Editing Learning and Skills Council (section)

==History==
The LSC was established in April 2001, under the [[Learning and Skills Act 2000]]. It replaced the 72 [[training and enterprise council]]s and the [[Further Education Funding Council for England]]. In 2006 it had an annual budget of £10.4&nbsp;billion.<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.fenews.co.uk/newsview.asp?n=1772|title = Apprenticeships Rise: But Budget Falls|publisher = Further Education News|access-date = 14 August 2006|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060820034238/http://www.fenews.co.uk/newsview.asp?n=1772|archive-date = 20 August 2006|url-status = dead}}</ref> It was described as Britain's largest [[Quango]].<ref>{{cite news |url = http://education.guardian.co.uk/further/story/0,5500,1012817,00.html |title = Former tabloid executive takes charge at LSC |work = [[The Guardian]] | first =Peter |last = Kingston |date = 2003-08-05 | location=London}}</ref>

Until June 2007, it was sponsored by the former [[Department for Education and Skills (United Kingdom)|Department for Education and Skills]] (DfES).

===Economic mismanagement in college re-building===
In July 2009, the [[Public Accounts Committee (United Kingdom)|Public Accounts Committee]] described the LSC's handling of its college building programme as 'catastrophic mismanagement'. It resulted in a £2.7&nbsp;billion debt, with 144 college building contracts having to be terminated abruptly, and leaving many colleges with huge financial penalties for breach of contract with civil engineering companies. 23 colleges have debts of more than 40% of their annual income, with some facing possible financial collapse. The re-building programme had renovated over half of England's colleges since 2001.{{Citation needed|date=April 2015}}

===Abolition===
On 17 March 2008 the abolition of the LSC was announced; funding responsibilities for 16- to 19-year-old learners were to transfer to [[Education Funding Agency]] and the [[Skills Funding Agency]], which was created to distribute funding for apprentices and learners in further education [[List of further education colleges in England|colleges]].<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7300852.stm | work=BBC News | title=£10.4Bn Skills Agency Scrapped | date=17 March 2008 | accessdate=7 May 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.dfes.gov.uk/consultations/conDetails.cfm?consultationId=1520 |title=DfES, e-Consultation<!-- Bot generated title --> |access-date=20 April 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080520042740/http://www.dfes.gov.uk/consultations/conDetails.cfm?consultationId=1520 |archive-date=20 May 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The Machinery of Government announcement heralded the end of the LSC, to make way for the [[Young Peoples Learning Agency]] and the [[Skills Funding Agency]], reporting to DCSF and BIS respectively. These changes started in April 2009 and were completed by March 2010.

===Mark Haysom's resignation===
[[Mark Haysom]] CBE, the second chief executive of the LSC, announced that he was stepping down from his role on 23 March 2009 - taking accountability as Chief Executive for difficulties that the LSC had encountered with a college ([[Private finance initiative|PFI]]) rebuilding programme.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7959232.stm BBC Education | College funding fiasco boss quits]</ref> He was replaced by Geoff Russell, formerly of accountants [[KPMG]].