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

Data management
82. The Internal Audit review
undertaken in early 2009 looked
at the corporate management of
LSC data including identification,
documentation and specification
of business requirements and
ownership of data sets.
83. The review identified that there
were significant initiatives being
driven forward to improve controls
and procedures around corporate
data management. These included
work streams around the
Information Security Improvement
Project, the implementation of
the Mood enterprise architecture
toolset and the Reporting and
Management Information Tools
Policy. The review concluded
that while these were positively
contributing to governance and
control, until they were fully
implemented only a restricted
assurance could be given.
Business change
programmes
84. The Internal Audit review
concluded that effective
corporate programme and
project management was not
embedded across the LSC.
A supportive programme
management framework to
ensure delivery was not in place,
leading to exposure to the key
risk of failing to effectively design
and set up programmes and
projects that contributed to the
achievement of LSC objectives
and impacting on the LSC’s
ability to engage effectively
with the sponsor departments.
Many of the requirements of the
OGC framework for managing
projects were missing. Work was
commissioned by the National
Director of Finance and Resources
to develop a table of the biggest
projects in the LSC; this also
identified significant issues
regarding governance and project
management.
85. Following agreement of the top
programmes and risks, work was
undertaken with SROs to adopt
the training required to carry out
the roles as set out in the OGC
framework. In order to facilitate
and support the introduction
of the framework, a Corporate
Programme Management Office
function was created to act as
a centre of excellence. Other
aspects of the framework will
also be implemented. This work
was supported by the Director
of Information Management
Strategy, who agreed that a
consolidated approach to change
programmes was necessary
that would integrate the overall
business change programme and
support information management
programmes.
86. In the absence of an information
compliance statement, Internal
Audit was unable to give any
in-year assurance on IT-related
legislation.
Train to Gain
87. The National Audit Office
undertook an evaluation of how
effectively Train to Gain had been
designed and implemented and
assessed its performance from its
introduction in March 2006. The
report, Train to Gain: Developing
the skills of the workforce,
was prepared for Parliament
and published in July 2009. It
concluded that the programme
was not good value for money.
88. BIS and the LSC’s view was that
while inevitably there was some
‘deadweight’ in this programme,
overall it was a valuable and
effective way of increasing
essential skills for those already in
the workforce, and was doing so
in record numbers at the height
of the recession, precisely when it
was most needed.
89. Following the National Audit
Office report, the Public Accounts
Committee took evidence in late
2009 and published its report
in January 2010. The Public
Accounts Committee concluded
that Train to Gain had not been
well managed, and there should
have been realistic targets and
better management of demand,
together with more focus on the
areas where it had been most
effective. BIS and the LSC agreed
that it was a sensible stage at
which to implement a number of
refinements and, indeed, many of
these had been in the process of
implementation.
42 LSC Annual Report and Accounts 2009–10