LEADERS of the Learning and Skills Council will pledge tough action next week to cut bureaucratic paperwork after a litany of complaints from colleges.

John Harwood, chief executive of the LSC, will use his speech at the annual conference of the Association of Colleges to try to meet some of the college concerns.

He is expected to announce plans to slim down the “provider review” system. This was introduced as a cursory check on performance, but rapidly became an alternative in-depth inspection - three times a year - tying staff up in days of onerous extra data collection. Provider review and centralised control over Standards Fund money have so far provoked the biggest outcry in the TES\AOC Cut Red Tape campaign (see page 34).

Mr Harwood will spell-out plans to be more selective about which providers can be given “a lighter touch” during the review. But his speech will fall well short of meeting the wider demands of colleges.

This week the Commons education select committee relentlessly questioned Mr Harwood and his chairman, Bryan Sanderson, about the bureaucracy they had imposed. The MPs said they had expected “more bonfires”.

The select committee chair, Barry Sheerman, told Mr Harwood and Mr Sanderson that ministers had expected the LSC to save pound;50 million in operating costs. It was now costing pound;45 million more than its predecessors.

Mr Harwood replied that the previous system had cost pound;100 million more than the LSC. Moreover, he said, the training and enterprise councils and the Further Education Funding Council employed 11,000 staff, compared to the 5,000 in learning and skills councils.

He said he shared concerns about bureaucracy and wanted to minimise red tape, reducing the vast number of funding streams and bringing a lighter touch to inspections.

Mr Sheerman told the LSC leaders they had to be less tentative in bidding for more resources. The LSC had a “fuzzy” image, not the high profile people had expected. “Are you going to come out of your corner and punch above your weight? We will be looking for some signs of it.” He told them the council must start “baying for resources”.

The select committee chair also challenged the LSCleaders head-on over pay, asking if they were going to recommend a ten per cent rise for FE staff. “That would be a populist line,” Mr Sanderson replied. “I am already saying that we have an insupportable model for the medium and long term. Something has to be done, and FE will have to be rewarded better than it has been.”

Mr Sheerman responded: “We underestimate this tier of education, and we have to apply more resources. A well-motivated and well-paid workforce is essential.”

Mr Sanderson was also pressed on his remarks to FE Focus that he was “uncomfortable” with the government’s real term guarantee on funding for sixth forms. He repeated his concern: “I do not think that making real guarantees of expenditure is something that can be sustained for a long period of time.”

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