11. Where appropriate, support services should be co-ordinated and harmonised to produce cost savings and standardisation of procedures.

The Department will continue to work with the sector to develop, where appropriate, common solutions and support services to provide best value for money and to avoid duplication of effort.

12. Urgent need for the provision of a vastly improved common statistical database on students and staff, to reflect trends in personnel issues and record the outcomes for students attending FE course. The information produced must be consistent across all colleges.

The Department is actively pursuing the development of an improved management information system in colleges.

13. Members of Boards of Governors must receive effective training on their roles and responsibilities. The composition of Governing Bodies should reflect the communities which the colleges serve.

The Department agrees on the need for effective training on the roles and responsibilities of governors. Significant focus will be given to training Governors, especially in relation to accountability, as soon as the new Governors are appointed.

14. Further Education Colleges should come under the remit of the Assembly Ombudsman.

The Department will consider the need for changes to the existing complaints procedure.

15. Increase the overall student per capita funding to the further education sector, bearing in mind equality considerations between the different educational sectors. We welcome the recent financial support improvements for FE students. The current funding mechanism needs to be changed if it is to achieve its objective of delivering high-class vocational training, that is regarded as on a par with academic qualifications.

The Department will consider a review of the funding mechanism to ensure that it supports the Department's objective of delivering high-class vocational education to support economic development. Any increase in funding for FE can only be discussed within the context of the Spending Review.

16. The allocation of funding should be guided by an overall strategic plan for the sector. This will address the issue of funding for centres of excellence, the support of Research and Development, (more likely to be product and process development) and the funding of part-time courses.

The allocation of funding is guided by the overall strategic objectives for the sector. Any review of the funding mechanism will be closely related to the strategy for the sector.

17. Closer links with local industry, industrial development organisations, including increased staff participation in the Lecturers into Industry initiative (see Recommendation 37).

The Department supports closer links between FE and Industry. It is examining, currently, how the Lecturers into Industry can be extended to other vocational areas and also include employers working in colleges.

18. Increase the availability of places on Higher National Diploma/Higher National Certificate and other courses which lead to professional qualifications in Information and Communication Technology (ICT).

The Department has given priority and incentive funds to providing courses leading to qualifications in ICT.

19. Include an ICT Module on all further education courses. All full-time students should ideally have achieved the ICT competence of the ECDL by the time they complete their course.

The Department will consider the place of ICT within the curriculum for full-time students.

20. Increase funding to the university sector to ensure that high quality staff are attracted and retained, and to develop the research base of the universities. This should include increasing and developing matched private sector funding initiatives such as the Support Programme for University Research (SPUR).

This recommendation requires additional resources which can only be sought in the Spending Review.

21. Further develop links between higher education and business. This includes developing initiatives such as the Teaching Company Scheme; industry and charity sponsored professional chairs; technology incubation units; science parks; spin-off companies; encouraging entrepreneurship through innovative approaches to programme design and specialist postgraduate programmes.

The Department will continue to promote links between HE and industry. This work will also fall to DETI and to DTI, in Whitehall.

22. A continued increase in the number of university places especially in areas of skill shortages, in line with the Committee's recommendation in its Report on Student Finance, 12 October 2000.

An increase of 5,500 in HE places is planned in the period up to 2005. Further expansion would depend on competing public expenditure priorities.

23. Co-ordination of all initiatives, not only those funded by Government, which aim to increase access to higher education. This should have a particular focus on the outreach projects which link the universities to the community.

Widening access is a high Departmental priority. The range of current initiatives will be evaluated in due course.

24. Monitor the effectiveness and equality impact of the new measures for student financial support.

The Department is committed to completing an evaluation of the new student support arrangements by January 2008 and conducting preliminary assessments in 2004 and 2006.

25. Further develop partnerships between the education sector and private training providers.

The Department accepts that a partnership between private training providers and statutory providers is advantageous. Jobskills relies in large part on such partnerships eg in the delivery of the employer led Modern Apprenticeships. The current review of 16-19 review will include consideration of this issue.

26. An improved, more comprehensive, streamlined and effective National Training Organisation and Sectoral Training Council structure in Northern Ireland to enhance its role in developing a highly skilled workforce.

