To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills which further education colleges were required to halt their building programmes as a result of decisions taken at the Learning and Skills Council's December 2008 board meeting. (254342)

In 1997 the total capital expenditure in further education colleges in England was nil.

In total since that time, this Government have invested £2.4 billion and will be investing a record further £2.3 billion across the next three years.

But the pace of demand for capital funding has increased. Projects and the scale of Government funding they require are becoming increasingly ambitious. In addition there are signs that the ability of colleges to raise their own funds for proposed projects is being affected by the downturn.

It is for this reason that over the next few weeks the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) is working closely with colleges that have submitted or are working on bids, to look at the individual current positions before making future funding decisions. As a result of this the consideration of a small number of applications that were due for decision—both in principle and in detail—have been deferred from December to March.

However, the 253 colleges that have been given approval in detail and either have work already under way or have been previously been given the final go ahead for works to begin will not be affected, although the LSC will be in touch in due course to check progress.

To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what estimate his Department has made of the indirect costs potentially payable by each further education college as a result of the Learning and Skills Council's decision to halt building programmes between December 2008 and March 2009. (254385)

In 1997 the total capital expenditure in further education colleges in England was nil.

Since 1997, this Government have invested £2.4 billion in redeveloping and modernising further education colleges. In addition we have plans to invest a further £2.3 billion in the next three years. Currently more than 250 projects are under way and funded by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC)—helped by the recent decision to accelerate £110 million in 2008-09 from future budgets to help beat the downturn.

The Learning and Skills Council is responsible for the administration of the further education capital budget. While the LSC does provide some support to colleges for the costs associated with developing their projects, as independent providers, colleges themselves are responsible for the management and financing of their capital projects. As a result, the Department does not collect information regarding any potential indirect costs colleges may or may not incur during the life of a capital project. However, the LSC is currently working closely with colleges that have submitted or are working on bids, to look at the individual current positions.

To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what processes are in place to enable the Learning and Skills Council to prevent the halting of a further education college building project from resulting in significantly higher long-term costs. (254969)

The total capital expenditure in further education colleges in England in the financial year 1997-98 was nil.

In total since that time, this Government have invested £2.4 billion and will be investing a record further £2.3 billion across the next three years.

Currently more than 250 projects are under way and funded by the LSC—helped by the recent decision to accelerate £110 million in 2008-09 from future budgets to help beat the downturn.

But the pace of demand for capital funding has increased. Projects and the scale of Government funding they require are becoming increasingly ambitious.

It is for this reason that over the next few weeks the LSC will be working closely with colleges that have submitted or are working on bids to assess the whole programme before making further funding decisions. The LSC have yet to provide a full analysis of all of those schemes but this will include the impact of the current position on all affected projects.

To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what discussions he has had with the Learning and Skills Council on whether building projects halted as a result of decisions taken at the Learning and Skills Council's December 2008 board meeting are expected to restart following the March board meeting. (254970)

In 1997-98, the total capital expenditure in further education colleges in England in the financial year 1997-98 was nil.

In total since that time, this Government have invested £2.4 billion and will be investing a record further £2.3 billion across the next three years.

In total, since the programme began under this Government, nearly 700 projects, at 330 colleges have been agreed. Only 42 colleges have not yet benefited from investment. The programme has therefore been a huge success.

But the pace of demand for capital funding has increased. Projects and the scale of Government funding they require are becoming increasingly ambitious.

It is for this reason that over the next few weeks the LSC will be working closely with colleges that have submitted or are working on bids to look at the individual current positions before making future funding decisions. As a result, consideration of a small number of applications that were due for decision by the LSC National Council where deferred from December to March.

At the March meeting of the LSC National Council it will decide when it can make a decision on the small number of applications that were deferred from December to March. It will also advise on when and on what basis it will consider other capital applications.