To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what role (a) local authorities, (b) sub-regional groups of local authorities, (c) Government offices of the regions, (d) regional planning groups, (e) the Young People’s Learning Agency, (f) regional development agencies and (g) his Department will have in (i) funding and (ii) commissioning education and training required for 16 to 19-year-olds in (A) schools, (B) academies, (C) sixth-form colleges and (D) further education colleges. (272552)

Our plans for the roles of these parties in the funding and commissioning process is set out in the “Raising Expectations: enabling the system to deliver (March 2008)” White Paper. Implementation of those plans is subject to the passage of the legislation now before the House.

To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families which sub-regional groups of local authorities he expects to provide funding for 16 to 19 education from April 2010; and what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the arrangements established by each sub-regional group for such funding. (272625)

As part of the transfer of responsibilities from the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) to local authorities, the Department asked for proposals for sub-regional groupings by October 2008. Local authorities developed those further and submitted proposals in February 2009 to a national panel, involving the Local Government Association, Association of Directors of Childrens Services, Association of Colleges, Association of Learning Providers, Government Office, LSC and DCSF. A total of 43 proposals have now been considered by the national panel and demonstrate how well local authorities are responding to the plans to devolve commissioning for 16-19 provision to them. The sub-regional groupings are intended to plan the commissioning of provision with individual local authorities responsible for the funding. A list of the sub-regional groupings is set out as follows.

The conclusions of the national panel are being considered by Ministers at the moment, although there are a number of themes such as the need to strengthen the involvement of providers in the process. A letter will be issued to each sub-regional grouping in May which will indicate the areas they should continue to develop and what further evidence the Secretary of State will be seeking to ensure their competence to take on this critical role by April 2010.

Sub-regional Group Proposals

Following the National Panel in April 2009, proposals were received from 43 sub-regional groups:

North East

Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland and Stockton on Tees

Durham

Gateshead, Newcastle upon Tyne, North Tyneside, Northumberland South Tyneside and Sunderland

South West

Bath and NE Somerset, Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire

Bournemouth, Dorset and Poole

Devon, Plymouth and Torbay

Gloucestershire

Somerset

Cornwall and Isles of Scilly

Swindon and Wiltshire

East Midlands

Northamptonshire

Leicester and Leicestershire

Derby and Derbyshire

Lincolnshire and Rutland

Nottingham City and Nottinghamshire

North West

Cumbria

Cheshire and Warrington

Bolton, Bury, Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford and Wigan

Halton, Knowsley, Liverpool, Sefton, St. Helen’s and Wirral

Blackburn with Darwen

East of England

Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Peterborough and Suffolk

Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Luton

Essex, Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock

London

London

South East

Milton Keynes

East Sussex

Buckinghamshire

Brighton and Hove

West Sussex

Surrey

Oxfordshire

Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Portsmouth and Southampton

Kent and Medway

Bracknell Forest, Reading, Slough, West Berkshire, Windsor and Maidenhead and Wokingham

West Midlands

Herefordshire, Shropshire Telford and Wrekin and Worcestershire

Birmingham Solihull

Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton

Coventry and Warwickshire

Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent

Yorkshire and Humberside

West Yorks: Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, Leeds and Wakefield

North and East Yorks: East Riding of Yorkshire, Kingston upon Hull, North Yorkshire and York

South Yorks: Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield

NE and N Lines: North East Lincolnshire and North Lincolnshire