ELWa was an Assembly Sponsored Public Body responsible for post-16 learning in

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

, active from 2000 to 2006. ELWa's functions are now exercised by the Assembly Government's Department for Children, Education, Lifelong Learning and Skills.

Formation and activities

''ELWa - Education and Learning Wales'' was the brand used by the

National Council for Education and Training for Wales National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

(NCETW), an Assembly Sponsored Public Body (ASPB) or

quango A quango or QUANGO (less often QuANGO or QANGO) is an organisation to which a government has devolved power, but which is still partly controlled and/or financed by government bodies. The term was originally a shortening of "quasi-NGO", where N ...

established by the

Learning and Skills Act 2000 The Learning and Skills Act 2000 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It made changes in the funding and administration of further education, and of work-based learning (or apprenticeships) for young people, within England and Wale ...

. NCETW merged the functions of the former training and enterprise councils in Wales with the

Further Education Funding Council for Wales ELWa was an Assembly Sponsored Public Body responsible for post-16 learning in Wales, active from 2000 to 2006. ELWa's functions are now exercised by the Assembly Government's Department for Children, Education, Lifelong Learning and Skills. Form ...

. The organisation's remit was to plan and fund post-16 learning (excluding

higher education Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after compl ...

) in Wales, including

further education Further education (often abbreviated FE) in the United Kingdom and Ireland is education in addition to that received at secondary school, that is distinct from the higher education (HE) offered in universities and other academic institutions. It ...

, publicly funded work-based training, adult community learning and

school A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes co ...

sixth form In the education systems of England, Northern Ireland, Wales, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepare for ...

s. NCETW/ELWa's main statutory responsibilities were to: * Secure the provision of facilities for post-16 education and training in Wales (with the exception of higher education (covered by the other ELWa partner,

Higher Education Funding Council for Wales The Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW) is the Welsh Government Sponsored Body responsible for funding the higher education sector. Functions HEFCW distributes funds for education, research and related activities at Wales's hi ...

); * Encourage young people and adults to participate in learning; and * Encourage employers to participate in, and contribute to the costs of, post-16 education and training. The Welsh Assembly Government treated ELWa as a single entity although it was not constituted as one.

Re-organisation

Initially the ELWa brand was used by both the NCETW and the

(HEFCW), and both organisations shared a common executive with some joint staff co-located in

Llanishen Llanishen (Welsh language, Welsh Llanisien ''llan'' church + ''Isien'' Saint Isan) is a district and Community (Wales), community in the north of Cardiff, Wales. Its population as of the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 17,417. Lla ...

(NCETW also maintained the former TEC offices in

Bedwas Bedwas is a town situated two miles north-east of Caerphilly, south Wales, situated in the Caerphilly county borough, within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire. Bedwas neighbours Trethomas, Graig-y-Rhacca and Machen, and forms a council ...

Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the C ...

, Newtown and

St Asaph St Asaph (; cy, Llanelwy "church on the Elwy") is a city and community on the River Elwy in Denbighshire, Wales. In the 2011 Census it had a population of 3,355, making it the second-smallest city in Britain in terms of population and urban ...

). Following a review in 2002 the Welsh Minister for Education and Lifelong Learning, Jane Davidson, decided that each Council should have a full-time dedicated

Chief Executive A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

and Director of Finance. Around the same time it also became apparent that there was no legal basis for the two Councils to jointly employ staff. Subsequently the brand name ELWa was retained solely by NCETW.

Criticism

During its short history, ELWa attracted criticism for a series of failures in

financial management Financial management is the business function concerned with profitability, expenses, cash and credit, so that the "organization may have the means to carry out its objective as satisfactorily as possible;" the latter often defined as maximizin ...

, poor risk management and organisational restructuring.

Merger with Welsh Assembly Government

ELWa was merged with the

Welsh Assembly Government Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...

on 1 April 2006, along with the

Welsh Development Agency Welsh Development Agency (WDA; cy, Awdurdod Datblygu Cymru) was an executive agency (or QUANGO) and later designated an Assembly Sponsored Public Body (ASPB). Established in 1976, it was tasked with rescuing the ailing Welsh economy by encour ...

and Wales Tourist Board. ELWa's functions are now exercised by the

Welsh Government The Welsh Government ( cy, Llywodraeth Cymru) is the Welsh devolution, devolved government of Wales. The government consists of ministers and Minister (government), deputy ministers, and also of a Counsel General for Wales, counsel general. Minist ...

's Department for Education and Skills (DfES).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elwa Welsh Government Education in Wales Welsh Government sponsored bodies Defunct public bodies of the United Kingdom