Learning and Skills Council for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight

Isle of Wight

Fourteen-plus Task Group

Report

January 2002

Summary of Recommendations

1. Background and Procedure.

2. The work of the Task Group.

3. The Melia Review Options.

4. Is a collaborative system feasible?

5. Establishing a basis for collaboration

6. Criteria, structures and procedures

7. Fourteen to Nineteen provision

8. Planning for recovery in the Isle of Wight College.

9. Planning private provision

10. Risks and Contingencies

Annexe One : Terms of Reference and membership of a Tertiary Strategy Group

Annexe Two: Draft Action Plan

Annexe Three: Membership of the Task Group

It is recommended that:

(R1) the Hampshire and Isle of Wight LLSC make available to each of the sectors responsible for the provision of post-14 education and training on the Isle of Wight the findings and recommendations that follow and those of the consultants, with a request for initial responses within one month; (para 5.9)

(R2) subject to the outcome of the process envisaged under R1 above, the LLSC and LEA should, as a first stage of managed change, establish a Tertiary Strategy Group (TSG) , with membership and terms of reference along the lines set out in Annexe 1; (para 6.6)

(R3) on the basis of prior agreement to submit an annual programme for consideration by the Group and on the understanding that they will make every effort to participate in education and training on the Island in a way that contributes to its coherence, cost- effectiveness and quality, the high schools, Isle of Wight College and private providers (in respect of LLSC funded work) be invited to nominate members of the Tertiary Strategy Group; (para 6.6)

(R4) if a provider, after consideration by the Group of its plan, is unable or unwilling to accept a recommendation from the Group for amendments which reflect the desiderata stated in R3, it is understood that a report will be made to the LLSC and/or LEA which may be taken into account by those bodies in relation to their strategic funding decisions; (para. 6.6)

(R5) the LEA and LLSC consider what steps should be taken to ensure that Isle of Wight high schools can make and sustain an adequate curriculum offer on the basis of projected numbers, the forthcoming Government policy statement on the 14-19 curriculum, and the likely funding position after expiry of the real terms guarantee. (para 7.16)

(R6) subject to the outcomes of R5 and in accordance with the Action Plan in Annexe 2, the LEA explore, in collaboration with the LLSC, the desirability and feasibility of reorganising the three tier school system in a way that addresses issues of institutional viability and parental and student choice and facilitates the eventual establishment of a tertiary college or devolved tertiary option; (paras 7.11-7.16)

(R7) the Isle of Wight College examine in detail the implications of the proposals in this and the KPMG report for the assumptions and objectives embodied in its recovery plan (para 8.10)

(R8) in the interests of quality and critical mass, private providers be encouraged and offered incentives to develop partnerships among themselves and to work more closely with the Isle of Wight College and the high schools. (para 9.4)

(R9) consideration be given to ways in which to help private providers to plan over longer periods than one year. (para 9.4)

1. Background and Procedure

1.1 In early October 2001 the Learning and Skills Council for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight (LLSC) established a Task Group to formulate recommendations for a collaborative and integrated approach for planning and resourcing post 14 education and Training , and to set out conclusions for consideration by the LLSC and the Local Education Authority (LEA) . A progress report was presented to the LLSC at its meeting on 21 November.

1.2 The establishment of the Task Group was recommended in a review of 14-19 education on the Isle of Wight undertaken in May-June 2001 by Dr. Terry Melia, former Chief Inspector for Further Education, subsequently Chair of the Learning and Skills Development Agency, and now an independent consultant. The review was initiated in response to concerns of the Learning and Skills Council, the Local Education Authority for the Isle of Wight and the Government's Department for Education and Skills about the quality and effectiveness of provision on the Island. Dr. Melia's report was issued by the LLSC in September 2001 under the title Review of Post-16 Education and Training on the Isle of Wight (available on website www.lsc.gov.uk).

1.3 Dr. Melia recommended, inter alia, the collection of more detailed information about current provision of upper secondary and further education and training on the Island than was available in the course of his own enquiries. So as well as setting up the Task Group, the LLSC issued invitations to a number of consultancies to tender for the collection of such data. Following meetings with three organizations which had responded to this invitation, the international consultancy group KPMG were commissioned by the LLSC to undertake:

a curriculum mapping exercise of all the Island's post-14 education and training …and an exploration of how provision might be located to allow the establishment of cost-effective group sizes and protection of minority provision;

a review of the Island's post-14 education and training estate including its fitness for purpose, location and scope for rationalization;

an assessment of the performance of the Island's education and training institutions including student retention and achievement, funding and their arrangements for strategic planning.

1.4 KPMG's enquiries required contacts with and in most cases visits to all the major providers, including each of the five high schools. The chair of the Task Group had individual meetings with provider representatives and with employers and other interested parties.

1.5 This report and KPMG's have been prepared independently. The Group had sight of a draft of KPMG's Executive Summary which enabled its findings and recommendations to be referred to in what follows. The Executive Summary is being issued at the same time as this report. KPMG's full report will be available on the internet at a later date.

2. The work of the Task Group

2.1 The Task Group comprised twenty three members drawn from the education and training providers on the Island and other involved organizations. Observers from the Government Office for the South East (GOSE), the South East of England Development Agency (SEEDA), the Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED), the Adult Learning Inspectorate (ALI) and the Employment and Careers Services attended meetings. A list of members and observers is included as Annexe 3 to this report.

2.2 An officers' group comprising the Chair of the Task Group, the Directors of Operations and Quality of the LLSC, the Acting Chief Education Officer for the Isle of Wight, the lead consultant from KPMG, and the LLSC-appointed Executive Officer for the project met prior to each meeting of the Task Group.

2.3 The Group met on 18 October, 9 November, 22 November, 3 December and 10 January, on each occasion for two to three hours. Presentations were made on behalf of the Isle of Wight College, the high schools, private training providers, the careers service, the Isle of Wight Partnership, and the education business link activity.

2.4 Members of the KPMG team attended each meeting and kept members informed of the progress of their consultations and enquiries. In turn, members and observers were able to comment on the approach being taken and on specific aspects of the data being collected.

2.5 At the third and fourth meeting KPMG specified their principal findings to date and the Chair outlined and invited discussion on a collaborative scheme that might satisfy the desiderata identified in the Melia report.

2.6 At the fifth meeting on 10 January 2002 copies of a draft of this report and the executive summary of KPMG's conclusions, were tabled for consideration. The outcomes of discussion at the meeting have been taken into account in finalising what follows.

