§ Mr. Ken HargreavesTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how further education courses provided at institutes within the new polytechnics and colleges funding council sector will be funded for 1989–90; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Kenneth BakerThe Education Reform Act 1988 places a duty on local education authorities to secure provision for their area of adequate facilities for further education. Consistent with this, the local authority associations have encouraged their member authorities to maintain support for further education courses, including those of national significance, provided now by polytechnics and colleges in the new sector. Practical steps are also being taken by the LEAs collectively to consider the reform of the existing arrangements under which local education authorities can mutually recoup the costs of places on the FE courses they provide which are taken up by students whose homes are in the area of other authorities.
The Government have accordingly decided that the Polytechnics and Colleges Funding Council will not generally be put in funds to support further education provided in the institutions under its control. However, exceptionally for 1989–90 alone, we have put the PCFC in funds to support further education courses running now in the voluntary and other colleges currently grant-aided by the Department of Education and Science. This is in order to allow these institutions time to find local authorities to support the further education courses they provide.