Agreed. Building on the work of a national policy on sector development, agreed in UK and devolved administrations, the Department is consulting, locally, on the interface between UK-wide sector organisations and NI infrastructures.

27. Continuously monitor and develop Modern Apprenticeships to meet changing labour demands.

Agreed. In the light of the recent review of Modern Apprenticeships by Sir John Cassells the Department will review experience in Northern Ireland.

28. Continuously monitor, evaluate and improve New Deal so that it achieves its employment outcomes in the most cost effective manner. We welcome the Needs and Effectiveness Evaluation of Training and Vocational Education initiated by the Northern Ireland Executive. We also welcome the inter-departmental TaskForce on Employability and Long-term Unemployment. The Committee further recommends that the Department considers other training schemes, which would better address the equal opportunities issues surrounding the availability of training.

The Department has an extensive programme of evaluation into the effectiveness, efficiency and equity of the New Deal initiatives which informs the development and delivery of the New Deal programmes. Two reports detailing the results of the first stage of a major independent survey of over 1,500 New Deal participants were published on 15 November 2001.

Following a wide-ranging consultation exercise an enhanced New Deal 25+ programme was introduced on 9 April 2001 with improvements at every stage of New Deal participation. The Department is taking forward the recommendations of the Basic Skills Working Group and the Multiple Barriers Working Group. These include the use of a Basic Skills Tool Kit which was recently introduced to assist Personal Advisers identify basic skills indicators and the implementation of standard assessment arrangements to be used by Basic Skills providers.

The Department is also committed to a Continuous Improvement policy in relation to the New Deal initiatives. This policy has previously resulted in the decrease in the number of administration forms and the introduction of short accredited vocational training courses. A review of the New Deal for 18-24 year olds programme, which will include consultation with interested parties, has recently commenced.

Following an internal review of the Department's provision for unemployed adults the Focus for Work programme was introduced in October 2001. Focus for Work is a voluntary programme open to both benefit and non-benefit recipients which includes provision for training (Training for Work) lasting up to 26 weeks leading to accredited qualifications.

It is expected that Training for Work will particularly appeal to returners to the labour market, most of whom will be women as entry is not based on receipt of Jobseeker's Allowance or any Social Security benefit.

29. Support the continuing development of the Northern Ireland Credit Accumulation and Transfer System (NICATS) initiative

The Department is supportive of the NICATS project.

30. Include International industry-standard qualifications as components of vocational qualifications

The Department agrees that vocational qualifications should reflect the needs of industry.

31. Facilitate an inter-departmental focus to ensure parity of esteem for vocational and academic qualifications.

The Department will engage actively with DE and CCEA in the forthcoming year and will take forward its own review of the provision for 16-19 year olds.

32. Initiate and fund, as a matter of urgency, a research project to evaluate the three types of qualifications.

As part of the review of 16-19 provision, the inspection and CCEA's evaluation, the Department will evaluate the need to initiate further research to evaluate the three types of qualifications.

33. In principle, the Committee supports the UK Skills Task Force recommendation that learning to level 3 (craft/technician level) should be free of charge to all up until their twenty-fifth birthday, and asks the Department to provide costings in order to determine its feasibility.

The Department already has in place policies in relation to fee remission for full-time students aged under 19 and full-time students aged 19 and over on vocational FE courses.

The UK recommendation is the subject of a review of workforce development in the UK to which the Department is contributing. Following publication of the initial report, the Department can consider how best to address further the issue in Northern Ireland.

34. Continue to develop the Individual Learning Accounts scheme with greater targeting and financial support for those in most need without creating excessive administrative costs.

Agreed. ILA's are currently under review and the Assembly Committee recommendations will be fully taken into account.

35. The Committee supports the further development of initiatives to assist with childcare and those with educational special needs and disabilities in order to facilitate increased access to all education and training.

Widening access to and increasing participation in further and higher education is a key departmental aim with a particular focus on students with learning difficulties and/or disabilities (SLDD). A wide range of interventions are already in place and will be supplemented by the introduction of the forthcoming Special Education Needs and Disability Bill being taken forward in conjunction with the Department of Education.

