Skills Funding Agency Accounts 2010-11
19 Jul 2011 03:24 PM
Amyas Morse, the Comptroller & Auditor General, has not been able to give a clear audit opinion on the 2010-11 accounts of the Skills Funding Agency in relation to how the Agency has accounted for further education colleges.
The Skills Funding Agency was established on 1 April 2010 as one of two successor bodies to the Learning and Skills Council which was abolished on 31 March 2010 and this is the first set of financial statements prepared by the Agency.
Further education colleges’ results have not been consolidated in the Agency’s financial statements. The Agency considers that it would not be cost effective to seek to consolidate the bodies as costs would be incurred by both itself and the FE sector in doing so.
The audit opinion of the C&AG is that, under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), further education colleges should be treated as subsidiaries of the Agency and therefore their financial results should have been consolidated in the Agency’s statements. The C&AG has therefore concluded that the Agency’s accounts do not present a true and fair view.
Apart from this issue, the C&AG identified no other matters that materially impacted on the truth and fairness of the Agency’s accounts and there are no other issues that would have caused him to modify his audit opinion.
Notes for Editors
1. The Skills Funding Agency is a partner organisation of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and it funds and regulates adult further education and skills training in England. The Agency provided funding of £5.4 billion in 2010-11 to further education colleges and other skills and training organisations to fund training for adults in England.
2. Press notices and reports are available from the date of publication on the NAO website, which is at www.nao.org.uk. Hard copies can be obtained from The Stationery Office on 0845 702 3474.
3. The Comptroller and Auditor General, Amyas Morse, is the head of the National Audit Office which employs some 880 staff. He and the NAO are totally independent of Government. He certifies the accounts of all Government departments and a wide range of other public sector bodies; and he has statutory authority to report to Parliament on the economy, efficiency and effectiveness with which departments and other bodies have used their resources.