Regional cooperation

A new era in post-16 education was heralded this week as the Further Education Funding Council, the Local Government Association and the training and enterprise councils agreed to cooperate in regional education forums.

The tripartite group hopes to set joint regional learning and skills agendas and to end duplicated provision. It has also been drafting plans for joint funding arrangements to end the disparity between FEFC-funded sixth-form colleges and the better resourced local government-funded school sixth forms.