The future of LSC funding arrangements Where are we now? John Bolt LSC National Office

What I’m covering 2005/06 FE funding 2006/07 Agenda for change –What’s it about? –Simplification

FE funding 2005/06 Funding guidance published on web 27 April (an addendum to 2004/05)  Fee element increased to 27.5%  Fee remission for all first full level 2 learners  Redefinition of franchises & partnerships Otherwise minimal change

Agenda for Change Six themes  Funding  Skills and employers  Quality  Data  Business excellence (efficiency)  Reputation Regional events starting this June

Funding Theme Initial report submitted to SoS in March 2005 DfES yet to formally respond Builds on ideas within plan led funding

Funding Theme  Better planning

College planning

Funding Theme  Better planning  Funding follows the plan  Simplified formula  Based on learner numbers and provider factor  Common system across funding streams

Funding Theme  Year end reconciliation of the plan (learner numbers)  Budget allocation based on review of plan  Core and commissioned elements of allocation  Better and more timely management information

Ideas for simplification How to count learner numbers? Some people think we should fund using FTEs Are FTEs easy to calculate? Let’s look at several issues

How to define a FTE? Full time learners count as 1 FTE Should this apply to learners on large full time programmes or should the FTE be higher than 1? How to calculate FTEs for part-time learners? Should we divide glh by a standard divisor (e.g. by 450)? Reintroduce the load bands?

When to count learners? Start? Mid-point? Completion? Achievement? Or a combination of these?

The future of LSC funding arrangements Where are we now? John Bolt LSC National Office