To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to the answer of 19 December 2006, Official Report, column 1863W, on foundation degrees, if he will list the organisations which have provided informal feedback welcoming the provision in the Further Education and Training Bill. (115624)

The Association of Colleges, which represents the interests of Further Education Colleges in England and Wales, has welcomed the proposals in Clause 19 (Power to award Foundation Degrees only) of the Further Education and Training Bill. In addition, the Mixed Economy Group and the 157 Group of leading Further Education Colleges have been similarly supportive of the move. Positive feedback has also been received in my Department from individual college principals within the FE sector who feel that the proposals are enabling, and that they will facilitate the sector’s vital role, emphasised by Lord Leitch’s recent report on skills, in providing high-quality training that is flexible and responsive to employers’ and learners’ needs.