Association of Colleges

20 July 2010

The Association of Colleges welcomes today's (20 July) announcement from the Department for Education about streamlining and simplifying the 16-19 funding allocations system. The changes will include funding for General Further Education Colleges and Sixth Form Colleges coming directly from the Young People’s Learning Agency rather than via local authorities. Local authorities will retain their strategic responsibility for meeting the needs of young people by influencing and shaping provision through 14-19 partnerships. The decision means that will remove the need for local authorities to carry out financial audits on Colleges and removes the need for them to manage contracts for 16-19 provision.  

The funding process will also be simplified and Colleges and other providers will be mainly funded on the basis of their previous year’s activity; this will lead to efficiency savings across the sector as it removes the need for detailed planning by either the local authorities or the YPLA.

AoC Chief Executive Martin Doel said: “These changes will be welcomed by Colleges as a means by which the funding arrangements for 16-18 year olds can be simplified and in the process costs contained to the benefit of front-line services to students. They are also entirely consistent with wider government policy and with the intention in the Coalition’s Programme for Government which spoke of ‘setting Colleges free.’

“As autonomous institutions Colleges appreciate the responsibilities that attach to such freedoms. Key amongst these freedoms is the need to respond to their communities. In doing this, local authorities must be key partners in influencing and informing College provision to young people, and in a particular vulnerable learners.  We look forward to discussing with local authority partners how this might best be achieved.”      

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