council
The 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 and the Further Education Funding Council for England
Further Education Funding Council for England
The Further Education Funding Council for England was a non-departmental public body of the Department for Education and Skills in the United Kingdom which distributed funding to Further Education and Sixth Form Colleges in England between 1992 and 2001....
. In 2006 it had an annual budget of £10.4 billion. It was described as Britain's largest Quango
Quango
Quango or qango is an acronym used notably in the United Kingdom, Ireland and elsewhere to label an organisation to which government has devolved power...
.
Until June 2007, it was sponsored by the former Department for Education and Skills (DfES).
Economic mismanagement in college re-building
In July 2009, the Public Accounts Committee described 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.Abolition
On 17 March 2008 the abolition of the LSC was announced; funding responsibilities for 16–19 year old learners were to transfer to local education authoritiesLocal Education Authority
A local education authority is a local authority in England and Wales that has responsibility for education within its jurisdiction...
and the new Skills Funding Agency
Skills Funding Agency
The Skills Funding Agency is one of two successor organisations that emerged from the closure of the Learning and Skills Council...
was to distribute funding for adult learners in Further Education
Further education
Further education is a term mainly used in connection with education in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is post-compulsory education , that is distinct from the education offered in universities...
colleges.
The Machinery of Government announcement heralded the end of the LSC, to make way for the Young Peoples Learning Agency and the Skills Funding Agency
Skills Funding Agency
The Skills Funding Agency is one of two successor organisations that emerged from the closure of the Learning and Skills Council...
, reporting to DCSF and BIS respectively. These changes started in April 2009 and were completed by March 2010.
Mark Haysom's resignation
Mark HaysomMark Haysom
Mark Haysom CBE is a former British businessman, newspaper executive and Public Servant who spent six years as Chief Executive of the UK’s biggest quango. He is a Non-executive director of HMRC and the St Giles Trust....
CBE, 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
Private Finance Initiative
The private finance initiative is a way of creating "public–private partnerships" by funding public infrastructure projects with private capital...
) rebuilding programme. He was replaced by Geoff Russell, formerly of accountants KPMG
KPMG
KPMG is one of the largest professional services networks in the world and one of the Big Four auditors, along with Deloitte, Ernst & Young and PwC. Its global headquarters is located in Amstelveen, Netherlands....
.
Function
The LSC was responsible for planning and funding further educationFurther education
Further education is a term mainly used in connection with education in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is post-compulsory education , that is distinct from the education offered in universities...
(post-16 education and training other than higher education
Higher education
Higher, post-secondary, tertiary, or third level education refers to the stage of learning that occurs at universities, academies, colleges, seminaries, and institutes of technology...
) in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
National office
The LSC had a national office in Cheylesmore House, CheylesmoreCheylesmore
Cheylesmore is a suburb in the southern half of the city of Coventry, West Midlands, England. It is one of Coventry's largest suburbs, sharing borders with Whitley and Stivichall in the South, extending into Coventry city centre and bordering with Earlsdon in the North. Cheylesmore has two...
, Coventry
Coventry
Coventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham, with a population of 300,848, although...
, nine regional offices and 47 local Learning and Skills Councils. The LSC's national office was not a typical headquarters - its main role was to produce guidelines and targets for its 47 local offices.
It was announced in 2005 that the LSC's organisation structure would change as part of the Agenda for Change programme, 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
Around 1,300 jobs were lost, 500 from the Coventry headquarters, the remainder from local offices. The restructuring process was challenged by the PCS UnionPublic and Commercial Services Union
The Public and Commercial Services Union is the sixth largest trade union in the United Kingdom. Most of its members work in government departments and other public bodies although some work for private companies.- Membership and organisation :...
, 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 the 26 June 2006 after PCS and LSC representatives reached agreement.
Staff
During its lifetime the LSC had three chief executives: John Harwood, Mark Haysom and Geoff Russell.Regions
There were nine regions.- East of England - IpswichIpswichIpswich is a large town and a non-metropolitan district. It is the county town of Suffolk, England. Ipswich is located on the estuary of the River Orwell...
- East Midlands - Meridian Business Park (M1M1 motorwayThe M1 is a north–south motorway in England primarily connecting London to Leeds, where it joins the A1 near Aberford. While the M1 is considered to be the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the United Kingdom, the first road to be built to motorway standard in the country was the...
/M69M69 motorwayThe M69 is a lightly used dual three lane dual carriageway motorway in Leicestershire and Warwickshire, England connecting Leicester and Coventry. It opened in 1977.-History:...
junction), Leicester - London - five offices in Stratford (East), Hounslow (West), CroydonCroydonCroydon is a town in South London, England, located within the London Borough of Croydon to which it gives its name. It is situated south of Charing Cross...
(South), Palmers GreenPalmers GreenPalmers Green is a place in the London Borough of Enfield. It is a suburban area situated 7.6 miles north of Charing Cross. Postally, it is in London N13...
