The learning and skills sector includes further education colleges, sixth-form colleges and specialist colleges, school sixth forms, adult and community learning and work-based learning. This complex sector is central to the Government's policy for tackling social exclusion and improving workforce skills, based on the vision that everyone should have access to training opportunities to fulfil their potential, and that this will deliver benefits to business through a higher skilled, motivated workforce. This NAO report focuses on the strategic leadership of the further education college sector in England, including the planning, management and monitoring of learning provision. Issues discussed include: the changing landscape of the learning and skills sector and increasing choice, the governance framework and recruitment of governors, the role of the Learning and Skills Council, strategic area reviews, priorities and needs of employers in terms of national, regional and local levels, regional skills partnerships, use of self-assessment and self-regulation options, and financial assurance systems.
This is the fourth National Statistics annual report which highlights the variety of work carried out by statisticians and other analysts in the Government Statistical Service (GSS) during the year 2003-04. It considers the progress made in implementing the statistical plans set out in the National Statistics Work Programme for 2003/04 to 2005/06, across three main areas of work: major developments in cross-cutting departmental or theme boundaries; work carried out under the aegis of the 12 National Statistics Theme Groups; and quality improvements carried out in the context of the National Statistics Quality Review Programme.
The further education capital programme is 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 programme has taken advantage of colleges' accumulated reserves, access to loan funding, and scope to dispose of surplus assets.
The 2004 Gershon Efficiency Review proposed procurement as one of the main sources of efficiency savings in the public sector. The Learning and Skills Council, which funds England's 384 further education colleges, estimates that from an annual procurement expenditure of £1.6 billion, colleges could make savings of £75 million by March 2008. The savings made by colleges would be available to be redeployed into front-line services for learners. Until recently, many colleges have tended to treat procurement as a low priority and have not taken advantage of modern procurement methods such as purchasing consortia and procurement cards. They now need to modernise their systems so as to maximise the resources available for learning. Colleges increasingly have staff who are capable of managing procurement, but they are too often let down by the low quality of the systems and the management information available to them. There have been recent successes in persuading colleges of the benefits of joining purchasing consortia and using procurement cards. Indeed the savings target of £75 million may prove unambitious in light of the low starting point of many colleges. March 2008, when colleges make their first reports on savings to the Learning and Skills Council, will be a good time to consider whether greater savings can be made to be re-invested into services for learners.
This report unveils proposals for the biggest programme of reform in the education and health support for children with special educational needs (SEN) and disabilities in 30 years. The Government wants to fundamentally reform the SEN system to address problems including: parents having to battle to get the support their child needs; SEN statements not joining up education, health and care support; children falling between the gaps in services or having to undergo multiple assessments; multiple layers of paperwork and bureaucracy adding delays to getting support, therapy and vital equipment; confusing and adversarial assessment process, with the perceived conflict of interest where the local authority must provide SEN support as well as assess children's needs; too many children are being over-identified as SEN, preventing them from achieving their potential because teachers have lower expectations of them. The Government proposes to: include parents in the assessment process and introduce a legal right, by 2014, to give them control of funding for the support their child needs; replace statements with a single assessment process and a combined education, health and care plan so that health and social services is included in the package of support; ensure assessment and plans run from birth to 25 years old; replace the existing complicated School Action and School Action Plus system with a simpler new school-based category to help teachers focus on raising attainment; overhaul teacher training and professional development; inject greater independence from local authorities in assessments; give parents a greater choice of school and the power to set up special free schools
In light of the recommendations of the Crick report on citizenship education ('Education for citizenship and the teaching of democracy' which can be downloaded at http://www.qca.org.uk/downloads/6123_crick_report_1998.pdf) published in September 1998, the subject was introduced into the school curriculum in 2002, on a compulsory basis for secondary schools and as part of the non-statutory framework for primary schools. The Committee's report assesses the progress made during the last four years to deliver quality citizenship programmes and examines the barriers that exist to its successful implementation. It finds that, when well done, citizenship education motivates and inspires young people, but the quality and extent of these programmes are still inconsistent across the country. This patchiness needs to be tackled head-on, and progress accelerated, requiring strong support from the DfES and Ministers as well as action from those on the ground. The Committee welcomes the Government's decision to accept the recommendations of the report by Sir Keith Ajegbo which highlighted the need for citizenship curriculum to have a closer focus on issues of identity, diversity and belonging. More can be done to disseminate between settings good practice information about approaches that are working in other institutions, particularly in relation to 'whole-school' (or college) approaches that develop opportunities for active citizenship, although it is essential that programmes are locally-owned and relevant to the particular context. The development of the workforce is also important to the success of citizenship education, and although the expansion of the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) citizenship certificate programme is welcome, more resources are needed to develop capacity in initial teacher training places for citizenship education.