2.7 It was understood by the Task Group that the timetable for the project and the basis of representation did not allow for debate and voting upon specific proposals. Whilst none of the organisations from which membership of the Group has been drawn are committed to support the recommendations of this report, it is hoped these will be seen as a fair reflection of the range of opinion expressed over the course of the Group's discussions.

3. The Melia Review options.

3.1 On the basis of an examination of both national and local factors affecting the provision of upper secondary and further education on the Isle of Wight (e.g., national policies for education and training, demography, economic and social regeneration needs, travel to study patterns) and identification of the problems that had given rise to his review (inspection reports critical of aspects of the work of the Isle of Wight College and private providers, the College's financial position and poor estate, apparent over-provision resulting in uneconomic group size in the College and the schools, and school performance), Dr. Melia identified four policy options.

achieve quality improvement and financial effectiveness within the existing institutional framework of the Isle of Wight College, the five high schools and the nine private companies that are the main providers of 14 plus education and training on the Island (the 'status quo' option)

create a single tertiary institution to assume responsibility for 14-19 education and training (the tertiary college option)

transfer the responsibilities and governance of the Isle of Wight College to a mainland provider (the mainland provider option)

develop a post-14 tertiary system that would ensure appropriate consultation at the programme planning stage between all the providers and achieve a distribution that met academic and vocational needs in a cost effective manner (the collaborative option)

3.2 Whilst in principle a tertiary college solution had many advantages, Dr Melia found that only the collaborative option commanded widespread support. The others were seen as expensive, disruptive (at least in the short term), and unlikely to mobilise local political and community backing. This judgment was reflected in the terms of reference of the Task Group.

4. Is a collaborative system feasible?

4.1 Support for a collaborative solution may be seen as unsurprising. It avoids any immediate threat to institutional or individual interests. It allays fears of more radical solutions for which a political consensus would be hard to obtain. It provides an opportunity for providers to 'own' the processes whereby their performance can be improved. But not everyone is confident that such an approach can succeed in rectifying the weaknesses that have given rise to the review. Gloomy reminders are heard about the failure of previous attempts - some very recent - to engineer cooperation. Doubts are expressed about willingness of all the parties to participate actively and constructively in a process that might entail the rationalisation of courses and institutions, loss of jobs, and lower margins for private providers. In the words of one local educator, there is a risk that collaboration will be seen as 'unsexy'. It is not 'robust'. It offers insufficient evidence to central authorities that the relevant bodies are responding urgently, rapidly, effectively to inadequate performance or the threat of failure.

4.2 In response, a point has to be made that is central to the argument that follows. The attempt to find a solution based on the widest possible support is not only desirable but necessary, since no one is contemplating new primary legislation or statutory revision that change the existing powers and responsibilities of the LLSC, the LEA, governors and private and work-based providers, and these powers and responsibilities do not extend to the imposition of a single 14-plus organisation or curriculum blue-print on schools, colleges or private providers.

4.3 Another criticism of attempts to devise a collaborative solution, expressed on a number of occasions in the course of interviews, is that if it was not for the problems of the Isle of Wight College, plus the fact that the new LLSC will soon assume responsibility for funding the whole of 16+ education and training, the need for the Melia review and what has followed (including the work of the Task Group) would not have arisen. The high schools may not be among the best performers in the secondary sector, but they secure respectable results and are well regarded by students, families and local politicians. Overall, the private providers have not performed strongly in quality assessments, but they fulfil important needs, wash their own faces financially, and provide a flexible means of responding to changing demand in their sectors. There is a range of views as to whether group sizes in high schools are in fact uneconomic, and in any event this is not something of immediate concern to teachers and students. What treasurers and tax-payers define as an uneconomic group, teachers and taught can see as a conveniently small class. On this view, the problems of one institution should not be allowed to drive changes affecting the rest.

4.4 Those who see the problem as being the College, rather than the system as a whole, could argue that work-based trainers, private providers and adult education organisations are capable, with some encouragement and resources, of taking on those aspects of post-secondary education and training that can only be done on-Island. It might be cheaper for students who can only obtain the courses they require by going to the mainland to have their travel-to-study fares subsidised or paid. Perhaps a mainland college - in these days of encouraging 'hybridisation' of higher and further education, even a University - might be interested in establishing a branch on the Island. Or a tender could be issued for a private company, from among those that have begun to be significant educational providers on the mainland, to offer a specified range of courses and programmes on the Island. Some or all of the assets of the College, including those that arise from disposal of land, could be made available to ensure that commercially uneconomic but educationally and vocationally important courses would not be at risk. Scholarships and bursaries might be funded to encourage social inclusion. All this done, the problems of the Isle of Wight College would cease to trouble anyone; it would no longer exist.

4.5 Doubts about the likely success of a collaborative approach may take another direction. As one prominent Island educator put it 'We've known what the problems are for the last fifteen years. What we want now are solutions'. Those who share this view are not thinking of solutions imposed from on high, or driven solely by economic considerations. They would prefer the Island's authorities and institutions themselves to do what has to be done. They recognise this will cost money. They are anxious about where it might come from. The figures in KPMG's report suggest that re-organisation of the existing three-tier school system is a necessary step towards improving opportunities, achieving higher standards and overcoming uneconomic group size. The possibility of such reorganisation has been discussed for at least the past decade. But it would be expensive. It could also be unpopular. Those who have to find the money could hardly be blamed for thinking that given the magnitude of the sums involved, it might well be better to leave the schools as they are. Would the benefits of a restructured system represent an adequate return from the expenditure of many millions of pounds? In these days of joined up thinking, and given the demands for resources for other purposes on the Island, is this the highest priority?.

4.6 These may be seen as short-sighted views. They ignore the fact that the small size of the 16-19 cohort on the Isle of Wight has implications for the future of all the Island's educational institutions and training providers. But they may reflect deeper feelings. Perhaps residents cherish the Island the way it is. There is indeed much to cherish. Perhaps they are gratified rather than perturbed by comments that coming to the Island is like going back fifty years - which isn't true, but the British and their visitors are incurably nostalgic. Perhaps residents do not wish - who would - to see their fields and meadows taken over by high-tech (or any kind of -tech) industry and commerce. But such a 'let well alone' view may indicate insufficient awareness of existing social and economic weaknesses and failure to recognise that opportunities for, and standards of, education and training affect inward investment, employment prospects, population distribution, physical and mental health and many other aspects of civil society and the quality of life.

4.7 All this may help to explain the frequently remarked lack of enthusiasm for change, and even on the part of some educators and trainers themselves, irritation that everything is being thrown up in the air again just because, as they see it, one institution has problems getting its act together. Facts and figures make clear this is an unfair judgment. Much more is involved. But we are not talking about fairness, but about the perceptions that drive action - or lack of it.

