The Skills Funding Agency was one of two successor organisations that emerged from the closure in 2010 of the Learning and Skills Council (England's largest

non-departmental public body In the United Kingdom, non-departmental public body (NDPB) is a classification applied by the Cabinet Office, Treasury, the Scottish Government and the Northern Ireland Executive to public sector organisations that have a role in the process o ...

or quango). The agency was in turn replaced by the Education and Skills Funding Agency in 2017. The restructuring of the English skills system was announced by Prime Minister

Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in Tony ...

shortly after he took office in 2007. The office of the Chief Executive of Skills Funding was established in law by the

Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009 The Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009 (c 22) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It alters the law relating to education. The precursors of this Act were the white paper "Raising Expectations: Enabling the ...

. The office was originally a corporation sole, and employees were appointed by the Chief Executive as

Crown servant The term "Crown servant" is used to denote a "person employed by the Crown". Although the term is not consistently defined, generally speaking the term encompasses all executive officials and their staffs, civil servants, police, judicial official ...

s, collectively referred to as the Skills Funding Agency (SFA). The Chief Executive was appointed by the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills. Further legislation was passed in 2012, with the Agency becoming an Executive Agency of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. The agency funded skills training for further education (FE) in England. Its scope included

apprenticeship Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners to gain a ...

s and

adult education Adult education, distinct from child education, is a practice in which adults engage in systematic and sustained self-educating activities in order to gain new forms of knowledge, skills, attitudes, or values. Merriam, Sharan B. & Brockett, Ral ...

; it also implemented initiatives funded by the European Social Fund. The agency supported over 1,000 colleges, private training organisations, and employers with more than £4 billion of funding each year. The SFA's mission was to ensure that people and businesses could access the skills training they needed to succeed in playing their part in society and in growing England’s economy. This was done in the context of policy set by government and informed by the needs of businesses, communities and regions, and sector and industry bodies. The SFA employed around 925 staff at its head office in

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed b ...

and in offices around England. It ran the National Apprenticeship Service and the National Careers Service. In January 2012, Chief Executive Geoff Russell announced his resignation, and on 30 May 2012, it was announced by Skills Minister, John Hayes that Kim Thorneywork had been appointed as interim Chief Executive. In November 2014, Peter Lauener was appointed as Chief Executive. Following machinery of Government changes, the Skills Funding Agency became an executive agency of the Department for Education in 2016. The Skills Funding Agency was abolished on 31 March 2017. Its former functions, together with those of the former Education Funding Agency, were transferred to the Education and Skills Funding Agency, created on 1 April 2017.

References

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Skills Funding Agency
{{Authority control 2010 establishments in the United Kingdom Defunct executive agencies of the United Kingdom government Department for Education Education in England Government agencies established in 2010 Higher education organisations based in the United Kingdom 2017 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Organisations based in Coventry

See also

References

External links