Mayors to take control of sixth form funding

Mayors will be handed control of sixth form funding in a radical break from England’s Whitehall-run post-16 education system.

School sixth forms, sixth form colleges, further education colleges and independent training providers are all within scope of major reforms announced by prime minister Andy Burnham tonight.

Number 10 described the plans as the biggest transfer of power, funding and responsibility from Westminster in a generation.

Local leaders will also gain greater control over employment support, transport, housing, planning and public services.

The announcement came with no detail on implementation, and like Monday’s announcement of technical pathways in schools for 14-year-olds comes after all schools broke up for the summer.

Instead, the government will publish proposals and a timetable in a white paper alongside the autumn budget.

The government expects arrangements to differ between areas and will work with schools, colleges mayors and other partners to agree the precise parameters and protections before powers are devolved.

Places without a mayor will be supported to establish strategic authorities and gain control over local priorities, the announcement said.

‘Nightmayor’

The announcement marks a dramatic reversal after years of tension between mayors and the Department for Education over control of post-16 funding.

Mayors have repeatedly demanded influence over the national 16-19 budget, arguing local leaders are better placed to align courses to the needs of their local economies

But ministers have until now resisted those calls.

Skills minister Jacqui Smith, recently reappointed by Burnham, acknowledged last year there was “tension” between DfE and mayors on this issue.

She told MPs: “I could not envisage that we would devolve all of 16-19 funding to mayors,” although she suggested individual elements could be transferred.

Burnham himself, then mayor of Greater Manchester, had described DfE, then led by Bridget Phillipson, whom he demoted in last week’s reshuffle, as his “biggest frustration” because it would not release control over post-16 education.

It comes days after government announced mayors and other local leaders will design the new technical education pathways for pupils from the age of 14.

Timescales and workload implications

The proposals leave schools facing the prospect of dealing with three separate entities over elements of their funding: the DfE, mayors and local authorities.

They also come as many areas of the country are due to imminently go through local government reorganisation, with larger unitary authorities due to replace district and county councils.

Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, criticised the fact there was “very little detail about what this will mean in practice for colleges and schools.

He said improved links between education, skills and local employment opportunities “could be a positive step towards reducing the staggering number of young people not currently learning nor earning.

“However, headteachers and college principals have already raised concerns about the timescales and workload implications of delivering the prime minister’s new reforms, on top of a mountain of policy changes already underway.

“The real test will be whether there are more opportunities for young people in the postcodes where this is most needed, not fewer; and that devil will be in the detail, detail that we don’t yet have.”

‘Tread very carefully’

David Hughes, chief executive of the Association of Colleges, said the announcement could be a “very positive step”, giving colleges greater investment, support and prominence in local economies.

But he warned the plans would “tear up” the national system and make colleges and school sixth forms accountable to elected mayors.

AoC said the existing £9.5 billion system serves 1.275 million students across more than 2,500 colleges, schools and training organisations.

Hughes urged ministers to “tread very carefully”, work through the detail with the sector and pilot changes before a wider rollout.

He called for a strong national framework with “guide-rails” to reduce the risks of devolution.

Sixth Form Colleges Association chief executive Bill Watkin also welcomed the opportunity for schools and colleges to work more closely with devolved authorities.

But he said any new model must give college leaders freedom to respond to local needs while preserving equal access to academic routes.

Watkin said: “We look forward to a high-trust system where college leaders have the freedom to tailor their curriculum and resources to meet the individual needs of students.

“That means a system in which colleges can both meet local skills needs, and deliver a core academic curriculum that gives students equal access to higher education and graduate jobs, irrespective of where they come from.”

Already devolved adults

Mayors have had control over adult skills budgets since they were devolved out of the Department for Education in 2019.

Those powers allow local leaders to commission courses against local economic and social priorities, set their own funding rules and eligibility requirements within budgets determined by central government.

Devolution has allowed authorities to set local priorities, widen access to selected courses and vary funding rules according to regional needs.

This has led to varying eligibility rules, funding rates and accountability arrangements in different parts of the country.

The freedoms have also given elected mayors the ability to exclude groups from accessing public funding.

Greater Lincolnshire’s Reform UK mayor, Andrea Jenkyns, decided that English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) courses will not be funded from the area’s devolved adult skills budget for most learners from August 2027.

Elsewhere, the announcement confirms trailed plans to allow mayors to retain a greater share of locally generated business rates and income tax revenues. Meanwhile, in Whitehall, the civil service will become “smaller and more strategic, focusing on the responsibilities that are best exercised at a national level.”