Councils accused of failing to work with providers as 16 to 19 transfer draws near

8 March 2010 1 min read Lauren Higgs Education

Local authorities are failing to work with young people's training providers, despite the fact they take responsibility for planning and funding 16 to 19 learning in less than a month, the Association of Learning Providers (ALP) has warned.

Paul Eeles, 14 to 19 director at ALP, claimed councils had been unresponsive to providers' attempts to engage in joint training.

"There is no evidence to give providers confidence that they are known and understood by local authorities," he said. "ALP offered to attend local authority training sessions, but this has not been taken up. Less than a month before the transfer, providers are still waiting to know what their relationship with local authorities will be."

According to a member survey by ALP, 40 per cent of providers rate councils' attempts at engaging with them as "poor" or "very poor". More than a third of providers also have little or no confidence in local authorities' ability to take over 16 to 19 provision from the Learning and Skills Council (LSC).

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