By Lucy Phillips
22 March 2010
The head of a new further education quango has defended its establishment after accusations that it was a waste of public money.
Peter Lauener, chief executive of the Young People's Learning Agency, which will oversee funding allocations for 16 to 19-year-olds from April, told Public Finance it was necessary to have a new statutory body that was ‘focused entirely on young people’, to manage the rise in school leaving age. From 2013 teenagers will be legally required to stay in education or training until 17, and from 2015 until 18.
Lauener said the previous rise in school age, from 15 to 16 in 1972, was not well planned and the government was ‘trying to do it better this time’. He added: ‘When we are making these enormous changes in society it’s right to have an organisation focused on that.’
The 500-strong YPLA is mainly being staffed with former employees from the Learning and Skills Council, which is being disbanded from next month. Local authorities will take over responsibility for commissioning £7bn of further education and training for 16-19 year olds, with the YPLA overseeing their work.
But last month the Local Government Association and Association of Directors of Children’s Services branded the quango an unnecessary additional layer of bureaucracy.
‘All public funds have to work as hard as possible and it is wrong to have money tied up in layers of administration and oversight which should instead be committed to helping people achieve their potential through education and employment,’ said Shireen Ritchie, chair of the LGA’s children and young people’s board.
Lauener said the YPLA would be sharing back-office functions with another new quango – the Skills Funding Agency, which is being set up to commission £2bn worth of adult education – ‘to make sure we don’t add costs into the system by creating new services’.
Despite high-profile failings by the LSC and subsequent criticism of its management, Lauener defended the transition of 450 of its staff to the new agency. ‘A lot of lessons have already been learned’ following the ‘capital fiasco’ last year that saw the LSC left colleges with a £3bn funding shortfall in rebuilding projects, he said. ‘I’m very pleased with the staff that are coming over. They’re knowledgeable, enthusiastic and dedicated and I think they will make a big difference to the YPLA,’ he added.
The YPLA will also provide funding for England’s 203 academy schools. This currently stands at £2bn a year but is set to increase to £4bn next year when there are expected to be 400 of the independently-run schools.
22 March 2010
The head of a new further education quango has defended its establishment after accusations that it was a waste of public money.
Peter Lauener, chief executive of the Young People's Learning Agency, which will oversee funding allocations for 16 to 19-year-olds from April, told Public Finance it was necessary to have a new statutory body that was ‘focused entirely on young people’, to manage the rise in school leaving age. From 2013 teenagers will be legally required to stay in education or training until 17, and from 2015 until 18.
Lauener said the previous rise in school age, from 15 to 16 in 1972, was not well planned and the government was ‘trying to do it better this time’. He added: ‘When we are making these enormous changes in society it’s right to have an organisation focused on that.’
The 500-strong YPLA is mainly being staffed with former employees from the Learning and Skills Council, which is being disbanded from next month. Local authorities will take over responsibility for commissioning £7bn of further education and training for 16-19 year olds, with the YPLA overseeing their work.
But last month the Local Government Association and Association of Directors of Children’s Services branded the quango an unnecessary additional layer of bureaucracy.
‘All public funds have to work as hard as possible and it is wrong to have money tied up in layers of administration and oversight which should instead be committed to helping people achieve their potential through education and employment,’ said Shireen Ritchie, chair of the LGA’s children and young people’s board.
Lauener said the YPLA would be sharing back-office functions with another new quango – the Skills Funding Agency, which is being set up to commission £2bn worth of adult education – ‘to make sure we don’t add costs into the system by creating new services’.
Despite high-profile failings by the LSC and subsequent criticism of its management, Lauener defended the transition of 450 of its staff to the new agency. ‘A lot of lessons have already been learned’ following the ‘capital fiasco’ last year that saw the LSC left colleges with a £3bn funding shortfall in rebuilding projects, he said. ‘I’m very pleased with the staff that are coming over. They’re knowledgeable, enthusiastic and dedicated and I think they will make a big difference to the YPLA,’ he added.
The YPLA will also provide funding for England’s 203 academy schools. This currently stands at £2bn a year but is set to increase to £4bn next year when there are expected to be 400 of the independently-run schools.
