Written question asked by Andrew Turner (Conservative) on Monday, 28 November 2005, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 1 December 2005. It was answered by Phil Hope (Labour) on Thursday, 1 December 2005 on behalf of the Department for Education and Skills.

Departmental Expenditure

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what financial support her Department provides for (a) the University for Industry, (b) learndirect centres and (c) learndirect hubs; what role her Department (i) has and (ii) had in the governance and establishment of each; and what policy her Department has adopted in relation to the legal status of each.

Answer: The latest year for which the figures are available is 2004/05. Of the £218 million provided to Ufi in 2004/05, £107.2 million went to learndirect centres and £27.8 million went to hubs. Since August 2004, the Department has given the Learning and Skills Council responsibility for funding Ufi's infrastructure and learndirect provision in England. Each year the LSC and Ufi reach agreement on the targets to be achieved, the funding to be paid, the methodology for use of the funds and the values which Ufi will use for the funding it passes to hub operators and learndirect centres.On governance, in 1999, the Department established a company structure which Ufi then cleared with the Charity Commissioners. This led to the setting up of Ufi Charitable Trust (a company limited by guarantee registered as a charity) and Ufi Ltd. (a trading subsidiary, limited by shares wholly owned by the parent company). The Department and Ufi agreed the hub and centre structure for the delivery of learndirect learning as this was considered the appropriate structure at that time for ensuring that learndirect provision was responsive to local and regional skills need. The hubs and learning centres are a mix of private companies and other organisations.

Secondary information