There are well established procedures, set out in regulations (Statutory Instrument No: 2001/782), for the publication of proposals to dissolve a further education corporation. Where a proposal is published by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC), this includes a requirement to consult. The Further Education and Training Bill retains the requirement for regulations, which prescribe both the type of information to be included in the proposal and the manner in which it must be published. This ensures those who have an interest in the proposal are informed and have an opportunity to make representations.
Proposals must be published for a period of at least one calendar month. Parents, parent associations and staff may take part in the consultation process. Any representations received must be taken into account by the LSC before a decision is made to dissolve a further education corporation.
The White Paper “Further Education: Raising Skills, Improving Life Chances” set out our plans for greater flexibility and simplification of the FE system. The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) is best placed to ensure that the most appropriate arrangements for the delivery of such provision are in place in each area. While the Secretary of State currently decides whether to incorporate and dissolve further education corporations, this decision is based on a proposal developed by the LSC following consultation with the local community. By transferring these powers to the LSC we expect the process of establishing or dissolving institutions to be simpler, quicker and less bureaucratic.
In future, the Secretary of State would intervene in these processes only where he considered the Council was acting unreasonably in relation to its statutory duties.
The Department’s records indicate that the power, under Section 57 of the Further and Higher Education Act 1992, for the Secretary of State to remove members of a governing body of a further education corporation has not been exercised.
This is a reserve power to be used only in exceptional circumstances where all other options have failed. We believe that having the power available and the possibility of it being exercised has been the trigger, in some cases, for governing bodies to act themselves.
The following table sets out all Further Education Colleges closed (dissolved) each year since May 1997. The Secretary of State made the decision in each case, as is currently required at Section 27 of the Further and Higher Education Act 1992. However, the decisions were based on proposals developed by the Further Education Funding Council and, subsequently, the Learning and Skills Council following consultation with the local community.
In all but one instance (noted on the table), the college corporations were dissolved as part of a merger between two or more existing colleges. The dissolution of a college corporation does not necessarily imply the closure of a site or a reduction in the level of further education provision available.
Number College name Date 1 Worcestershire College of Agriculture and Horticulture 10 May 1997 2 South Park Sixth Form College 1 August 1997 3 Hyde Clarendon College 18 February 1998 4 Airedale and Wharfedale College 1 August 1998 5 Cambridgeshire College of Agriculture and Horticulture 1 August 1998 6 Basford Hall College 1 August 1998 7 East Birmingham College 1 August 1998 8 North Bolton College 1 August 1998 9 South College, Bolton 1 August 1998 10 York Sixth Form College 1 April 1999 11 High Pavement Sixth Form College 1 April 1999 12 Durham College of Agriculture and Horticulture 1 June 1999 13 East Durham Community College 1 June 1999 14 Greenhill College 1 June 1999 15 Harrow and Weald College 1 June 1999 16 Charles Keene College of Further Education 1 August 1999 17 Leicester South Fields College 1 August 1999 18 Holme Lacey College 1 August 1999 19 Arnold and Carlton College 1 September 1999 20 Kirkley Hall College 1 January 2000 21 Phoenix College 1 April 2000 22 The Rutland College 1 August 2000 23 Hendon College 1 August 2000 24 College of Care and Early Education 1 August 2000 25 Melton Mowbray College 1 September 2000 26 Kingsway College 1 September 2000 27 Trowbridge College 1 November 2000 28 Chippenham College 1 November 2000 29 Lackham College 1 November 2000 30 Walford College 1 January 2001 31 West Oxfordshire College 31 March 2001 32 St. Austell College 1 August 2001 33 Basildon College 1 August 2001 34 Thurrock College 1 August 2001 35 Rowley Regis College 1 August 2001 36 Shena Simon College 1 September 2001 37 Eastbourne College of Arts and Technology 1 November 2001 38 Lewes Tertiary College 1 November 2001 39 Soundwell College 1 January 2002 40 Ealing Tertiary College 1 January 2002 41 Coventry Technical College 1 February 2002 42 Broomfield College 1 March 2002 43 Mackworth College 1 March 2002 44 Derbyshire Tertiary College 1 March 2002 45 East Yorkshire College 1 March 2002 46 Brinsbury College 1 August 2002 47 Teesside Tertiary College 1 August 2002 48 North Derbyshire Tertiary College1 31 December 2002 49 Merrist Wood College 1 August 2003 50 The Rycotewood College 1 August 2003 51 Oxfordshire College of Further Education 1 August 2003 52 North Oxfordshire College and School of Art 1 August 2003 53 Rugby College of Further Education 1 August 2003 54 North Birmingham College 1 August 2003 55 Park Sixth Form College 1 November 2003 56 Daventry Tertiary College 1 August 2004 57 Rother Valley College 1 August 2004 58 Cannington College 1 September 2004 59 North Tyneside College 1 January 2005 60 Tynemouth College 1 January 2005 61 Crawley College 1 August 2005 62 Haywards Heath College 1 August 2005 63 North Area College 1 January 2006 64 The Isle College 1 April 2006 65 People’s College, Nottingham 1 June 2006 66 Josiah Mason Sixth Form College 1 August 2006 67 Widnes and Runcorn Sixth Form College 1 August 2006 68 Newark and Sherwood 1 January 2007 1 Closed other than as a result of merger
The following table sets out all Further Education Colleges established each year since May 1997. The Secretary of State made the final decision in each case, as is currently required at Section 16 of the Further and Higher Education Act 1992. However, the decisions were based on proposals developed by the Further Education Funding Council and, subsequently, the Learning and Skills Council following consultation with the local community.
In all but two instances (noted on the table), the new colleges were established as part of a merger between two or more existing colleges.
Number College name Date 1 Bolton Sixth Form College 1 August 1998 2 East Durham and Houghall Community College 1 June 1999 3 Harrow College 1 June 1999 4 Leicester College 1 August 1999 5 Wiltshire College 1 November 2000 6 Thurrock and Basildon College 1 August 2001 7 Brooke House Sixth Form College1 1 October 2001 8 Sussex Downs College 1 November 2001 9 Derby College 1 March 2002 10 Longley Park Sixth Form College1 1 November 2002 11 Oxford and Cherwell College 1 August 2003 12 Tyne Metropolitan College 1 January 2005 13 Central Sussex College 1 August 2005 1 Established other than as a result of merger
The Framework for Excellence (FfE) and the associated strategies announced in the White Paper ‘Further Education: Raising Skills, Improving Life Chances’ will be developed and implemented as part of a coherent and evolving package of reform. FfE should help to improve the quality of post-16 provision and support better-informed choices and decisions by employers and individuals, thereby contributing to better and more relevant outcomes for end-users, increasing skill levels in the workforce and increased productivity.
The framework is in an early stage of development and it is not possible to estimate potential savings in administration at this stage. However, FfE will enable FE institutions to use a single performance management framework, with common sets of data and performance indicators instead of a number of different frameworks. Thus FfE will be more streamlined than existing arrangements and will reduce bureaucracy.