4.8 In the course of the Group's discussions a lot has been heard about the 'Island factor'. Clearly, there are some aspects of the Island's geographical position which add to the costs of local provision and make it difficult to call upon expensive but rarely required skills and equipment that on the mainland might be shared between authorities. Furthermore, the Government is a signatory to the Amsterdam Declaration which recognises the need for the special treatment of such communities. It must not be assumed, however, than when it comes to education, an 'Island factor' will be readily recognised at national level as justifying a funding premium. Those who doubt the Island's capacity for solving its own problems on the basis of standard formulae might instead find themselves attracted to the more radical approaches referred to in paragraph 4.4 above. They are not mere fantasies. They need to be taken seriously. The acceptability of a collaborative system as a response to the Island's problems may turn on evidence that other possibilities have at least been recognised, not as current options, but as what may have to happen should collaboration not succeed. There must be something in the drawer that can be taken out and used to staunch the haemorrhaging of resources and of confidence that in these circumstances would otherwise ensue. That 'something' could include elements of the radical approaches indicated in the preceding paragraphs, and further discussed in the final section of this report.

4.9 Given the existing powers of the bodies involved, and short of external intervention, collaboration is at the moment the only game in town. Especially so for the Task Group, whose job it was to devise rules for how it might be played. That collaboration represents the most promising way forward is a considered judgement, not just a convenient way to conceal the real issues in a haze of earnest talk.

4.10 Improved collaboration is thus not just one option, but a necessity. It will, however, take an exceptional effort to generate a collaborative response that recognises the special character of Island life, meets the need for a broader range of provision than in a mainland location of similar size, and overcomes a history of failed attempts to get providers to work together. The new responsibilities of the LLSE from April 2002 offer an appropriate beginning for such an effort. So do the understanding and sense of common purpose that exists between the LLSC and LEA . The willingness of the high school heads to contemplate change is another plus. And a commitment on the part of the Isle of Wight College to work with other providers in improving retention, raising quality and achieving financial stability is also encouraging. So how might collaboration be made to succeed?

5. Establishing a basis for collaboration

5.1 To devise a post-14 system of education and training has to reckon with the complexity of governing and funding existing provision. The LLSC, the LEA, schools, the Isle of Wight College, private providers, employers, and voluntary and off-Island organisations are all involved. The LLSC's assumption of funding responsibility for all forms of 16 plus provision in April 2002 will expand its role, but the 16-18 funding stream will still flow to schools through the LEA. The College Corporation depends upon the LLSC for most of its money, but has control over its assets and actual or potential access to other sources of supplementary funding. Private providers are variously but significantly dependent on LLSC grants. Work-place training is substantially affected by changes in employer needs and willingness and capacity to meet costs.

5.2 Most of the funding that finds its way to providers is determined by numbers-based formulae. Schools are not formally required to submit annual or rolling plans which require approval by the LEA. The money they receive is based on enrolments. Similarly, resources obtained by the College from the LLSC are calculated on how many full-time and part-time students enrol for and complete designated stages of their courses. True, in recent years a higher proportion of public support has been distributed in ear-marked form. Institutions and organisations now have to spend more time (and cash) on bidding for a share of separately designated and sometimes short life grants. They must also account in greater detail for what they do with the money. But such designated funding still only accounts for a relatively small proportion of the total distributed.

5.3 The LLSC and the LEA do, of course, hold the ultimate sanction of being able to cut off financial support. But although the acceptance of market principles is now widespread in the provision and management of education and training, this does not extend to allowing the sudden collapse of publicly funded institutions. Inspection regimes and financial and institutional audit give early warning of problems. Reorganisation consequent upon demographic change and curriculum need that cannot be met by adapting existing structures, requires extensive consultation and often a lengthy period for implementation. When their problems have proved intractable, a small number of both schools and colleges have had to close, usually to merge with stronger neighbours, sometimes to re-open again at the beginning of the following term with a new name, a new governing body, new leadership, and a revised curriculum offer. In the process, whatever longer term benefits there may be, students can experience a great deal of disruption. Damage can be done to individuals' careers, to the authority and reputation of local funding and supervisory agencies, and to the ability of communities to manage their own affairs. Wherever possible, such outcomes are to be avoided. Hence the need, as a matter of urgency, to establish a cost-efficient and educationally effective system of education and training.

5.4 In many parts of the United Kingdom, students and employers who do not find what they want locally can readily take their custom elsewhere. Not so on the Isle of Wight. The Solent may not be wide, but it raises barriers of time and money that impede free choice. The fast passenger ferries are fast indeed, but they are not cheap. Parents are seldom keen for their school-age young to be dependent on public transport when this involves changes of conveyance and a water crossing. Those interviewed stressed the value to the Island of good secondary schools in the major population centres, accessible from adjacent rural districts, and a high quality college that provides further education and aspects of both higher and adult education - on the Island, for the Island and under the control of Island-based authorities.

5.5 Post-14 provision needs, then, to be Island-based and to reflect Island concerns. It must be socially inclusive and offer a wide range of academic and vocational opportunities. It must live within its means, without the expectation of long-term subsidy. For such desiderata to be met on an island with a population no larger than that of a modest sized town, over a quarter of whom are over 65, with few large employers and beset by high levels of both seasonal and overall unemployment, demands exemplary efficiency and provision of the highest quality. To secure these and to avoid outside intervention requires common agreement to sacrifice some specific interests.

5.6 Such agreement will not be easy to achieve. Members of the LEA are inevitably and properly sensitive to the attitudes of local electorates to any rationalisation of schools. The College Corporation is understandably jealous of its independence under legislation. Private providers need to generate a surplus to remain in business. Many employers are accountable to national and international boards and shareholders.

5.7 Nor can attention be focused exclusively on existing needs. Close attention has to be given to how a post 14 system might secure the interest and participation of those currently disengaged from education in any form - a proportion of the population currently in the sights of several Government initiatives.

5.8 There is now little doubt that if ministers remain unconvinced by the Island's proposals to deal with problems recognised, reported upon, and made the subject of remedial recommendations several times during recent years, the likelihood of externally imposed intervention will much increase.

5.9 This leads to the first recommendation. It is that :

(R1) the Hampshire and Isle of Wight LLSC make available to each of the sectors responsible for the provision of post-14 education and training on the Isle of Wight the findings and recommendations that follow and those of the consultants, with a request for initial responses within one month.