36. The Department must give priority to the implementation of an enhanced independent, comprehensive and up-to-date careers education and guidance service based on best practice and extensive use of Information and Communication Technology.

The Department welcomes the recommendation and will await the outcomes of the Review of Careers Education and Guidance before building on existing policy actions to meet the challenge of implementing an enhanced guidance service. Funding implications may have to be considered in the Spending Review.

37 & 38

Greater work related experiences for all teachers, students and lecturers for substantive periods based on the Northern Ireland Business and Education Partnership (NIBEP) model.

Increase funding to NIBEP in order that it can further its work in developing links between business and education.

The Department welcomes the recommendations but notes the appreciation of the current constraints on public sector finances. The Department is committed, with the other sponsoring Departments, to securing adequate funding to develop this important area of work.

39. Urgent completion and effective implementation, at the inter-departmental level, of the Research, Development and Innovation Strategy for Northern Ireland.

The Department supports this recommendation and will seek to work, cross-departmentally, towards the completion and effective implementation of the Strategy's recommendations.

40. Substantial funding increases for Research and Development (R&D) to counteract the current and previous low levels of financial support in comparison to our international competitors. Whilst the majority of university R&D funding should be linked to the university Research Assessment Exercise, 10% as recommended by the Northern Ireland Economic Council, should be earmarked for research that is of particular relevance to Northern Ireland.

Additional funding for university R&D is subject to competing priorities and can only be raised in the Spending Review.

41. Establish a single unit to co-ordinate and promote government funded R&D in Northern Ireland, including individual bids for Research and Development for all government departments, and develop well-designed research collaboration and technology transfer schemes with other countries.

This will be a matter for the Executive as a whole.

42. Implementation of a clear structure to give academic staff sufficient incentives and flexibility to take research ideas, and even company start-ups, to commercial fruition.

This will be a matter for the United Kingdom HE sector as a whole.

43. The Department for Trade and Investment to match, at least in part, any research funding raised by higher education from the private sector through business-university links, as an incentive to promoting closer links between higher education and industry.

Additional funding of this kind is a matter for DETI.

FUNDING/RESOURCE RECOMMENDATIONS

Further additional funding and resources should be made immediately available to support literacy and numeracy development schemes to correct the poor levels of adult basic skills in Northern Ireland. These schemes should include provision for both personal development and social skills training.

Basic skills has a high priority within the Department. The Draft Strategy currently being prepared will set out the Department's proposals for adult literacy and identify how it intends to support and develop new provision. It will include recommendations in relation to standards, curriculum, assessment and the dissemination of best practice across all programmes, including in the workplace. Additional resources can only be discussed within the context of the Spending Review.

Initiate and fund research into developing effective models of workplace basic skills development and the effective sharing of best practice.

Basic skills has a high priority within the Department. The Draft Strategy currently being prepared will set out the Department's proposals for adult literacy and identify how it intends to support and develop new provision. It will include recommendations in relation to standards, curriculum, assessment and the dissemination of best practice across all programmes, including in the workplace. Additional resources can only be discussed within the context of the Spending Review.

Greater government support for workplace development, community education and outreach programmes aiming to improve ICT skills, to enable everyone to operate within the ICT driven economy.

The Department will continue to focus and provide additional funding to ICT to widen access and to support economic development. ICT and ICT-related areas will remain a priority skill area for the Department.

Increase the overall student per capita funding to the further education sector, bearing in mind equality considerations between the different educational sectors. We welcome the recent financial support improvements for FE students. The current funding mechanism needs to be changed if it is to achieve its objective of delivering high-class vocational training, that is regarded as on a par with academic qualifications.

The Department will consider a review of the funding mechanism to ensure that it supports the Department's objective of delivering high-class vocational education to support economic development. Any increase in funding for FE can only be discussed within the context of the Spending Review.

Increase the availability of places on Higher National Diploma/Higher National Certificate and other courses which lead to professional qualifications in Information and Communication Technology (ICT).

The Department has given priority and incentive funds to providing courses leading to qualifications in ICT.

