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Learning And Skills Council
The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) was a non-departmental public body jointly sponsored by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) in England. It closed on 31 March 2010 and was replaced by the Skills Funding Agency and the Young People's Learning Agency. History The LSC was established in April 2001, under the Learning and Skills Act 2000. It replaced the 72 training and enterprise councils and the Further Education Funding Council for England. In 2006 it had an annual budget of £10.4 billion. It was described as Britain's largest Quango. Until June 2007, it was sponsored by the former Department for Education and Skills (DfES). Economic mismanagement in college re-building In July 2009, the Public Accounts Committee described the LSC's handling of its college building programme as 'catastrophic mismanagement'. It resulted in a £2.7 billion debt, with 144 college building contracts ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Non-departmental Public Body
In the United Kingdom, non-departmental public body (NDPB) is a classification applied by the Cabinet Office, Treasury, the Scottish Government and the Northern Ireland Executive to public sector organisations that have a role in the process of national government but are not part of a government department. NDPBs carry out their work largely independently from ministers and are accountable to the public through Parliament; however, ministers are responsible for the independence, effectiveness and efficiency of non-departmental public bodies in their portfolio. The term includes the four types of NDPB (executive, advisory, tribunal and independent monitoring boards) but excludes public corporations and public broadcasters (BBC, Channel 4 and S4C). Types of body The UK Government classifies bodies into four main types. The Scottish Government also has a fifth category: NHS bodies. Advisory NDPBs These bodies consist of boards which advise ministers on particular policy areas. T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Public Accounts Committee (United Kingdom)
The Committee of Public Accounts is a select committee of the British House of Commons. It is responsible for overseeing government expenditures, and to ensure they are effective and honest. The committee is seen as a crucial mechanism for ensuring transparency and accountability in government financial operations, having been described by Professor the Lord Hennessy as "the queen of the select committees...hichby its very existence exert a cleansing effect in all government departments". Overview The recommendation for the creation of a committee to oversee government accounts was first put forward in 1857 by a small group of interested Members of Parliament led by Sir Francis Baring. The structure and function of the PAC date back to reforms initiated by William Ewart Gladstone, when he was British Chancellor of the Exchequer in the 1860s. The first Public Accounts Committee was established in 1862 by a resolution of the British House of Commons: There shall be a standi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
M1 Motorway
The M1 motorway connects London to Leeds, where it joins the A1(M) near Aberford, to connect to Newcastle. It was the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the UK; the first motorway in the country was the Preston By-pass, which later became part of the M6. The motorway is long and was constructed in four phases. Most of the motorway was opened between 1959 and 1968. The southern end was extended in 1977 and the northern end was extended in 1999. History There had been plans before the Second World War for a motorway network in the United Kingdom. Lord Montagu formed a company to build a 'motorway like road' from London to Birmingham in 1923, but it was a further 26 years before the Special Roads Act 1949 was passed, which allowed for the construction of roads limited to specific vehicle classifications, and in the 1950s, the country's first motorways were given the government go-ahead. The first section of motorway was the Preston Bypass in Lancashire, now par ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ipswich
Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line railway and the A12 road; it is north-east of London, east-southeast of Cambridge and south of Norwich. Ipswich is surrounded by two Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB): Suffolk Coast and Heaths and Dedham Vale. Ipswich's modern name is derived from the medieval name ''Gippeswic'', probably taken either from an Anglo-Saxon personal name or from an earlier name given to the Orwell Estuary (although possibly unrelated to the name of the River Gipping). It has also been known as ''Gyppewicus'' and ''Yppswyche''. The town has been continuously occupied since the Saxon period, and is contested to be one of the oldest towns in the United Kingdom.Hills, Catherine"England's Oldest Town" Retrieved 2 August 2015. Ipswich was a settleme ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Public And Commercial Services Union
The Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) is the sixth largest trade union in the United Kingdom. Most of its members work in UK government departments and other public bodies. History The union was founded in 1998 by the merger of the Public Services, Tax and Commerce Union (which mostly represented the executive grades of the Civil Service) and the Civil and Public Services Association (mostly representing the clerical grades). The General Secretaries of the two unions, John Sheldon and Barry Reamsbottom respectively, became Joint General Secretaries of the new union. In 2000, Mark Serwotka was elected General Secretary and has held the position since: he was elected unopposed in 2005 (no other candidate received enough valid nominations from PCS branches); he was re-elected in 2009 for a five-year term, and in 2014 was re-elected for a further five years. In 2018, the union won £3 million in damages from the Department for Work and Pensions, after a legal challeng ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Agenda For Change