The Foreign Affairs Committee believes the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) will not be back at the centre of Government and able to lead UK foreign policy, in line with the Foreign Secretary's ambitions, unless it can provide deep foreign policy expertise and judgement to underpin and implement Government decision-making. The FCO must have the resources and skills required to fulfil this role, especially specialist geographical expertise and knowledge of foreign languages. The FCO has a vital role to play for the Government, namely the timely provision of world-class foreign policy information, analysis, judgement and execution. Finances, people and buildings must be well-managed, but managerial requirements must not divert time and focus disproportionately from the FCO's core foreign policy functions. Given the resource constraints facing the FCO, however, there is doubt whether the department can achieve the Government's ambitions for enhanced commercial work while maintaining its core foreign policy functions at the required standard. The committee regards the FCO's network of overseas posts as integral to the department's ability to discharge its functions, and recommends that the FCO should seek to maintain a global UK presence. The committee also called "confusing" the fact that under the current Government the FCO has three sets of priorities: the Foreign Secretary's, the Cabinet Office's Business Plan for the department, and the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review.
The Government, in consultation with the Territories and other stakeholders, has developed a strategy of re-engagement: strengthening links between the Territories and the UK; strengthening governance; and enhancing support to the Territories. This White Paper sets out priorities for action in terms of defending the Territories; supporting successful economic development; preserving the Territories' rich environmental heritage and addressing the challenges of climate change; making government work better; community issues; and strengthening links with international and regional organisations or other countries. Taking this forward will require a partnership between the UK Government and Territory Governments. The UK wants to strengthen political engagement between Ministers in the UK and the Territories, particularly through the proposed Joint Ministerial Council, and is determined to live up to its responsibilities to the Territories
This publication contains a range of oral and written evidence taken by the Committee in relation to its inquiry into special educational needs (SEN) provision, including contributions from Baroness Warnock, DfES officials and local authorities, Ofsted, the Audit Commission, the Disability Rights Commission, SEN advisors and organisations, charities and trade unions.
In 2004-05, approximately £837 million was spent in England on a range of national programmes to help address problems in schools that were failing or at risk of failing to provide an acceptable standard of education for their pupils. Following on from a NAO report (HC 679, session 2005-06; ISBN 0102936633) published in January 2006, the Committee's report examines the activities of the DfES and Ofsted to identify and deal with poorly performing schools, to strengthen school leadership and to develop simpler relationships with schools. Findings include that, although the number of poorly performing schools has been reducing, there are still around 1,500 in England that are under-performing. Improvements in data on secondary school performance has helped to identify schools in decline at an earlier stage so that they can benefit from increased support, and similar improvement needs to be done at primary school level. The system of shorter Ofsted inspections, based on school self-evaluation of performance, may be appropriate for the majority of schools, but some schools are not evaluating themselves effectively and incentives needs to be created to help achieve this. School leadership is essential to achieving and maintaining improvements, and Ofsted reports need to diagnose any leadership problems in failing schools explicitly. Local authorities and other schools are important sources of support for struggling schools and there should be greater opportunities for schools to collaborate and share good practice.
