27 January 2012

Colleges welcome increase in skills funding

Colleges in Wales have welcomed the Welsh Government’s continued investment in adult skills and Pathways to Apprenticeships – programmes that specifically aim to tackle the skills needs of young people and adults in these difficult economic times.

Intended as a one-off response to the recession in 2010, colleges expected the Pathways to Apprenticeships and adult skills programmes to be a temporary initiative.  But employers are still finding it difficult to employ apprentices, and young people as well as under-skilled adults are still finding it hard to break into the jobs market.  That the Welsh Government has decided to maintain these two valuable programmes for the next academic year has been warmly welcomed by colleges.

Chief Executive of ColegauCymru / CollegesWales, John Graystone, said: “The straightened economic climate is affecting businesses, families and individuals.  Developing work-ready skills is of crucial importance in getting onto the jobs ladder and this is exactly what the Pathways to Apprenticeships and the adult skills programmes are designed to do.

“These programmes are highly resource-intensive and colleges are expecting the Welsh Government to set tough targets for their delivery. But they are valuable to each individual who can take their new-found skills and progress to employment or further learning.”

Dr Graystone continued: “There is more good news.  Over the past few years, Wales’ colleges have been intensely focused on improving the quality of education and training delivery as well as of financial management, and have succeeded in surpassing Welsh Government performance targets.  The newly released funding allocations for colleges for 2012/13 demonstrate that the Welsh Government is taking notice of the further education sector’s high quality profile by increasingly putting its trust in colleges to deliver its tough agenda.

"In addition to the continuation of the Pathways to Apprenticeships and the adult skills programmes, and as indicated in last year’s draft budget, colleges’ baseline funding is set to increase by 2.5% in the next academic year. We fully understand that this is a cash increase and that the perceived increase will probably be wiped out by inflationary pressures and expected efficiency gains. Nonetheless, colleges appreciate that times are tough and that even an increase in cash terms only is something worth noting."

Dr Graystone concluded: “Young people who need a focused skills programme, adults who desperately need to raise their skills levels, colleges that often feel overlooked by decision makers when it comes to sharing out scarce public funds... these all now have reason to be cheerful.”
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Contact: Sylvia Davies on 029 2052 8384 or 07968 771913.

Notes to editors:

1. ColegauCymru / CollegesWales is a national educational charity that represents all 20 further education (FE) colleges and institutions in Wales. Its mission is to raise the profile of further education with key decision-makers to improve opportunities for learners in Wales. For further information about ColegauCymru and the colleges it represents, visit www.colegaucymru.ac.uk or www.collegeswales.ac.uk
2. The Welsh Government issued the funding allocations for the academic year 2012/13 to further education colleges and institutions on Thursday 26 January 2012. The allocations show an overall increase in cash terms of 2.5% compared to 2011/12 and the continuation of two separate funding streams: Pathways to Apprenticeships and adult skills.