Increase funding to the university sector to ensure that high quality staff are attracted and retained, and to develop the research base of the universities. This should include increasing and developing matched private sector funding initiatives such as the Support Programme for University Research (SPUR).

This recommendation requires additional resources which can only be sought in the Spending Review.

A continued increase in the number of university places especially in areas of skill shortages, in line with the Committee's recommendation in its Report on Student Finance, 12 October 2000.

An increase of 5,500 in HE places is planned in the period up to 2005. Further expansion would depend on competing public expenditure priorities.

In principle, the Committee supports the UK Skills Task Force recommendation that learning to level 3 (craft/technician level) should be free of charge to all up until their twenty-fifth birthday, and asks the Department to provide costings in order to determine its feasibility.

The Department already has in place policies in relation to fee remission for full-time students aged under 19 and full-time students aged 19 and over on vocational FE courses.

The UK recommendation is the subject of a review of workforce development in the UK to which the Department is contributing. Following publication of the initial report, the Department can consider how best to address further the issue in Northern Ireland.

The committee supports the further development of initiatives to assist with childcare and those with educational special needs and disabilities in order to facilitate increased access to all education and training.

Widening access to and increasing participation in further and higher education is a key departmental aim with a particular focus on students with learning difficulties and/or disabilities (SLDD). A wide range of interventions are already in place and will be supplemented by the introduction of the forthcoming Special Education Needs and Disability Bill being taken forward in conjunction with the Department of Education.

The Department must give priority to the implementation of an enhanced independent, comprehensive and up-to-date careers education and guidance service based on best practice and extensive use of Information and Communication Technology.

The Department welcomes the recommendation and will await the outcomes of the Review of Careers Education and Guidance before building on existing policy actions to meet the challenge of implementing an enhanced guidance service. Funding implications may have to be considered in the Spending Review.

Greater work related experiences for all teachers, students and lecturers for substantive periods based on the Northern Ireland Business Education Partnership (NIBEP) model.

The Department welcomes the recommendations but notes the appreciation of the current constraints on public sector finances. The Department is committed, with the other sponsoring Departments, to securing adequate funding to develop this important area of work.

Substantial funding increases for Research and Development (R&D) to counteract the current and previous low levels of financial support in comparison to our international competitors. Whilst the majority of university R&D funding should be linked to the university Research Assessment Exercise, 10% as recommended by the Northern Ireland Economic Council, should be earmarked for research that is of particular relevance to Northern Ireland.

Additional funding for university R&D is subject to competing priorities and can only be raised in the Spending Review.

Policy/Structural Recommendations

Recommendation 3
Develop flexible and dynamic policies to deal with retraining and reskilling in a range of situations, especially large-scale redundancies. These should include fast-track training programmes to address particular sectoral, or geographical areas, of skill shortages.

The Department is continually reviewing initiatives to ensure the needs of employees are met. Recent redundancies, especially following September 11, are being addressed with the companies most affected and, if necessary, the Department will adjust programmes to seek to minimise unemployment.

Recommendation 7
Rationalise and develop existing initiatives such as the Skills Task Force, Executive Recruitment Watch and the Priority Skills Unit.

Agreed. The NI Skills Task Force sets the research agenda for the Priority Skills Unit within NIERC and agrees the funding available for surveys supplied by DEL such as Executive Recruitment Watch.

Recommendation 11
Where appropriate, support services should be co-ordinated and harmonised to produce cost savings and standardisation of procedures.

The Department will continue to work with the sector to develop, where appropriate, common solutions and support services to provide best value for money and to avoid duplication of effort.

Recommendation 13
Members of Boards of Governors must receive effective training on their roles and responsibilities. The composition of Governing Bodies should reflect the communities which the colleges serve.

The Department agrees on the need for effective training on the roles and responsibilities of Governors. Significant focus will be given to training governors, especially in relation to accountability, as soon as the new Governors are appointed.

Recommendation 14
Further Education Colleges should come under the remit of the Assembly Ombudsman.

The Department will consider the need for changes to the existing complaints procedure.

Recommendation 17
Closer links with local industry, industrial development organisations, including increased staff participation in the Lecturers into Industry initiative (see Recommendation 37).

