§ Mr. GorrieTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what proposals he has to reduce the administrative burden on staff in further education colleges of processing information requested by(a) the Scottish Office, (b) training agencies and (c) local enterprise companies. [56951]
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§ Mrs. Liddell[holding answer 3 November 1998]In line with recommendations made by the Committee on Standards in Public Life in its Second Report, the Government take care to ensure that necessary monitoring and collection of information are undertaken in a way that is as simple as possible and which does not create unnecessary bureaucracy. However, as further education colleges themselves recognise, the fair and equitable application of the funding methodology for colleges is dependent on the accuracy and comprehensiveness of information which the Department receives from colleges on student activity. It is also appropriate that colleges' use of Government funding should be subject to proper monitoring and audit.
Scottish Enterprise (SE) and Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) have responsibility for the management and delivery of Government funded training programmes. Administrative arrangements and information requirements are operational matters for these agencies. I understand that, following their recent Skillseekers Evaluation, SE and HIE are presently reviewing administrative procedures, with a view to simplifying them.