Further education 'crucial to economic growth'

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At a meeting of the associate parliamentary skills group, a panel of experts agreed that public sector spending cuts and political devolution represent both a key challenge and an opportunity for further education (FE).

Rob Wye, chief executive of the Learning and Skills Improvement Service, argued that in the context of the economic downturn there is a real drive to improve the skills base of the workforce.

"There is a general agreement across parliamentary circles that skills are part of the answer to our economic problems," he said.

There was consensus amongst the panel that further education has a crucial role to play in meeting this demand and the promotion of economic growth. Yet they acknowledged that the sector is currently facing important challenges.

Neil Sherlock, a partner at KPMG and adviser to the deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, argued that given the constraints on public sector expenditure, the sector is facing the need for major efficiency savings to mitigate funding cuts.

"This will require new strategies and new ways of thinking to become leaner and more efficient," he said.

However, he maintained that the challenge is not different to the financial constraints faced by other sectors, and that savings can be made without undermining the quality of services offered.

"It is perfectly possible to make some pretty dramatic savings; it may be difficult, but it is certainly possible do to," he said.

In the previous year KPMG has worked with 17 FE colleges, all of which have achieved savings ranging from two to 15 per cent.

Speaking about the general move by the coalition government towards devolution of services, Rob Wye outlined how this is allowing a greater degree of autonomy for FE institutions, such as over their financial constraints.

"Colleges and other providers have been set the challenge of being asked to take the lead as effective advocates for their own future to move beyond what has become a narrow historical boundary of plan-and-provide," he said.

Devolving services was deemed by the panellists to be a positive opportunity for FE institutions to take the initiative to increase their influence in decision-making, improve their services, and promote economic growth in their region.

Neil Sherlock stressed the need for FE institutions to pro-actively push their agenda at local government level.

"If you aren't at the heart of that debate then you will be quickly bypassed, in this world where people will look for other people to do things, individual learners will look for other people, employers will look for other people, governments will look for other people," he said.

Yet Professor Ken Spours, from the Institute for Education, warned that for FE to be a positive force in the new economic environment of austerity there is a need for decisions to be value-led rather than just financial.

He argued, "If you have greater freedoms, you have to exercise a sense of responsibility, it comes through your educational and social values. That means there has to be a profound debate within FE colleges and between social partners as to what those values are."