The Department supports closer links between FE and Industry. It is examining, currently, how the Lecturers into Industry can be extended to other vocational areas and also include employers working in colleges.

Recommendation 23
Co-ordination of all initiatives, not only those funded by Government, which aim to increase access to higher education. This should have a particular focus on the outreach projects which link the universities to the community.

Widening access is a high Departmental priority. The range of current initiatives will be evaluated in due course.

Recommendation 25
Further develop partnerships between the education sector and private training providers.

The Department accepts that a partnership between private training providers and statutory providers is advantageous. Jobskills relies in large part on such partnerships eg in the delivery of the employer led Modern Apprenticeships. The current review of 16-19 review will include consideration of this issue.

Recommendation 26
An improved, more comprehensive, streamlined and effective National Training Organisation and Sectoral Training Council structure in Northern Ireland to enhance its role in developing a highly skilled workforce.

Agreed. Building on the work of a national policy on sector development, agreed in UK and devolved administrations, the Department is consulting, locally, on the interface between UK-wide sector organisations and NI infrastructures.

Continuously monitor, evaluate and improve New Deal so that it achieves its employment outcomes in the most cost effective manner. We welcome the Needs and Effectiveness Evaluation of Training and Vocational Education initiated by the Northern Ireland Executive. We also welcome the inter-departmental TaskForce on Employability and Long-term Unemployment. The Committee further recommends that the Department considers other training schemes, which would better address the equal opportunities issues surrounding the availability of training.

The Department has an extensive programme of evaluation into the effectiveness, efficiency and equity of the New Deal initiatives which informs the development and delivery of the New Deal programmes. Two reports detailing the results of the first stage of a major independent survey of over 1,500 New Deal participants were published on 15 November 2001.

Following a wide-ranging consultation exercise an enhanced New Deal 25+ programme was introduced on 9 April 2001 with improvements at every stage of New Deal participation. The Department is taking forward the recommendations of the Basic Skills Working Group and the Multiple Barriers Working Group. These include the use of a Basic Skills Tool Kit which was recently introduced to assist Personal Advisers identify basic skills indicators and the implementation of standard assessment arrangements to be used by Basic Skills providers.

The Department is also committed to a Continuous Improvement policy in relation to the New Deal initiatives. This policy has previously resulted in the decrease in the number of administration forms and the introduction of short accredited vocational training courses. A review of the New Deal for 18-24 year olds programme, which will include consultation with interested parties, has recently commenced.

Following an internal review of the Department's provision for unemployed adults the Focus for Work programme was introduced in October 2001. Focus for Work is a voluntary programme open to both benefit and non-benefit recipients which includes provision for training (Training for Work) lasting up to 26 weeks leading to accredited qualifications.

It is expected that Training for Work will particularly appeal to returners to the labour market, most of whom will be women as entry is not based on receipt of Jobseeker's Allowance or any Social Security benefit.

Support the continuing development of the Northern Ireland Credit Accumulation and Transfer System (NICATS) initiative

The Department is supportive of the NICATS project.

Continue to develop the Individual Learning Accounts scheme with greater targeting and financial support for those in most need without creating excessive administrative costs.

Agreed. ILA's are currently under review and the Assembly Committee recommendations will be fully taken into account.

Increase funding to NIBEP in order that it can further its work in developing links between business and education.

The Department welcomes the recommendations but notes the appreciation of the current constraints on public sector finances. The Department is committed, with the other sponsoring Departments, to securing adequate funding to develop this important area of work.

Implementation of a clear structure to give academic staff sufficient incentives and flexibility to take research ideas, and even company start-ups, to commercial fruition.

This will be a matter for the United Kingdom HE sector as a whole.

Inter-Departmental Recommendations

Serious consideration must be given in the current review of 16-19 curriculum, as to how the relative and/or absolute decline in students studying quantitative and scientific subjects can be reversed, in order to ensure that more people, at secondary and tertiary level, study mathematics and sciences.

The Department acknowledges that the education and training provision for 16-19 year olds is an issue which should receive consideration. The specific recommendation made by the Committee is, however, an area that rests mainly with the Department of Education since decisions on curriculum choices are often made at an earlier age. The Department will raise the issue with DE within the context of the Key Stage 3 and 4 Curriculum review and of the post- primary review.

