Agenda item

11:53                   Councillor Holmes entered the meeting

The chairman welcomed Andrew Patience, the Principal of New College, Stamford to the meeting. Mr Patience had been invited to talk to the Committee about further education provision and subsidised transport.

Further education provision

• New College, Stamford has approximately 1,900 16-18 year old students, 1,000 adults, 300 14-16 year olds and 200 higher education students.
• Roughly half of the students who attended the college came from outside the Stamford area, including bordering counties.
• Based on assessment results in the 2009/10 academic year, the college was amongst the top 10% of further education colleges across all academic levels.
• Students accessing higher education at the college were either participating in programmes run by the college and validated by a university, or as part of a franchise where universities provided degrees that are taught on campuses remote from their hub. Stamford delivers a combination of verified and franchised courses. This includes a partnership with the University of Lincoln. These arrangements ran to the end of the 2010/11 academic year.
• Funding pressures and cuts led partner universities to withdraw verified and franchised programmes from September 2011 for first year students. Second and third year students would be able to complete their degree at Stamford College.
• Members expressed concern that this withdrawal would impact on students who could not travel away to university, including those with caring responsibilities and those who want to study part-time whilst working. Losing this provision could also deter students from poorer backgrounds entering further education.
• Studying at Stamford College provided a cheaper option than conventional universities. Consequently, withdrawal of these courses was expected to impact on the number of local people in higher education, particularly with the 2012 increase in tuition fees.
• The college also provided access to education for people living in areas with poor rural transport, including towns and villages across the south of the district and in South Holland, where residents may struggle to get to University towns and cities.
• Through the local MP, Mr Patience had been in correspondence with the Minister for Higher Education. His response explained that universities were autonomous corporations who were not subject to existing directives, and could not be compelled to behave in any particular way. The response also stated that the government was reviewing this ahead of 2012 in-line with the increase in tuition fees.
• Current arrangements mean course validation can only be undertaken by universities. However, changes were underway as the exam board Edexcel had developed its own degree programme.
• Many students who have studied at Stamford College have gone on to find employment in the local area. Loss of these courses would mean a reduction in skilled workers and affect local economic development.

Committee members were concerned about the potential impact of the withdrawal and recognised that this would be replicated across Lincolnshire. They suggested that the issue’s profile should be raised within other districts. Members suggested a key way to raise this awareness was submitting a motion to Council on 3 March 2011. Councillor Hearmon agreed to put forward the motion and Councillor Russell agreed to second it.

Recommendations

1.           To put a motion before Council to raise awareness about the withdrawal of the University of Lincoln’s support from local colleges

2.           To send a letter to the University of Lincoln expressing the concerns of the Committee and asking them to review their approach

12:30                   Councillor Williams left the meeting

Transport

Mr Patience went on to speak to the Committee about the ways in which Lincolnshire County Council (LCC) were proposing changes to their transport arrangements from the next academic year onwards.

• For the 2010/11 academic year, students were expected to contribute £202 a year for transport to and from college. An LCC consultation proposed raising this contribution to £390. While this was a sharp increase, Members recognised that the change brought Lincolnshire to the level of other councils.
• Mr Patience explained the withdrawal of the Educational Maintenance Allowance (EMA). Without the EMA students may be unable to afford increased travel costs.
• LCC had proposed changes to the ‘three-mile’ rule where subsidised transport was provided for students living three miles away from their nearest college that provided the course they wanted to study. Instead the county has been divided up into nine districts. Students will only receive subsidised travel to colleges within their district regardless of whether it provides the course they wanted to study. This will not affect students who are part-way through courses.
• The Principals of four Lincolnshire Colleges were in correspondence with Lincolnshire County Council.
• A public consultation event will take place at the Guildhall Arts Centre, Grantham on Thursday 3 March 2011. Other consultation events are being held in Lincoln and Louth.

Councillors were concerned that students would lose the freedom to choose where and what they study. Members agreed that they should seek to raise awareness of the proposals, and that Councillor Hearmon should submit a second motion to the Council meeting on 3 March 2011. The Committee also wanted to write to the County Council to express their concerns about the proposals.

Recommendations

1.           To put a motion before Council to raise awareness about proposed changes to subsidised transport for further education

2.            To send a letter to Lincolnshire County Council expressing the Committee’s concerns over the proposal that students only receive subsidised transport to prescribed colleges

12:45                   Councillor Russell left the meeting