From the Executive Summary of the 'Learning to Succeed' proposals:-

"We propose to establish a Learning and Skills Council for England to drive forward improvements in standards and bring greater coherence and responsiveness. The Council will deliver all post-16 education and training (excluding HE) and assume responsibility for:

funding colleges from the Further Education Funding Council for England;

advising the Government on the National Learning Targets from the National Advisory Council for Education and Training Targets (NACETT);

funding Modern Apprenticeships, National Traineeships and other government funded training and workforce development from Training and Enterprise Councils (TECs) 1 ;

developing, in partnership with local education authorities (LEAs), arrangements for adult and community learning;

providing information, advice and guidance to adults;
and working with the pre-16 education sector to ensure coherence across all 14-19 education.

We propose to establish the new Learning and Skills Council from April 2001. Key features will be:

a system driven by the needs of the learner including the significant involvement of employers. The majority of the Council’s members will be users of learning (employers, individuals, local authorities and community representatives);

the Council will be advised by two Committees of the Council: one with direct responsibility for young people; the other with responsibility for adult learners. The Committees will advise the Council and assess the needs of their respective groups in the context of present and future labour market skills, and advise on action and strategies;

the Council will work through a network of up to 50 local Learning and Skills Councils, which will plan and co-ordinate provision locally and establish clear lines of accountability to the communities they serve. These local Learning and Skills Councils will be arms of the national Council but with sufficient local flexibility and autonomy to allow them to match provision to local needs and meet skill shortages. Their work will be overseen by Boards who - as with the national Council - will have a majority of members who can represent users of learning locally;

local Learning Partnerships will be at the heart of these new arrangements. This will ensure that the system is fully responsive to local partners and community needs.

We propose a new role for them in drawing up arrangements for consultative mechanisms through which the voice of individual learners can be heard and fed back to improve the quality of provision; and improved accountability, efficiency and probity.

The Learning and Skills Council will promote equality of opportunity in all it does.

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