The Learning and Skills Councils Annual Report and Accounts for ...

• Following a referral to the
IAIU in early 2006, a lengthy
investigation and subsequent
referral to the police, two
defendants appeared in court
on 29 September 2009 charged
with offences under the Forgery
and Counterfeiting Act 1981.
The defendants have recently
pleaded guilty, and sentencing
is expected at a later date.
Machinery of
Government/transition
62. The YPLA and the Skills Funding
Agency operated in shadow form
to 31 March 2010. The YPLA
Chief Executive Designate was
appointed in July 2009. An Acting
Chief Executive Designate of
Skills Funding was appointed in
December 2009.
63. The LSC’s governance
arrangements were revised to
reflect the requirements of the
LSC, the Skills Funding Agency and
the YPLA. Non-executive structures
were aligned and three separate
Committees of National Council
were established. These were the
YPLA Committee, the Adult Skills
and Apprenticeships Committee
and the Chair’s Committee, which
was responsible for the LSC as
a whole. The work of the LSC
Council was facilitated through
these committees and ensured
that the LSC complied with its
statutory requirements. A number
of LSC executive groups and
boards were replaced by a more
streamlined structure.
64. The Management Group was also
reformed and further groups were
established, including the Regional
Directors’ Group and a Transition
Management Team. The role of the
latter was to direct, oversee and
maintain accountability through
the transition from the LSC to the
new bodies.
65. LSC regions defined their transition
and handover plans. A summary
of the core issues arising from
group and regional transition plans
was prepared and discussed by
senior management, and a highlevel
National Transition Plan was
presented to the Management
Group in September 2009.
66. Internal Audit work through the
year confirmed that while the
YPLA and the Skills Funding
Agency operated in shadow
form to March 2010, the risks
associated with transition into
the new bodies were successfully
managed.
67. As part of the transition process,
all regions were required to
provide details of their risks
and to agree a handover
process to new owners. A final
Performance and Risk Report
was produced that identified all
the LSC risks transferring, with
acknowledgements from the new
risk owners that the risks were
formally transferred.
National Apprenticeship
Service
68. The National Apprenticeship
Service (NAS) came into
operation in April 2009. Work was
undertaken by Internal Audit to
look at the implementation of the
recommendations made in the
government health check of the
online National Apprenticeship
Vacancy Matching Service and the
Office of Government Commerce
(OGC) Gateway review completed
in late 2008. They found that
all the recommendations in
the health check and six of 10
recommendations in the OGC
review had been implemented
by mid-2009, with appropriate
progress made on the remaining
four.
69. In April 2010, the NAS underwent
a further OGC review (Operations
Review and Benefits Realisation),
which rated the service as
amber (successful delivery
appears feasible). It found that
the NAS had achieved the
initial programme objectives
of establishing an organisation
with clear vision and had an
enthusiastic and dedicated
workforce. The review found the
service to be of great benefit,
particularly to stakeholders, and
made four recommendations,
which have been accepted by
management and are being
actioned during 2010.
70. In addition, work by Internal
Audit was undertaken to ensure
that effective governance,
accountability and management
arrangements were in place for
the establishment of the NAS.
While Internal Audit concluded
that some evidence existed
to demonstrate that the risks
were being managed, it made a
number of recommendations but
was able to give only a limited
assurance over the level of control
established throughout the
organisation.
71. A follow-up review in early
2010 found that the audit
recommendations had been
40 LSC Annual Report and Accounts 2009–10