(North), and Centre PointCentre PointCentre Point is a substantial concrete and glass office building in central London, England, occupying 101-103 New Oxford Street, WC1, close to St Giles Circus and almost directly above Tottenham Court Road tube station. The site was once occupied by a gallows...
on New Oxford StreetOxford StreetOxford Street is a major thoroughfare in the City of Westminster in the West End of London, United Kingdom. It is Europe's busiest shopping street, as well as its most dense, and currently has approximately 300 shops. The street was formerly part of the London-Oxford road which began at Newgate,...
(Central) - North East - Team ValleyTeam ValleyTeam Valley is a traditionally heavily industrial area of Gateshead in Tyne and Wear, England. More recently it has become home to the 'Retail World' retail park, which makes up just a small percentage of the entirety of the Team Valley Trading Estate...
, GatesheadGatesheadGateshead is a town in Tyne and Wear, England and is the main settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead. Historically a part of County Durham, it lies on the southern bank of the River Tyne opposite Newcastle upon Tyne and together they form the urban core of Tyneside... - North West - Arndale Centre, ManchesterManchesterManchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
- South East - Brighton and Reading
- South West - Bristol
- West Midlands - Birmingham
- Yorkshire and the Humber - Bradford
Criticism
Former leader of the CBIConfederation of British Industry
The Confederation of British Industry is a British not for profit organisation incorporated by Royal charter which promotes the interests of its members, some 200,000 British businesses, a figure which includes some 80% of FTSE 100 companies and around 50% of FTSE 350 companies.-Role:The CBI works...
, 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 an Austin Allegro
Austin Allegro
The Austin Allegro is a small family car manufactured by British Leyland under the Austin name from 1973 until 1983. The same vehicle was built in Italy by Innocenti between 1974 and 1975 and sold as the Innocenti Regent...
comes out at the bottom. The money has not been spent in the right way and it is not delivering what the employers want."
There has also been significant press critiscm 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
The equivalent body in WalesWales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
was ELWa
ELWa
ELWa was an Assembly Sponsored Public Body responsible for post-16 learning in Wales, active from 2000 to 2006. ELWa's functions are now exercised by the Assembly Government's Department for Children, Education, Lifelong Learning and Skills....
. In Scotland, colleges are funded by the Scottish Funding Council
Scottish Funding Council
The Scottish Further and Higher Education Funding Council, more commonly known as the Scottish Funding Council , is the body in Scotland that distributes funding from the Scottish Government to the country's colleges and universities...
.
Also in England, until 2006, there was the Learning and Skills Development Agency
Learning and Skills Development Agency
The Learning and Skills Development Agency was a publicly-funded body in the United Kingdom that supported further education in England. At the end of March 2006 its functions were divided into the Quality Improvement Agency and the Learning and Skills Network and its trading subsidiary, Inspire...
, which split into the Quality Improvement Agency
Quality Improvement Agency
The Quality Improvement Agency was a non-departmental public body of the United Kingdom government whose remit was to support those institutions that provide education, but which are not schools or universities...
and Learning and Skills Network
Learning and Skills Network
LSN is an independent not-for-profit organisation in the United Kingdom. It provides consulting, outsourcing, research, technology and training services for learning and skills.-History:...
in March 2006.
See also
- Education in EnglandEducation in EnglandEducation in England is overseen by the Department for Education and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. Local authorities take responsibility for implementing policy for public education and state schools at a regional level....
- Higher Education Funding Council for EnglandHigher Education Funding Council for EnglandThe Higher Education Funding Council for England is a non-departmental public body of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills in the United Kingdom, which has been responsible for the distribution of funding to Universities and Colleges of Higher and Further Education in England since...
- Lifelong learningLifelong learningLifelong learning is the continuous building of skills and knowledge throughout the life of an individual. It occurs through experiences encountered in the course of a lifetime...
- Qualifications and Curriculum AuthorityQualifications and Curriculum AuthorityThe Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency is an exempt charity, and an executive non-departmental public body of the Department for Children, Schools and Families...
- Vocational educationVocational educationVocational education or vocational education and training is an education that prepares trainees for jobs that are based on manual or practical activities, traditionally non-academic, and totally related to a specific trade, occupation, or vocation...
- Business LinkBusiness LinkBusiness Link is a government-funded business advice and guidance service in England. It consists of an online portal managed by HMRC, local/regional advisors and a national helpline.-History:...
- National Employer ServiceNational Employer ServiceThe National Employer Service is service of the Skills Funding Agency. Its purpose is to offer specialist advice and funding for further education to national, multi-site employers with more than 5000 employees....
(for large companies) - UK Commission for Employment and SkillsUK Commission for Employment and SkillsThe UK Commission for Employment and Skills is a non-departmental public body that provides advice on skills and employment policy to the UK Government and the Devolved Administrations.-History:...
News items
- 11 June 2010 Director of Shropshire LSC jailed after receiving £300,000 in kickbacks from contracts worth £1.3m
- College building £2.7bn in the red in July 2009
- College building is halted in March 2009
- 28 March 2008, LSCLSC-Computing/Science:* Luzon Science Consortium* Linear Shaped Charge, a component of the Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Booster's safety systems.* LIGO Scientific Collaboration* Local Session Controller in VoIP and Unified communications...
: LSC and Carter and Carter - 13 February 2008, BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
: Anger over pupils database plan