6. Criteria, Structures and Procedures

6.1 An effective collaborative system must help to ensure inter alia :

the availability of regularly updated information which in coverage and quality informs provider strategies, facilitates programme management, monitors progress towards objectives and helps executive agency assessment and decision making.

regular contacts between providers to enhance mutual understanding and strengthen the likelihood of effective partnership;

development of a coherent pattern of courses and programmes of study and training appropriate to the current and emergent requirements of students, employers, and society;

delivery of such courses and programmes in appropriate locations and in a cost-effective and inclusive manner which makes optimal use of the buildings and estate available for educational and training purposes on the Island;

avoidance of unjustified duplication and overlap;

quality standards required by inspection and accreditation agencies met;

satisfaction on the part of governors and owners that recommendations for funding made to executive agencies are objective, balanced and in the interests of the Island as a whole;

conviction on the part of executive agencies that such collaborative activity adds value and does not soak up valuable resources in servicing what crudely might be depicted as 'a talking shop'.

6.2 In suggesting a collaborative approach Dr. Melia proposed that the LLSC and LEA enter into a joint compact to establish a Tertiary Board under an independent chair on which providers would be represented. Already, members of the Task Group have spoken of how its work over the last three months has permitted contacts with other stakeholders that would not otherwise have occurred, and which they have appreciated.

6.3 In the light of this experience and consultations, its is suggested that steps be taken to establish a Tertiary Strategy Group (TSG) to advise the LLSC, the LEA and the private providers on the whole range of fourteen-plus provision.

6.4 Such a body would: make recommendations to the Learning and Skills Council for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight and to the Isle of Wight Council that ensure the availability of regularly updated information on the need for and supply of post-14 education and training for the population of the Island; obtain the agreement of all providers of such education and training to make available to the Group their plans for an agreed period and in an agreed form; receive and consider these plans and undertake such discussions with providers as will enable an overall support strategy to be recommended that meets the criteria set out in 6.1 above. In the event that a provider's proposals do not meet such criteria, the Group would make a report on the matter to the LLSC and/or LEA.

6.5 The TSG must recognise the responsibilities that rest with public bodies, governors and private providers by virtue of their constitutions, their directly exercised or devolved powers, and their duties to their owners and shareholders. How the Group's recommendations are reflected in funding decisions is necessarily a matter for the executive bodies concerned. Two vital tests for the success of such a collaborative system must be the willingness of the Strategy Group to give advice that is in the larger interest rather than that of individual providers, and the extent to which such advice is heeded and acted upon.

6.6 Thus it is recommended that

(R2) subject to the outcome of the process envisaged under R1 above, the LLSC and LEA should, as a first stage of managed change, establish a Tertiary Strategy Group (TSG) , with membership and terms of reference along the lines set out in Annexe 1.

(R3) on the basis of prior agreement to submit an annual programme for consideration by the Group and on the understanding that they will make every effort to participate in education and training on the Island in a way that contributes to its coherence, cost-effectiveness and quality, the high schools, Isle of Wight College and private providers be invited to nominate members of the Tertiary Strategy Group;

(R4) if a provider, after consideration by the Group of its plan, is unable or unwilling to accept a recommendation from the Group for amendments which reflect the desiderata stated in R3, it is understood that a report will be made to the LLSC and/or LEA which may be taken into account by those bodies in relation to their strategic funding decisions;

6.7 The terms of reference and membership suggested in Annexe 1 are merely indicative. The proposed membership is designed to ensure substantial lay representation, an adequate professional spread and appropriate officer input within a body of manageable size. At the Task Group meeting on 10 January several members suggested membership be extended to include other specialist and sectoral interests. But it could be difficult to do this without reducing effectiveness. To ensure both rotation and continuity it might in the first instance be appropriate to require that half the lay or elected members serve for two years and the remainder for three, and that a two year period of office then apply. LLSC and LEA officer members could be continued or replaced at the discretion of these authorities. There would be advantages in ensuring at the outset that private provider and employer members are nominated by a body in which all the private providers and as many as possible of the employers on the Island are in membership.

6.8 It must be emphasised that members would not be representatives of, or mandated by, the sector from which they come. A largely nominated membership would however help to ensure that those active within each sector remain in contact with each other and that members are well informed about the position of each sector. Arrangements for servicing the Group would require discussion between the LLSC and the LEA.

6.9 Whilst successful integration of post-14 provision on the Island depends upon changes of a kind beyond the powers of a Strategy Group such as that suggested here, willingness to consider such changes is necessary to the long-term success of the collaborative approach reflected in the establishment of the Group. The following sections consider the basis from which the high schools, the Isle of Wight College and the private providers might contribute to a successful collaborative system.

7. Fourteen to nineteen provision

7.1 The relatively small total size of the 16-19 age-group on the Isle of Wight , and the number of institutions among which participants in education and training are distributed, are central to the problems addressed by the Task Group. There were about 1400 in the 16-17 cohort in 2001, 1110 of whom were participating in education and training provided by five high schools and the Isle of Wight College. This must be compared with the annual recruitment of 1000 students or more to some individual sixth form colleges elsewhere. There were 310 16-17 year olds on the Island who were employed, unemployed or 'not settled'. The 1400 base population is not projected to change much over the next ten years. Whilst there are many sixth forms elsewhere no larger than those on the Island, funding convergence following expiry of the real terms guarantee could make the position of all small groups more difficult.

7.2 Thus to assert the current exercise has only become necessary because of the College's problems, which do not justify putting the rest of the Island's educational provision under the microscope, is to misunderstand the nature of the issue. For even if the College can stabilise its management, break even financially, obtain higher quality ratings and refurbish its estate, this will not on its own ensure an effective 14-19 system. Nor will collaborative arrangements in themselves solve difficulties that arise from too many providers chasing too few students. The viability of the College and the sixth forms depends upon significant structural change. This is the key factor in the subsequent performance of any 14-19 system.

7.3 With the status quo rejected, Dr. Melia considered the possibility of establishing a single tertiary college that would provide 16-19 education and training. The educational advantages of bringing 16-19 provision together in a single, centrally located institution are significant. If all else was equal this would be the preferred strategy. But all else is not equal.

7.4 To educate all 16-19 students together in one location could ensure viability, enhance curriculum choice and raise standards. But it could threaten them elsewhere. The Island's present high schools recruit at 13. Deprived of their sixth forms, they would be left with only 13-16 years olds. They could be made viable only by reorganising the entire primary and middle school tier into a single 5-11 pattern. This would entail substantial disruption and give rise to heavy costs. Some smaller schools would need to close. New buildings would be necessary. Many schools are located in rural areas, villages and small towns with low land values. There is no prospect of raising by estate sales more than a fraction of the £60m that it is estimated would be needed to fund adaptation and new build.

