§ Brian CotterTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans he has to maintain adult skills provision at(a) Basic level, (b) Level 2 and (c) Level 3 in Weston-super-Mare. [176978]
§ Mr. Ivan LewisThe Government outlined their commitment to improving adult skills in "21st Century Skills" published in July 2003 and has set challenging PSA targets for skills improvement in basic skills and at Level 2.
The West of England Learning and Skills Council (LSC) is responsible for funding adult education and skills in Weston-super-Mare area through the local further education college and other work based training providers. The college has been performing well and plans for the creation of a new sixth form centre, alongside improvements to the main campus, have recently been approved by the LSC.
South West capital allocations 2001–02 to 2003–04 £000 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 LEA Total allocations of which: ringfenced1 Total allocations of which: ringlenced1 Total allocations of which: ringfenced1 Bath and North East Somerset 4,607 799 11,227 4,757 12,198 5,497 Bournemouth 4,657 2,022 3,353 112 5,066 664 Bristol, City of 16,115 6,999 13,219 1,584 73,789 60,745 Cornwall 16,897 2,792 24,109 3,323 99,902 73,613 Devon 23,845 3,498 41,085 7,043 122,740 79,797 Dorset 10,115 873 19,161 5,205 22,855 5,434 Gloucestershire 21,165 2,852 22,917 1,921 28,486 3,352 Isles of Scilly 183 52 198 26 285 76 North Somerset 5,241 1,199 5,606 472 17,971 2,408 Plymouth 5,876 2,016 10,936 1,865 16,397 1,557 Poole 5,942 4,210 5,799 2,729 6,161 582 Somerset 11,760 1,268 16,045 1,283 19,249 587 South Gloucestershire 9,769 945 14,110 4,713 14,853 359 Swindon 3,386 215 13,820 905 80,240 63,063 Torbay 5,993 2,700 9,422 398 9,470 173 Wiltshire 10,170 626 15,567 466 27,615 3,983 1 Includes allocations ring-fenced for the authority(including any PFI credits), but not funding direct to schools whether or not passported via the LEA. Ring-fencing may be either to a project or to meeting ministerial priorities.