Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills
 Printable version
|
 E-mail this to a friend
|
Denham and Learning and Skills Council appoint Sir Andrew Foster to review college building programme finances
Skills Secretary John Denham and Chris Banks, chair of the Learning and Skills Council, have today appointed Sir Andrew Foster to lead an independent review into the operation of the building programme which has seen further education and sixth form colleges built and renovated across England.
Sir Andrew, former chief executive of the Audit Commission, will review the circumstances that have led to the current position of the Building Colleges of the Future programme, managed by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) and what lessons can be learned. He will assess existing LSC processes and consider how they can be enhanced to deliver more effective management of the programme in the current economic environment and beyond.
Chris Banks chair of the Learning and Skills Council said:
"The hugely successful FE Capital programme has seen nearly 330 colleges, and 700 projects benefit so far. Only 42 colleges have yet to benefit from investment. The success of the programme to date has raised the ambition of the sector, with growing numbers of colleges looking to increase available opportunities for learners and employers alike. This, in turn, has led to an increase in demand for capital funding.
"Sir Andrew Foster is well respected, and with his sound knowledge of the sector, his recommendations will assist with future financial planning, and inform how the programme effectiveness can be improved, both in the current economic downturn, and for the long term future."
Skills Secretary John Denham said:
"The programme has been a huge success to date and funded nearly 700 projects at 330 colleges. Government investment in capital projects will amount to £2.3 billion between 2007 and 2010, while in 1997 not a penny was available. More than 250 projects are currently under way and funded by the LSC - helped by the recent decision agreed with the Treasury to accelerate £220 million from future budgets to help beat the downturn. This money will be spent to bring forward building, benefiting learners and regenerating communities. But it's right that we look at how the programme is working and Sir Andrew Foster is well placed to do that."
Recent National Audit Office and Public Accounts Committee reports have acknowledged the success of the programme and, as announced in the last Pre-Budget Report, investment of £110 million for 2009/10 and a further £110 million for 2010/11 will be brought forward. This is not affected by the recent LSC announcement.
However, the pace of demand for funding by colleges overall has increased. This is because projects and the scale of Government funding they require are becoming increasingly ambitious.
In addition there are early signs that the ability of colleges to raise their own funds for to help pay for proposed projects is being affected by the downturn. Many proposed schemes rely on either the sale of land or other assets and on the ability of colleges to gain financial support from the banks. This may have an affect on the private funding available for schemes.
The LSC has been working closely with colleges that intend to submit bids to look at the individual current positions before making further 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 - has been deferred from December to March.
The 253 colleges that have been given approval in detail and either have work under way or have been previously been given the final go-ahead for works to begin will not be affected. The LSC will be in contact with colleges that are in the process of submitting or working up bids as part of this process.
Notes to editors
1. Sir Andrew Foster has carried out two previous reviews of the further education sector, including the review of the role of FE in 2004. Before that, he led the Bureaucracy Review Group for the Leaning and Skills sector. He served as Chief Executive of the Audit Commission for England and Wales between 1992 and 2003. In December 2008, the RSA announced that Sir Andrew Foster will chair a new independent commission looking at the future of public services.
2. In his review of Building Colleges for the Future, Sir Andrew will seek views of college principals and finance directors alongside those of representative college groups, such as the Association of Colleges and 157 group, and is expected to make early recommendations to ministers in February with a final report by April.
3. The Treasury announced that capital spending would be brought forward in their Pre-Budget Report published on 24 November 2008. For further details, see: http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/prebud_pbr08_pressindex.htm
4. The NAO's report, Renewing the physical infrastructure of English further education colleges, published on 11 July 2008, found that the further education capital programme was enabling colleges in England to make good progress in renewing and rationalising their estate, replacing poor quality buildings with high quality, more suitable facilities. The report found that when colleges were incorporated "much of the physical infrastructure was in poor condition, many buildings required urgent health and safety-related repairs, were unattractive to potential learners, unsuitable for modern learning, inaccessible to people with disabilities and inefficient to run." See http://www.nao.org.uk/pdf.aspx?page=2855 for a pdf of the report and press notice.
5. Since then, the Government has invested huge sums of money into the renewal and modernisation of the further education sector. Between April 2001 and March 2008, the Learning and Skills Council approved colleges' projects at the final detailed application stage with a total cost of £4.2 billion and grant support totalling £1.7 billion.