Agenda for Change (AfC) is the current National Health Service (NHS) grading and pay system for NHS staff, with the exception of doctors, dentists, apprentices and some senior managers. It covers more than 1 million people and harmonises their pay scales and career progression arrangements across traditionally separate pay groups, in the most radical change since the NHS was founded. Agenda for Change came into operation on 1 December 2004, following agreement between the unions, employers and governments involved. Job evaluation The AfC system allocates posts to set pay bands by giving consideration to aspects of the job, such as the skills involved, under an NHS Job Evaluation Scheme. There are nine numbered pay bands subdivided into points, similar to the old alphabetic Whitley Council 'grades' pay scales. A set of national job profiles has been agreed to assist in the process of matching posts to pay bands. All staff will either be matched to a national job profile, or their ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Train To Gain
Train to Gain (T2G) was a UK government funded initiative to deliver vocational training to employed adults. It was discontinued in 2010. Train to Gain was designed to deliver vocational training to employed individuals in the UK, primarily those in the 25+ age band who did not already have a Full Level 2 Qualification, via the Skills Funding Agency, formerly the Learning and Skills Council (LSC). The initiative was rolled out nationally in September 2006. Train to Gain formed a part of the Employer Responsive training model. On 24 May 2010 the UK government announced a £200 million reduction in this programme as part of its planned £6.2 billion reduction in expenditure in the 2010–11 government financial year. The Train to Gain brand was discontinued in July 2010. Background Train to Gain was designed to ameliorate the skills deficiency in the UK identified by the Leitch review. The purported idea of the service was to offer skills advice and match business needs wit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Higher Education
Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after completion of secondary education. It represents levels 6, 7 and 8 of the 2011 version of the International Standard Classification of Education structure. Tertiary education at a non-degree level is sometimes referred to as further education or continuing education as distinct from higher education. The right of access to higher education The right of access to higher education is mentioned in a number of international human rights instruments. The UN International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of 1966 declares, in Article 13, that "higher education shall be made equally accessible to all, on the basis of capacity, by every appropriate means, and in particular by the progressive introduction of free education". In Europe, Ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
KPMG
KPMG International Limited (or simply KPMG) is a multinational professional services network, and one of the Big Four accounting organizations. Headquartered in Amstelveen, Netherlands, although incorporated in London, England, KPMG is a network of firms in 145 countries, with over 265,000 employees and has three lines of services: financial audit, tax, and advisory. Its tax and advisory services are further divided into various service groups. Over the past decade various parts of the firm's global network of affiliates have been involved in regulatory actions as well as lawsuits. The name "KPMG" stands for "Klynveld Peat Marwick Goerdeler". The initialism was chosen when KMG (Klynveld Main Goerdeler) merged with Peat Marwick in 1987. History Early years and mergers In 1818, John Moxham opened a company in Bristol. James Grace and James Grace Jr. bought John Moxham & Co. and renamed it James Grace & Son in 1857. In 1861, Henry Grace joined James Jr. and t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Private Finance Initiative
The private finance initiative (PFI) was a United Kingdom government procurement policy aimed at creating "public–private partnerships" (PPPs) where private firms are contracted to complete and manage public projects. Initially launched in 1992 by Prime Minister John Major, and expanded considerably by the Blair government, PFI is part of the wider programme of privatisation and financialisation, and presented as a means for increasing accountability and efficiency for public spending. PFI was controversial in the UK. In 2003, the National Audit Office felt that it provided good value for money overall; according to critics, PFI has been used simply to place a great amount of debt "off-balance-sheet". In 2011, the parliamentary Treasury Select Committee recommended: In October 2018, the then-chancellor Philip Hammond announced that the UK government would no longer use PFI; however, PFI projects will continue to operate for some time to come. In 2021, Robert Naylor warned ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mark Haysom
Mark Haysom (born 1953) is a British former management executive. Early life and education Born in Margate, Kent, Haysom was educated at Hazelwood School, East Grinstead Grammar School (now Imberhorne School) and the University of Leicester where he read English. Management executive career Haysom trained as a journalist and edited weekly newspapers in the north of England. He worked in a variety of management roles at Reed International, Thomson Regional Newspapers and Trinity Mirror. In 2003 Haysom was appointed as Chief Executive of the Learning and Skills Council (LSC). In 2005 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Leicester University for his contribution to business. In 2008 he was awarded a CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ... for services to edu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Young Peoples Learning Agency
The Young People's Learning Agency for England, commonly referred to as the Young People's Learning Agency (YPLA), was a UK government body, based in Coventry, which funded further education for 16- to 19-year-olds in England. It closed on 31 March 2012, when its responsibilities were transferred to the newly created Education Funding Agency. History The YPLA was established by the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009. On 1 April 2010 it replaced the Learning and Skills Council (LSC), which was the UK's largest non-departmental public body or quango. Other statutory powers and duties previously within the remit of the LSC were transferred to the Skills Funding Agency and local authorities in England. Under the Education Act 2011 the YPLA ceased to exist on 31 March 2012. Some statutory responsibilities reverted to the Secretary of State for Education, while many of the YPLA's functions were transferred to the newly created Education Funding Agency. Function T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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