Supply estimates are the means by which the Government seeks from Parliament sufficient funds and parliamentary authority for the bulk of departmental expenditure each year. In the course of the year the Government may need to ask Parliament for additional resources and/or cash. This volume contains 32 supplementary estimates and one new estimate.
The Impact of Government Reforms on 14-19 Education, Seventh Report of Session 2012-13, Report, Together with Formal Minutes, Oral and Written Evidence
The Impact of Government Reforms on 14-19 Education, Seventh Report of Session 2012-13, Report, Together with Formal Minutes, Oral and Written Evidence
In the UK we teach young people to become computer users and consumers rather than programmers and software engineers. This is creating a chronic skills gap in ICT. We need around 82,000 engineers and technicians just to deal with retirements up to 2016 and 830,000 SET professionals by 2020. On the plus side, the Government's proposal to include computer science as a fourth science option to count towards the EBac is welcomed. The Committee also welcomes the EBac's focus on attainment of mathematics and science GCSEs but is concerned that subjects such as Design and Technology (D&T) might be marginalised. A Technical Baccalaureate (TechBac) is being designed but if it is to be a success, schools should be incentivised to focus on the TechBac by making it equivalent to the EBac. Reforms to vocational education following the Wolf Review meant that Level 2 of the Engineering Diploma, a qualification highly regarded, would count as equivalent to one GCSE despite requiring curriculum time and effort equivalent to several GCSEs. The Engineering Diploma, however, is currently being redesigned as four separate qualifications. The Committee also expressed concerns over the Department for Education's (DfE) lack of clarity on its research budget, and use of evidence in decision-making. The DfE needs to place greater focus on gathering evidence before changes to qualifications are made, and must leave sufficient time for evidence to be gathered on the effectiveness of policies before introducing further change. The possibility of gathering evidence from randomised controlled trials (RCTs) should be seriously considered
A strong skill base is an important element of a productive and sustainable economy. The Department for Education and Skills spends around £6.7 billion on skills training in England, with an additional £23.7 billion being spent by employers. Despite this expenditure there are still skill shortages and the UK has low productivity compared to rival economies. This report follows two others on the subject: 'Skills for life: improving adult literacy and numeracy' (ISBN 0102931631); and 'Securing strategic leadership in the learning and skills sector in England' (ISBN 010293689). It is based on direct research with employers on how they want publicly funded training to be improved and whether it represents value for money. It is divided into four sections that look at the need for: clear advice on the best training for staff; training that meets business needs; incentives for employers to do more training; and ways that employers can influences skills training.
The 384 further education colleges in England spend around £1.6 billion each year on procurement services, including administration and general costs, premises costs, non-pay teaching and support services. Procurement expenditure as a percentage of total income averages 25 per cent but varies widely across colleges, with the greatest variation among small and medium-sized colleges. The Learning and Skills Council has estimated that FE colleges could make £75 million efficiency savings by March 2008 through the introduction of more efficient and effective procurement processes. Drawing on good practice guidance from the Office of Government Commerce and on expertise within the National Audit Office gained from its reports on procurement in other sectors, this report makes eight recommendations for improved procurement. The recommendations are based on five key requirements, including: the need for clear leadership from governors and senior managers in improving procurement; information about appropriate methods of procurement; and exploring opportunities to collaborate with others to gain economies of scale when buying goods or services.
The landscape of schooling in England has been transformed over the last five years. Academy sponsorship has encouraged and facilitated the contribution of individuals not previously involved in education provision and laid down a challenge to maintained schools to improve or face replacement by the insurgent academy model. The development of outstanding Multi Academy Trusts like Ark and Harris offers an alternative system to the one overseen by local authorities while the unified Ofsted inspection regime and published performance data generally allows fair judgment of comparative performance. There is a complex relationship between attainment, autonomy, collaboration and accountability. Current evidence does not allow the Committee to draw conclusions on whether academies in themselves are a positive force for change. This is partly a matter of timing but more information is needed on the performance of individual academy chains. Most academy freedoms are in fact available to all schools and Committee recommends that curriculum freedoms are also extended to maintained schools.
