Asked by: Lord Rose of Monewden (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to review the effectiveness of the Education and Skills Funding Agency in supporting the UK's recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic; and what plans they have to bring the work of the Education and Skills Funding Agency back under direct ministerial control.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) is an arm’s length body (ALB) of the Department for Education, responsible for administering and distributing funding of over £61 billion to deliver education and skills, from early years through to adulthood. It is accountable to ministers who make key decisions on the ESFA’s business, and it has played a key role in supporting the department’s response to COVID-19.
The COVID-19 outbreak has highlighted the importance of all government departments and ALBs being set up in the most efficient and effective way, ensuring the delivery of high-quality outcomes for all. In line with this, the department, including the ESFA, keep under constant review how the best possible outcomes for all learners can be ensured.
Asked by: Lord Rose of Monewden (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the benefits, and (2) the disadvantages, of the Education and Skills Funding Agency’s lagged funding mechanism in assisting businesses to have a pipeline of employees with the skills they need to help the economy to build back better after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
The skills for jobs white paper sets out how the department would place employers at the heart of local skills systems by leading the development of new Local Skills Improvement Plans. Through this, employers will be able to articulate their skills needs, and colleges and other providers will be able to reshape their provision in response.
We have recently launched an extensive government consultation on reforms to the further education funding and accountability system, including how funding is calculated. This consultation is a first step for a funding and accountability system that will maximise the potential of further education and help us build back better. We want to use the consultation to open a dialogue with the sector, employers, and other interested parties on how government funding can be administered more simply and effectively, so that colleges and other providers can focus on supporting students to develop the skills needed by employers and local labour markets. The consultation will run up to 7 October 2021.
Asked by: Lord Rose of Monewden (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have (1) to change policy so that funding for further education follows the learner, and (2) to scrap the lagged funding mechanism used by the Education and Skills Funding Agency.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
Funding for providers of 16-19 education, including further education institutions, already follows the principle of funding per student. Funding is based on the characteristics of the student and the courses they study, alongside student numbers from the previous academic year. The system of lagged funding is well established and understood because it provides institutions with clear allocations each year based on student data, allowing them to make plans with confidence. Where institutions see a particularly large increase in student numbers in a year, they typically qualify for exceptional in-year growth funding, in addition to the lagged funding, to help them with the extra costs of these students, though this is subject to affordability. We do not have any plans to remove the system of lagged funding at this time.
The lagged funding system does not currently apply to funding for adult provision. On 15 July, we published a government consultation on reforms to the further education funding and accountability system, to gather views on how colleges and other providers can focus on supporting learners to develop the skills needed by employers and local labour markets. As part of this, we are seeking views on how government funding can be administered more simply and effectively which includes asking for views on whether we should move to a lagged system for core adult funding.