7.5 None of this demonstrates that such reorganisation is out of the question. It has been done elsewhere. The Isle of Wight is now one of only a small number of authorities that retain a three tier system. KPMG have set out the advantages of a 5-11, 11- 16/18 reorganisation

'Pupils will complete national curriculum Key Stages 1 and 2 in a single school with teachers that know them and who are well known to them.

Pupils will complete Key Stages 3 and 4 in a single school again with teachers who will have more time to get to know them and prepare them for GCSE and subsequent progression to post-16 education and training.

Educational research has shown that pupils regress slightly when they are obliged to change schools, mainly because they are adapting to a new environment, new teachers and new task groups. The two-tier system reduces changes of schools

The age-range of the schools enables siblings to remain together longer, which is welcomed by parents.

The two-tier system places responsibility for performance in the key stages very clearly on individual schools instead of the current sharing of Key Stages 2 and 3. This facilitates the monitoring of performance and the implementation of measures to address weaknesses and raise standards

The two-tier system promotes greater specialisation of teachers in the key stages both in primary and secondary schools'

There is thus much to be said in favour of a change to 5-11 and 11-16, even apart from facilitating establishment of a dedicated tertiary college. Where would this institution be, and what would it do?

7.6 The logical place is Newport, which serves as a transport hub for the Island, The logical site is that of the existing Isle of Wight College. A tertiary college that took in all the 16-19 year olds from every part of the Island would certainly be viable. It could also help to fulfil the Government's agenda for greater parity of esteem between academic and vocational programmes. Its size could empower curriculum choice. The College's 16-19 Centre could feed Island-based further and higher education courses. Working in such an institution would be attractive to well-qualified staff. But the possibility of setting one up is not just a matter of logic. It requires additional cash, and it needs public acceptability.

7.7 The high schools and College are both affected by the demographic issue and by small group sizes. For the most part the high schools are well housed and equipped. They manage within their budgets and enjoy the confidence of students and their families. The proportion of their students who progress to higher education is above the current national norm. Their examination performance is no more than average, but this may owe something to efforts to remain inclusive and eschew selection. Some have specialist status. Their facilities are used to provide adult education for their local communities. Management and staff are stable.

7.8 And the College? Many students have gained, and continue to gain, much from its teaching. They value the awards staff have helped them to achieve. Thanks to the efforts of the last Principal, the College now has an up to date management information system that allows it to plan. All save two members of its governing body have been appointed during the last two years. Learning and teaching standards are set to improve. Governors, principals and managers have tried hard to strengthen the College's resource position, not least in the last two years. But a serious financial problem persists. There is inadequate recruitment in some areas. Retention is less good than it should be. The estate includes a number of unsuitable and unattractive buildings. An experienced head of a north of England college has been brought in as short-term Acting Principal, with a positive impact on staff morale and willingness to change. But institutional reputations take time to turn round. It would be a while before the College could be offered as the only public provider of 16-19 education on the Isle of Wight, and hence for nearly all families, the only place within practicable travelling distance where upper secondary education can be obtained without payment of fee.

7.9 For some people, the absence of upper-secondary choice on the Island will always militate against acceptance of a tertiary college solution. In many parts of the country where there are tertiary colleges with sixth form centres, students and parents can exercise choice by staying on in secondary school sixth forms or transferring to such forms elsewhere. There are insufficient numbers of 16 to 19 year olds on the Isle of Wight to sustain five sixth forms and a tertiary centre. Should a re-launched College, with a new mission, under new management, on a much improved estate, attract larger numbers of 16 to 19 year olds, this could worsen the position of the schools. This is the central dilemma for the future planning of 14-19 provision on the Island.

7.10 Whilst there have been a number of past efforts to engineer greater co-operation, and several encouraging declarations of intent, there is a history of mutual wariness in relations between high schools and the College. Although seldom officially acknowledged, this is a not unusual state of affairs. Despite all the changes of the last half-century, associations between education, occupation, social status and income remain significant. The differences between the cultures of vocational and academic study - regrettably more evident in this country than in some of our European neighbours - still influence perceptions and decisions. Several aspects of current policy, including the setting up of Learning and Skills Councils, testify to a Government commitment to change all this. But change of this magnitude takes time. Especially so on the Isle of Wight, where cost and history militate against a quick tertiary college solution.

7.11 Such a solution would require reorganisation of the school system. The issues involved, of which cost is only one, go beyond the remit of the current exercise. They are for the LEA and LLSC to consider. Nonetheless, as argued earlier in this report, the credibility of proceeding along collaborative lines depends in part on the willingness of the LEA and the schools to deal with over-provision and to face up to the possible consequences of the new funding arrangements for sixth forms, both during and beyond the term of the 'real terms guarantee'. Hence the importance of the LEA response to this report, called for under recommendation R1 above.

7.12 The LEA response also needs to address an alternative possibility , which can be described as a devolved option. The high schools might themselves develop both pre- and post-16 curriculum vocational options such as AVCE's, national diplomas and NVQ's in such subjects as business, information technology, art and design and performing arts. This would be in line with the Government's agenda to achieve greater parity of esteem for vocational studies and would strengthen sixth form viability. Such programmes would be developed in collaboration with the College, which for its part would concentrate on a more limited range of 16-19 work that might include construction, computing, engineering, hair and beauty, health and care and media, at the same time as developing and strengthening its role as a provider of adult and continuing professional and post-experience education and training.

7.13 The devolved option would entail a less disruptive reorganisation of the school system, retaining three tiers but altering ages of transition. Pupils would complete years 1-4 in their primary schools, transferring at 9 from primary to middle, as they do at present. They would then stay on at middle school for years 5 to 9, moving on at 14 to the high schools. The modified three tier system might benefit the quality of provision at Key Stages 2, 3 and 4, but could still require new building to extend the middle schools. No indicative costs are available for this option. Although substantial they are likely to less than for change to a two-tier system. However, the College might take the view that to lose a large slice of vocational work to the high schools would result in substantial loss of income and undermine its recovery plans.

7.14 A devolved approach would also require some rationalisation of the high schools, already indicated as necessary in the light of group sizes and the likely impact of funding convergence once the 'real terms guarantee' has expired. One possibility is a reduction from five high schools to four, working in two collaborating pairs. The transport implications of any such move would require attention.

7.15 A further option, not developed in the same detail, would combine 11-19 schools with high school tertiary provision along the lines of the devolved model outlined in the previous paragraphs. This would ensure adequate numbers in each age cohort at all five high schools, but at the expense of college recruitment. The major stumbling block to any win-win strategy remains the size of the age cohort.