6. The full list of current projects underway is as follows: Current projects underway and unaffected
College Name Region
Abingdon and Witney College SE
Alton College - 2 projects SE
Aquinas College NW
Ashton Under Lyne Sixth Form College NW
Askham Bryan College NE
Barnet College GL
Barnsley College - 2 projects YH
Basingstoke College of Technology SE
Bedford College ER
Berkshire College of Agriculture SE
Birkenhead Sixth Form College NW
Bishop Auckland College - 3 projects NE
Bishop Burton College YH
Blackpool Sixth Form College - 2 projects NW
Bolton Sixth Form College - 2 projects NW
Bracknell & Wokingham College SE
Bradford College YH
Bromley College - 2 projects GL
Brooklands College SE
Broxtowe College, Nottingham EM
Burnley College NW
Bury College NW
Cambridge Regional college ER
Canterbury College - 3 projects SE
Cardinal Newman College NW
Carmel College - 2 projects NW
Carshalton College - 2 projects GL
Castle College EM
Central Sussex College - 2 projects SE
Cirencester College SW
City College Brighton SE
City College Coventry - 2 projects WM
City College, Birmingham WM
City of Bath College SW
City of Bristol College - 2 projects SW
City of Sunderland College NE
City of Westminster College - 3 projects GL
City of Wolverhampton College WM
Colchester Institute ER
College of North West London GL
College of West Anglia ER
Coulsdon College GL
Crawley College (Central Sussex College) SE
Croydon College - 4 projects GL
Derby College - 2 projects EM
Derwentside College - 2 projects NE
Ealing, Hammersmith and West London College - 2 GL projects
East Berkshire College SE
East Devon College SW
East Durham and Houghall College NE
East Norfolk Sixth Form College ER
East Riding College YH
East Surrey College SE
Eastleigh College SE
Easton College - 2 projects ER
Epping Forest College ER
Exeter College SW
Fareham College SE
Farnborough College of Technology (FCOT) SE
Farnborough Sixth Form College SE
Farnham College SE
Freeman College YH
Furness College NW
Gateshead College NE
Gateway College EM
Godalming College - 2 projects SE
Great Yarmouth College - 2 projects ER
Greenhead College YH
Grimsby College YH
Hadlow College SE
Halesowen College WM
Harlow College - 2 projects ER
Hartlepool Sixth Form College NE
Hastings College of Arts and Technology - 2 SE projects
Havering Sixth Form College GL
Henshaws Society for the Blind YH
Herefordshire College of Technology WM
Hereward College, Coventry - 2 projects WM
Hertford Regional College ER
Highbury College - 2 projects SE
Huddersfield New College YH
Hugh Baird College - 2 projects NW
Joseph Chamberlain College WM
Keighley College YH
Kendal College NW
Knowsley Community College NW
Lambeth College GL
Leeds College of Art and Design YH
Leeds College of Building YH
Leicester College - 2 projects EM
Leyton College GL
Lincoln College - 2 projects EM
Liverpool Community College - 2 projects NW
Loughborough College EM
Luton Sixth Form College ER
Macclesfield College NW
Manchester College of Art and Technology NW
Matthew Boulton College WM
Merton College - 3 projects GL
Mid Cheshire College - 2 projects NW
Mid Kent College SE
Middlesbrough College NE
Moulton College - 2 projects EM
National Skills Academy for Nuclear NW
National Star - 2 projects SW
Nelson and Colne College NW
New Castle under Lyme College WM
New College Pontefract YH
New College Swindon SW
New College, Pontefract YH
Newcastle College NE
Newcastle College Sandyford Business Centre NE
North Devon SW
North East Worcestershire College WM
North West Kent College SE
Northampton College EM
Northern Counties NE
Norwich City College of F & HE - 2 projects ER
Notre Dame College YH
Orpington College GL
Otley College ER
Park Lane College - 6 projects YH
Pendleton College NW
Plumpton College SE
Preston College NW
Priestley College NW
Prior Pursglove College NE
Queen Mary's College SE
Reaseheath College - 2 projects NW
Redcar and Cleveland College NE
Reigate College SE
Rodbaston College WM
Rotherham College of Art and Technology - 2 YH projects
Royal National College for the Blind WM
Royal School for the Deaf NW
Runshaw College - 3 projects NW
Selby College - 3 projects YH
Sheffield College YH
Skemersdale Construction Academy NW
South Cheshire College NW
South Downs College SE
South East Essex College of Art and Tecnology ER
South East Essex Vl College (SEEVIC) ER
South Leicestershire College EM
South Thames College - 2 projects GL
Southampton City College SE
St Brendans Sixth Form College - 2 projects SW
St Charles Sixth Form College GL
St Dominic's Sixth Form College - 2 projects GL
St Helens College - 2 projects NW
St Mary's College, Blackburn NW
Stafford College WM
Stafford College, Staffordshire WM
Stephenson College EM
Stockport College NW
Stockport College / North Area College NW
Stockton and Riverside College NE
Stockton riverside & Bede College NE
Stockton Sixth Form College NE
Stoke on Trent College WM
Stratford College WM
Strode College SW
Strode's College SE
Stroud College SW
Suffolk New College ER
Tamworth and Lichfield College WM
Thanet College SE
The Sixth Form College Farnborough SE
The Sixth Form College, Solihull WM
Tower Hamlets College - 2 projects GL
Trafford College NW
Treloar College SE
Truro College - 2 projects SW
Uxbridge College GL
Wakefield College YH
Walsall College of Art & Tech WM
Warrington Collegiate NW
Warwickshire College - 4 projects WM
West Hertfordshire College - 3 projects ER
West Kent College SE
West Suffolk College ER
West Thames College GL
West Thames College - Main GL
Westminster Kingsway College GL
Wigan and Leigh College NW
Woodhouse College GL
Wyggeston & Queen Elizabeth 1 College EM
Wyke College YH
Wyke Sixth Form College YH
Xaverian College NW
Yeovil College SW
Yorkshire Coast College YH
