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Shrewsbury Sixth Form College

Answer

This is a matter for the Learning and Skills Council who are responsible for the planning and funding of Skills for Life learning via the 47 local Learning and Skills Council offices. Mark Haysom, the Council's Chief Executive, has written to the hon. Member with the information requested and a copy of his reply has been placed in the House Library.Letter from Mark Haysom, dated 5 April 2006:"I write in response to your recent Parliamentary Questions regarding funding for adult education for people on benefits and low incomes in Shrewsbury and funding to allow the Skills for Life section of Shrewsbury Sixth Form College to remain open.""Shropshire LSC funding for adult education is through Adult and Community Learning (ACL) which is delivered by Shropshire County Council, the ACL funding is for Shropshire as a whole and therefore this makes it difficult to show exactly what has been earmarked for Shrewsbury, the following is a rough guide to allocations."

	2001/02 SCC LSC revenue allocation for county £365,879		2005/06 SCC LSC revenue allocation for county £467,858 (excluding family learning funds of £150,172)
Shrewsbury—Gateway Centre and provision	£163,000	Shrewsbury—Gateway Centre and provision	£285,180
Shrewsbury schools ACL	£24,550	Shrewsbury schools: New ACL centres at Grange and Sundorne schools	£38,000 (includes someextended schools funds)

"Skills for Life provision is a high priority. The LSC has clearly stated in its annual statement of priorities that Adults without basic skills are entitled to free learning””. As a result of this commitment, LSC resources both nationally, regionally and locally are increasingly focused on securing this priority activity.""The funds committed to Skills for Life in Shropshire has increased from £1,960,235 in 2004/05 to £3,510,250 in 2005/06. In addition to this core activity, Shropshire learners have benefited from a further £94,000 of investment in Skills for Life activity through the Employer Training Pilot and £641,412 funded through European Social Funds activity in 2005/06.""Shropshire LSC 2004 target for skills for life achievements (6,177) was exceeded by 8 per cent. with a total achievement of 6,692. A further 2,252 achievements will be required in 2006/07 to deliver Shropshire's contribution to the national 2007 target.""Shrewsbury Sixth Form College delivered Skills for Life activity to a funding value of £87,362 in 2004/05 and was allocated a further £65,000 for Skills for Life provision in 2005/06.""In the funding and planning dialogue for 2006/07 the college was initially offered an indicative allocation for adult programme delivery of £132,639 (including Skills for Life) but the college itself requested the opportunity to review this provision due to its desire to focus development on its key mission: As a high quality post 16 establishment, Shrewsbury Sixth Form College is dedicated to meeting the needs of all its learners in a supportive and challenging environment. It specialises in the provision/teaching of advanced level courses for 16–19 full time students””.""The college has seen significant growth in its delivery of 16–18 learning with an additional 82 learners from 2004/05 to 2005/06, with a planned cohort of 1318 for 2006/07 and it has an outstanding record of delivery at level 3. Through the recognition of its mission, core specialisation, forward thinking and innovative co-location discussions with Shrewsbury College of Arts and Technology, the sixth form college senior managers identified that Skills for Life provision may be more efficiently and effectively placed for delivery with other local providers.""Consequently, the value of funding allocation that had been earmarked for Skills for Life provision for adults in 2006/07 at the college £95,928 has by mutual agreement been transferred across to Shrewsbury College of Art and Technology, thereby ensuring that the provision of Skills for Life learning remains local and available to the people of Shrewsbury.""In summary, the Secretary of State, through the LSC is continuing to fund Skills for Life provision for learners in Shrewsbury, through the college of arts and technology rather then through the sixth form college. Both colleges are fully committed to maintaining accessible and high quality Skills for Life provision. This transfer of provision, agreed by all parties, supports the LSC's targets of providing high quality learning opportunities to make England better skilled and more competitive.""I trust the information provided answers your questions, if I can be of further assistance please do not hesitate to contact me."

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

59864; 445 c178-80W;445 c178-80W

Session

2005-06

Related items

Deposited Paper HINF 2006/764
Wednesday, 5 April 2006
Deposited papers
House of Commons

Subjects

Finance Shrewsbury Sixth Form College