7.16 Before any decisions are made, detailed consideration will have to be given to the cost and feasibility of the patterns of school reorganisation that are conditions for the success of a tertiary college or of successful devolution to the schools of some types of vocational provision. The impact of such changes on the Isle of Wight College must also be taken into account. These are matters on which the LEA would need to initiate formal consultations.

Thus it is recommended that :

(R5) the LEA and LLSC consider what steps should be taken to ensure that Isle of Wight high schools can make and sustain an adequate curriculum offer on the basis of projected numbers, the forthcoming Government policy statement on the 14-19 curriculum, and the likely funding position after expiry of the real terms guarantee.

(R6) subject to the outcomes of R5 and in accordance with the Action Plan in Annexe 2, the LEA explore, in collaboration with the LLSC, the desirability and feasibility of reorganising the three tier school system in a way that addresses issues of institutional viability and parental and student choice and facilitates the eventual establishment of a tertiary college or devolved tertiary option.

8. Planning for recovery in the Isle of Wight College

8.1 There have been few references so far in this report to the Isle of Wight College's Recovery Plan, submitted by the Corporation to the LLSC on 31 October 2001. Given the important part that the College must play in any collaborative system of the type envisaged in the Task Group's and the Consultant's remit, this might seem to be an omission. There are two reasons for the absence of detailed consideration of the plan. First, its submission and approval are matters for the LLSC and the College Corporation. Second, not all the information that would permit evaluation of the assumptions and data on which the plan relies was available to the Task Group. It may not be out of place, however, to offer a few comments on whether the plan will enable the College to play an appropriate part within a collaborative system.

8.2 Discussions over recent weeks confirm widespread support for the continued existence and independence of a single central institution for the provision of further, vocational and adult education, and the wish to ensure it functions as a centre of excellence for the Island, responsive to the needs of employers and the community. There is unanimous agreement that if the Isle of Wight College is to be this institution it must overcome its current problems, some of which are of long standing. The College's performance is currently attracting the interest of DfES ministers and officials. Convincing them that progress is being made is critical to the success of the whole 14-plus review.

8.3 The recovery plan which the LLSC has made a condition for continuing support has been written with the assistance of the experienced FE head who is now Acting Principal. There are already encouraging signs of action to tackle both financial and quality problems. There will inevitably be concerns, however, about continuity of leadership. A high priority for the College Corporation must surely be to make an appointment that will cover the whole period of the recovery process and enable the College to make considered responses to other changes that may emerge as a result of the work of a Tertiary Strategy Group and decisions of the LLSC and LEA.

8.4 For a College of Further Education to have a successful long-term future it must generate annual surpluses that can be aggregated to meet contingencies, support development projects and fund innovations . The Recovery Plan aims for break-even by 2003-2004. However, breaking even is only one element of the desired 'Category B' financial health, which also requires a positive operational cash flow; more than 15 days expenditure in hand; a positive balance on general reserve; a current assets to liabilities ratio between 1.0:1 and 1.5:1, and total borrowing no greater than the general reserve. The College had estimated that to meet all these criteria would require a 20 per cent uplift from the Average Level of Funding (ALF) of £17.22 for the sector in 2002-2001. But the ALF formulae is being replaced with funding on the basis of recruitment, retention and completion. There may now be less scope for the LLSC to vary funding in recognition of the College's difficulties in these respects.

8.5 When the Recovery Plan was drafted, the College did not have sight of the analyses of likely 16-19 demand now incorporated into the KPMG report. It will be important to have the College's response to these analyses, and to the options suggested for overall 16-19 provision. To achieve a sound financial position on the basis of short and medium term projections of activity must remain a priority.

8.6 Let us assume implementation of the recovery plan will continue, and will prove sufficiently flexible to allow for the re-balancing of 16-19 work between the high schools and the College that might follow adoption of the devolved model, or one of its variants, referred to in section 7 above. In these circumstances, the definition and placement of realistic milestones and close monitoring of progress towards them will be essential.

8.7 The recovery plan puts considerable weight on the value of resource-based teaching as a way of overcoming the problem of small groups and making full use of staff resources. The Acting Principal has substantial and successful experience of curriculum design and implementation along these lines. The plan wisely emphasises the need for staff re-training to improve recruitment and retention by more personal attention to student and employer needs. Experience in other institutions underlines the importance of such re-training. Mature students lacking recent experience of study, and younger entrants not as successful at school as their contemporaries, all need a great deal of help to make best use of resource-based learning. Traditional approaches to staff roles do not always ensure such help is available. Greater use of resource-based teaching may also have implications for the 13 or 14 to 16 curriculum of the high schools, from where the College would draw many of its younger students.

8.8 The College is giving serious consideration to the possibility of re-organising its year into two semesters, in recognition of the effect on student attrition of the ready availability of employment in the summer months. This is an imaginative response to the problem which if successful could have a significant effect on the College's ability to meet its recruitment and retention targets.

8.9 As the Recovery Plan indicates, identification of a suitable mainland HEI provider with which some form of strategic alliance might be forged needs to be pursued as a matter of urgency. Its context will that of the Government's targets for increasing participation in higher education. Current official emphases on closer links between higher and further education may encourage a mainland institution to respond positively to an approach. A strong HEI link could have beneficial effects for the Island beyond those specific to the College. It could offer progression opportunities that retain an association with the Island, extend facilities for staff training and give access to valuable elements of management expertise and experience. There are useful examples on the mainland, ranging from academic partnership (South-East Essex College and Essex University) to full merger (Bradford University and Bradford College).

8.10 Action on these issues is a responsibility of the College Corporation, but it is of particular importance to the success of a collaborative system that :

(R7) the Isle of Wight College examine in detail the implications of the proposals in this and the KPMG report for the assumptions and objectives embodied in its recovery plan.

9. Planning private provision

9.1 The private providers on the Island fill training niches not at present occupied by the College or the schools. In other parts of the country, some of the things they do are offered by FE institutions, either in competition with the private sector or as the sole source of such training. There has been some cooperation between the IOW College and private providers in the past but this could be increased to the benefit of all those concerned. Some providers have indicated that they would be interested in making use, on appropriate terms, of the College's facilities. But there are also signs that past weaknesses in the College's offer and its inability to meet a number of emergent needs may be attracting mainland providers to set up shop on the Island.

9.2 Without sight of private providers' accounts it is difficult to judge the extent to which they depend upon LLSC funds. Some are more diversified as to their sources of funding than others. It has been suggested in the course of recent meetings that quality assessments of providers in receipt of LLSC support have been affected by small size and limited resources. If private providers are to play a full part in a coherent system of 14-plus provision, their contributions will need to be planned in a way that is difficult when funding is in response to annual bids. This will not be easy to achieve, given the way in which the LLSC is itself funded, but it is to be hoped some way can be found to enable and to encourage private providers to plan within a larger framework.

