Written question asked by David Laws (Liberal Democrat) on Monday, 4 January 2010, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 6 January 2010. It was answered by Lord Brennan of Canton (Labour) on Monday, 18 January 2010 on behalf of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

Building Colleges for the Future

Question: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills when he plans to announce which further education colleges will receive the £300 million for capital projects in the next spending review period, as referred to in the letter from the then Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills to the Chair of the Learning and Skills Council on 3 June 2009.

Answer: Budget 2009 announced an additional £300 million of capital investment in further education as part of a fiscal stimulus package which has enabled a number of projects to be funded this year. Following an open and transparent prioritisation exercise the Learning and Skills Council announced on 26 June 2009 that 13 projects had been successful. All of these projects have now received final approval and are underway. For those colleges that have not been selected to proceed this round, the next steps have already started with the LSC undertaking a process to determine how future funds will be allocated to achieve the best value for money while keeping bureaucracy to a minimum. The size and scope of the programme will depend on the outcome of the next spending review.

Secondary information