The Committee reports on the circumstances around the termination of the UK Border Agency's contract with Glasgow City Council for the housing of asylum seekers in the council's accommodation. The report is highly critical of the manner in which UKBA's London office handled notifying the Glasgow asylum seekers of changes to their housing provision, which it says was inappropriate at best and callous and inhumane at worst. However, the Committee says the Immigration Minister responded speedily and appropriately to the situation he had been put in. The lack of firm contingency plans at the time the contract was terminated is to be regretted and the Committee remains unclear about issues around costs and savings, as well as being unable to clarify the complete financial situation around the accommodation contract. Matters relating to the work of UKBA in Scotland will continue to be reviewed by the Committee, including the Family Return project, and additional figures and information requested by the Committee.
In 2004-05, approximately £837 million was spent in England on a range of national programmes to help address problems in schools that were failing or at risk of failing to provide an acceptable standard of education for their pupils, and five new academies were opened with an estimated total development cost of around £160 million. This NAO report focuses on two key issues: whether enough is being done to identify and support schools that show signs of deteriorating performance; and whether the measures being taken to address poor performance are effective to ensure continued improvement in 'recovered' schools. The effectiveness of national initiatives and local actions are assessed and examples of good practice from schools that have been successfully turned around are highlighted. Recommendations made include the need for: the DfES and local authorities to combine efforts to identify schools at risk and intervene before schools fail; schools to prioritise school leadership and to establish a positive culture centred on teaching and learning; and Ofsted to carry out more frequent inspections of vulnerable or poorly performing schools.
Royal assent, 26 March 2013. An Act to authorise the use of resources for the years ending with 31 March 2010, 31 March 2011, 31 March 2012, 31 March 2013 and 31 March 2014; to authorise the issue of sums out of the Consolidated Fund for the years ending with 31 March 2013 and 31 March 2014; and to appropriate the supply authorised by this Act for the years ending with 31 March 2010, 31 March 2011, 31 March 2012 and 31 March 2013
Frequent moves are a feature of Service life, and mobility can have a detrimental impact on children's emotional well-being and their educational attainment. The Committee's report examines issues relating to the education of the children of armed forces service personnel, including Service schools overseas and the performance of the Ministry of Defence's agency, Service Children's Education (SCE), which is responsible for providing these schools, as well as issues affecting Service children in UK state-maintained and independent sector day and boarding schools. The Committee concludes that Service personnel deserve assurance that their children's education will not suffer because of their parent's employment, and expresses its doubts that the DfES and the MoD currently take the interests of Service children sufficiently into account. Findings include: the need for better co-ordination between the MoD, the DfES and the devolved administrations to ensure continuity of education for children moving between different parts of the UK; the DfES needs to undertake work to determine how many Service children are in UK schools and the system for transferring student records between schools needs to be improved, particularly for Service children with special needs; and the MoD should increase the provision of telephones and internet access for Service personnel on operations so that they can communicate with their children.
This NAO report focuses on the government's learndirect initiative. The Department for Education and Skills established Ufi, which is the government backed e-learning organisation which runs and coordinates the learndirect service, in 1998 to develop people's skills and work with employers and to increase employees' capabilities. It now provides a half million learners a year with the opportunity to improve their skills, from a choice of 2,400 learndirect centres, with 1,600 main centres and 800 link centres. In total 1.7 million people have taken 4 million learndirect courses. Ufi and the learndirect service have received £930 million of education funding. The NAO has a number of recommendations in five key areas for the Learndirect service by: reducing costs; maximizing benefits of the infrastructure and the tools it has created; making sure that services are sustainable; expanding work with employers; improving consistency of learner assessment and persuading more learners to continue learning.
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