§ Mr. SwireTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what monitoring of(a) geographical distribution of funding and (b) equal opportunity the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) carries out in order to ensure that it provides potential students with equal and fair access to LSC-funded provision. [174034]
§ Mr. Ivan LewisThe Department allocates funds for education and training in the post-16 learning and skills sector to the Learning and Skills Council (LSC). The LSC decides on allocations at individual college and regional level. Information about these allocations is not collected by the Department. This is a matter for the LSC. Mark Haysom, the Council's Chief Executive, will write to the hon. Gentleman with this information and a copy of his reply will be placed in the House Library.
The LSC's equal opportunities remit was established by the Learning and Skills Act 2000. The Council is required to publish an annual report on the arrangements it has made during the year, how effective they were and the plans for the following year. A copy of the report must be sent to the Secretary of State. The last such report was published in November 2003 and a copy of the Department's response is available via the Department's website.