Reducing Bureaucracy in Further Education in England: Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

HC 1590, Report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, Session 2010-12

Author:

National Audit Office (NAO)

Publisher:

TSO (The Stationery Office)

Price: £16.00

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'Reducing Bureaucracy in Further Education in England (HC 1590)' reports on how the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Skills Funding Agency are pursuing a range of initiatives to simplify funding, qualification and assurance systems in further education as part of their wider reform of the skills sector.

The scale of the problem faced by further education colleges and other providers is not yet known, but it is estimated that the administration of funding, qualification and assurance systems is costing further education colleges around £180 million a year, which equates to £150 per student. The NAO has further estimated that this cost amounts to around £250 million a year for all types of further education colleges and other providers, even assuming the other providers bear only half the costs of general further education colleges.

Working with the Department for Education, the Department and the Agency have developed a series of initiatives to simplify the system, which target the most costly burdens, but a complete picture is needed of the final operating model for the funding, qualification and assurance system, supported by a detailed plan of how to get there.

It is not yet known how much the new system will cost or the impact it may have. There are various initiatives underway, but they are not well coordinated and further education colleges and other providers, although welcoming the changes, do not have confidence that the simplification of the system of administration will be sustained.

Extent	36 pages	ISBN	9780102977035
Size	A4	Price	£16.00
Format	Paperback	Published	16 Dec 2011
Availability	Colour copy: 3 - 5 days	Delivery	Delivery options and charges