Further develop links between higher education and business. This includes developing initiatives such as the Teaching Company Scheme; industry and charity sponsored professional chairs; technology incubation units; science parks; spin-off companies; encouraging entrepreneurship through innovative approaches to programme design and specialist postgraduate programmes.

The Department will continue to promote links between HE and industry. This work will also fall to DETI and to DTI, in Whitehall.

Facilitate an inter-departmental focus to ensure parity of esteem for vocational and academic qualifications.

The Department will engage actively with DE and CCEA in the forthcoming year and will take forward its own review of the provision for 16-19 year olds.

Urgent completion and effective implementation, at the inter-departmental level, of the Research, Development and Innovation Strategy for Northern Ireland.

The Department supports this recommendation and will seek to work, cross-departmentally, towards the completion and effective implementation of the Strategy's recommendations.

Establish a single unit to co-ordinate and promote government funded R&D in Northern Ireland, including individual bids for Research and Development for all government departments, and develop well-designed research collaboration and technology transfer schemes with other countries.

This will be a matter for the Executive as a whole.

The Department for Trade and Investment to match, at least in part, any research funding raised by higher education from the private sector through business-university links, as an incentive to promoting closer links between higher education and industry.

Additional funding of this kind is a matter for DETI.

Curricular/Provision Recommendations

Develop appropriate conversion courses in mathematics, the sciences and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) that reflect the needs of industry.

The Department agrees that courses in maths and science and ICT need to reflect the needs of industry. The Department will evaluate the pilot in the North-West Institute and will consider the appropriateness of the conversion course offered in maths and science. The Department will continue to offer and develop appropriate provision in ICT.

Develop appropriate mechanisms to support the training requirements of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises.

Agreed. Work is underway to better target SME's, especially in FE and through learndirect.

Include an ICT Module on all further education courses. All full-time students should ideally have achieved the ICT competence of the ECDL by the time they complete their course.

The Department will consider the place of ICT within the curriculum for full-time students.

Continuously monitor and develop Modern Apprenticeships to meet changing labour demands.

Agreed. In the light of the recent review of Modern Apprenticeships by Sir John Cassells the Department will review experience in Northern Ireland.

Include International industry-standard qualifications as components of vocational qualifications

The Department agrees that vocational qualifications should reflect the needs of industry.

Initiate and fund, as a matter of urgency, a research project to evaluate the three types of qualifications.

As part of the review of 16-19 provision, the inspection and CCEA's evaluation, the Department will evaluate the need to initiate further research to evaluate the three types of qualifications.

FE Strategy Recommendations

The overall further education strategy should include a 3-5 year strategic plan, be urgently completed and implemented for the further education sector. The Strategy should address the key issues of the optimum number of further education colleges in Northern Ireland, and their individual remits, and how to deliver on the objective of acquiring parity of esteem between vocational and academic qualifications (see Recommendation 31).

The Department will set out, in detail, the strategy for the future development of the sector.

Decisions regarding the development of centres of excellence at individual colleges should stem from the overall strategy for the sector. This should be underpinned by a commitment to innovative schemes, which increase access and support a geographical spread of provision across Northern Ireland.

The development of centres of excellence remains a key element in promoting the sector's support for the regional economy. This will be reflected in the published FE strategy.

The allocation of funding should be guided by an overall strategic plan for the sector. This will address the issue of funding for centres of excellence, the support of Research and Development, (more likely to be product and process development) and the funding of part-time courses.

The allocation of funding is guided by the overall strategic objectives for the sector. Any review of the funding mechanism will be closely related to the strategy for the sector.

Statistical Recommendations

Urgent need for the provision of a vastly improved common statistical database on students and staff, to reflect trends in personnel issues and record the outcomes for students attending FE course. The information produced must be consistent across all colleges.

The Department is actively pursuing the development of an improved management information system in colleges.

Monitor the effectiveness and equality impact of the new measures for student financial support.

The Department is committed to completing an evaluation of the new student support arrangements by January 2008 and conducting preliminary assessments in 2004 and 2006.