9.3 Work-based training is an important element in the total map of post-16 provision. The Island has a larger proportion of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) than many other parts of the United Kingdom. SMEs are less able to provide in-house training than larger employers, and are thus more dependent upon what is available from private providers and colleges. The Isle of Wight College's resource problems have made it difficult to respond quickly to emergent needs such as those created by inward investment. The College is now taking steps to relate more closely to employers needs, and to offer modules and units of training attractive to both young and older workers. Several of the private providers are also engaged with employers in strengthening training opportunities and the quality of provision. The Careers service also plays an important role for clients of the private providers as it does for the high schools and the College. It will be important for a Strategy Group to have available up to date records of work-based and private provider enrolments, continuations and completions, based upon annual self-assessment, and to encourage closer links between all those concerned. For this reason, the proposed membership of the Group includes both private provider and employer representatives.

9.4 No fourteen-plus review should ignore the valuable contribution that is made by organisations such as 'learndirect' , the Workers' Educational Association, the Open University, other locally based and mainland providers and the voluntary sector. In the development of a collaborative system it will be important to maintain links with these and other bodies active on the Island, although it is impracticable for all to be represented on the proposed Strategy Group.

It is recommended that :

(R8) in the interests of quality and critical mass, private providers be encouraged and offered incentives to develop partnerships among themselves and to work more closely with the Isle of Wight College and the high schools.

(R9) consideration should be given to ways in which to help private providers to plan over longer periods than one year.

10. Risks and Contingencies.

10.1 Successfully balancing risk and reward is a strategy fundamental to life. Every choice made by individuals and groups involves tacit and explicit assessments of risk. In our complex and accountable world, risk analysis has become an industry, employing legions of accountants, actuaries, and consultants and drawing upon the work of game theorists, mathematicians, logicians, neuroscientists and many other specialists.. The fundamentals are simple enough. Is the potential gain greater than the possible loss? How much are we able and prepared to sacrifice in opportunities and resources to make such losses less likely? Are fall-back positions in place should things 'gang a-gley '?

10.2 Who is the 'we' in all this? Not everyone values the same things. What are benefits to one group may be costs to another. And within what time frame are calculations to be made? The confrontations of conservationists and capitalists at G8 summits reflect different time assumptions. Nearer home, Islanders may be convinced that so substantial is the benefit of having a post-secondary institution on the Island, for the Island, run by Island authorities that even if it cannot survive without subsidy, the additional cost is justified. Members of Learning and Skills Councils, treasury people and ministers who have to make choices between many competing demands need to be persuaded to share this conviction. Much of politics - local, national and global - is about just such issues.

10.3 The larger the number of uncertainties the more important it is to have a clear sequence of action. A tentative first-steps plan for 2002 is included as Annexe 2. This should be seen as a first iteration of processes that need to sustained over several years. Members of the Task Group have pointed out that the time available even for initial responses is very short. Formal consultations concerning, for example, school reorganization, will necessarily require longer. However, it will be important to all the bodies concerned to demonstrate their early commitment to the process; hence the timetable proposed.

10.4 The central thread is the problem of reconciling school and college viability with the analysis of current and likely future demand. At almost any point on that thread, 'events' could close off some possibilities and open up others. Overall participation rates might increase to a level which somewhat reduces (but is unlikely to remove) the threat of uneconomic numbers. The College might by increasing its attraction to existing and a new clientele, enhance recruitment, retention and staff utilization to a level at which standard formula funding is adequate. The LEA might obtain a special subvention for school reorganization, and central funds be made available to enable a timetable for opening a tertiary college to be agreed. Or the LEA and LLSC might prefer to adopt the devolved model of vocational provision, requiring a systematic re-balancing of the College's and the schools' contributions to tertiary provision. Private providers might agree to work more closely with the College, mopping up its surplus estate capacity. It is impossible at this stage to model the whole range of contingencies to which responses might need to be made. But in relation to the Task Group's remit, it may be helpful to sketch some particular risks and the fall-back positions that might be invoked to deal with them.

10.5 The effective functioning of a collaborative system faces several risks. Examples include :

those invited to take part may not agree to the terms of engagement

bodies with executive powers, such as school governors, the College Corporation and the directors and owners of private providers may not feel able to act in a way that is against their individual interests, even if doing so would serve overall student needs and help to preserve independence of action for Island-based bodies (the classic "prisoners' dilemma")

the judgments and recommendations of the proposed Strategy Group may be unacceptable to the LLSC and the LEA, causing its work to lack credibility and lose support.

the value seen to be added by efforts to secure cooperation may be less than the cost of such efforts.

10.6 In these circumstances the Tertiary Strategy Group would doubtless be stood down and all relations between organisations and the funding bodies to which they are accountable would be direct. The LLSC and LEA would inform their decisions by means of such consultations as they saw fit. In the event of challenge, recourse would need to be made to central agencies - or to the courts.

10.7 Another risk is failure to rationalise school provision in a way that ensures viable sixth forms and sufficient 16-19 work for the College, with no other source of student numbers being available to compensate. Such risk is hydra-headed. It threatens the future of the College. It also brings closer the possibility of external intervention in the Island's secondary provision.

10.8 Risks specific to the College's recovery include

persistent default on timely arrival at agreed milestones;

delay in making an appointment to the College Principalship;

inability to obtain appropriate terms for sale of part of the College's site, thus cutting off the availability of the matching funding which, added to the proceeds of sale, offers the best prospect for major redevelopment;

difficulty in putting new and more flexible delivery methods in place or failure of such changes to deliver what they promised.

10.9 Any or all of these would increase the likelihood of external intervention and cause more radical options to come into play. One such option would be to seek a mainland partner willing to assume management responsibility for running the College. It is difficult to see how this could be done without dissolving the existing Corporation and handing over its assets. Dr. Melia considered and dismissed this possibility on grounds of lack of success in merging colleges elsewhere. However, consultations in the course of the last two months have revealed some support on the Island for the idea of finding a mainland university, with experience in the provision of further education and links with strong FE institutions, that might be willing to build an Island campus, using for this purpose funds released by sale of part of the College's site, topped up from the Higher Education Funding Council's restructuring fund or another central source. Such a campus would presumably have to be on the Newport site as it is understood that planning permission for the commercial development that would make the sale possible was granted on the understanding that the rest of the site would continue to be used for educational purposes.

10.10 More radical possibilities - conjectures might be a better word at this stage - would be to privatise the College or close it down completely. Privatisation would require a contract to be agreed with a company that would as far as possible protect minority provision and, by means of subsidised fees for certain programmes and bursaries and scholarships for others, enhance access. Some of the negative effects of closure on study opportunities might be obviated by adopting that part of the devolved model which moves some vocational courses to the high schools, building upon their specialisms, whilst at the same time funding work-based and private providers on the Island for e.g. 'heavy-plant' and personal service programmes that could not readily find a home in the schools and maintaining a 'skills centre' organisation in the former College buildings. Perhaps one of the high schools might be re-developed as a tertiary centre, although this would generate problems for the rest, referred to in section 7 above. But it is unlikely that such measures, even if accompanied by subsidised travel to mainland institutions, could fill all the gaps that would be left by the disappearance of the College. In particular, social inclusion would almost undoubtedly suffer, as would flexibility to develop suitable training opportunities for staff of inward investors and to meet emergent needs on the Island.

10.11 All these fall-back possibilities have disadvantages. Only the Higher Education option offers additional benefits, but its feasibility has not been tested and there might be problems in finding a University to take on the whole range of work for which the College has been responsible.

10.12 For the Island to lose a central facility for further, higher and adult education would clearly have costs - in access and inclusion; in the availability of training opportunities for employees of existing enterprises and inward investors; in the range of choices open to 16 year olds; in opportunities for the less mobile to pursue lifelong education, acquire skills, and remain psychologically and physically independent (especially significant for the quarter of the population who are over 65) . Such a loss could also cause less tangible damage to the Island's sense of its own identity, the morale of its population, its attractiveness to incomers. The Island already has some of the social problems characteristic of the more deprived urban areas on the mainland. For the College to disappear could be seen as another grievous blow. To have one's own College may be a symbol, but symbols matter.

10.13 It would thus be in the interests of students, employers and residents of the Isle of Wight if privatisation or closure did not have to be invoked. This underlines the importance of making a success of collaboration. The facts, figures and assumptions used to support the arguments of this and KPMG's report should be critically examined by authorities and providers on the Island. If following this examination, and the resolution of any queries may arise, the case for change is seen to be sound, then action must be taken to plan against the worst-case scenario of non-viable institutions, inadequate curriculum choice, poor staff morale and external intervention.

10.14 Hard work has been defined as saying 'yes' and 'no' on insufficient information. The information now available is less insufficient than in the past. Those who share responsibility for decision making will need to decide at what point they have enough information for their purposes. Judgements will still be needed. There is some hard work ahead. But this is also a time of opportunity. To plan within a fourteen-plus framework is consistent with Government initiatives, proposed in the White Paper Achieving Success and shortly to be developed in a policy document, and with the challenges of Curriculum 2000. It is to be hoped that enthusiastic official support will be forthcoming for the effort now being made to achieve an integrated, efficient and effective collaborative system for fourteen-plus education and training on the Isle of Wight.

Annexe 1

Isle of Wight Tertiary Strategy Group

Suggested Terms of Reference

1. Make recommendations to the Learning and Skills Council for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight and to the Isle of Wight Council that will ensure the availability of regularly updated information on the need for and supply of post-14 education and training for the population of the Island.

2. Obtain the agreement of all providers of such education and training to make available to the Group their plans for an agreed period and in an agreed form.

3. Receive and consider these plans and undertake such discussions with providers as will enable an overall support strategy to be recommended to the LLSC and LEA that will

- meet the current and emergent needs of students and employers

- optimise the utilisation of the Island's education and training estate

- minimise duplication and overlap

- provide value for money

- encourage bilateral and multilateral partnerships between providers

- enhance quality

4. In the event that a provider is unable or unwilling to make proposals that the Group regards as consistent with these objectives, to gives reasons to the LLSC and/or LEA for this opinion. The extent to which, if at all, such an opinion will influence funding decisions will be at the discretion of the executive bodies concerned.

5.The Group will at all times recognise the responsibilities that are conferred upon governing bodies and private providers by virtue of their constitutions, directly exercised or devolved powers, and duties to their owners and shareholders.

Proposed Membership

Chair. Independent person appointed by agreement between the LLSC and LEA

Two members nominated by the LLSC, of whom one will be a member of Council and the other an officer of the Council

Two members nominated by the LEA, of whom one will be an elected member and the other an officer.

Two members nominated by the Isle of Wight College, one of whom will a lay member of the governing body and the other the College Principal.

One member nominated by the heads of Isle of Wight high schools from among their number.

One member nominated by the lay governors of the Isle of Wight high schools from among their number.

Two members nominated from among private providers.

Two members nominated by the Chamber of Commerce or other body representative of Island employers

Annexe 2

Action Plan for January - June 2002

Late January

(i) Decision by LLSC and LEA on

(a) whether to pursue the course of action set out in this report

(b) if and when and in what form to issue KPMG and Task Group reports

Early February

(i) KPMG and Task Group Chair's findings and recommendations sent to schools, College and private providers with a request

(a) for an initial response to the findings and recommendations within one month

(b) for agreement to the terms on which, if a Tertiary Strategic Group (TSG) is established, membership would be offered

(ii) LLSC and LEA agree terms and timetable of LEA-led enquiry into desirability and feasibility of school reorganisation along lines proposed in the reports, to report by Autumn 2002.

(iii) LLSC seeks views of College Corporation ( by early March) on

(a) implications of reports and possible school reorganisation for the Recovery Plan

(b) appropriate milestones for assessing progress on implementation of the original or amended Plan (e.g., total of eight milestones; one per term for rest of 2002 and for 2003 and 2004)

Mid March

(i) Membership of TSG agreed

(ii) Providers invited to provide by mid April plans for academic year 2002-2003 and initial drafts for 2003-2004, in accordance with a template drafted by LLSC and piloted with a school, the college and a private provider

(iii) Milestones agreed between LLSC and College.

Mid April

(i) First meeting of TSG. Agenda to include officer analysis of provider submissions and agreement on suggestions to be made to providers, recognising that in some cases planning and staffing for 2002-2003 will already have reached an advanced stage .

Late May

(i) Combined meeting of LEA and LLSC officers to consider progress on LEA enquiry into desirability and feasibility of reorganising schools. .

Early June

(i) Second meeting of TSG. Agenda to include report of provider responses to suggestions and preparation of advice to LLSC .

Mid June

(i) Progress towards first College milestone assessed.

Late June

(i) Action plan drafted for second half of 2002, to include procedures for discussion between LLSC and LEA of outcome of enquiry into school organisation, due in September/October 2002, and time-table for changes consequent upon this outcome, including the position after expiry of the real terms guarantee in March 2004.

Annexe 3

List of Members of the Task Group and Observers .