QCA Chief’s reponse to the Tomlinson Report

Within his first 100 days as the Chair of the Learning and Skills Council (LSC), Chris Banks, today enabled the transformation of the LSC and further education sector to take another leap forward by confirming over 50 senior appointments across the country. New appointments include:

Within his first 100 days as the Chair of the Learning and Skills Council (LSC), Chris Banks, today enabled the transformation of the LSC and further education sector to take another leap forward by confirming over 50 senior appointments across the country. New appointments include:

· Sandra Burslem, Vice-Chancellor of Manchester Metropolitan University, as the first female Vice-Chair of the Learning and Skills Council;

· Ian Ferguson, Chairman of Data Connection, as the new chairman of the Young People’s Learning Committee;

· Frances O ‘Grady, Deputy General Secretary of the Trades Union Congress, (TUC) to chair the Adult Learning Committee;

· Shirley Cramer, Chief Executive of the Dyslexia Institute, to chair the new Equality and Diversity Committee; and,

· Nine new local chairs

o Michael Beasley, Birmingham and Solihull

o Andrew Gurr, Cheshire and Warrington

o James Ramsbotham, County Durham

o Jack Stopforth, Cumbria

o Colonel Terry Scriven, Hampshire and Isle of Wight

o Dr Edward Libbey, Norfolk

o Jackie Axelby, Northumberland

o Richard Carter, London South

o Paul Jagger, South Yorkshire

Chris Banks, the new Chairman of the Learning and Skills Council, said: “At the LSC, we have a unique team of people dedicated to making England more competitive. Today’s new appointments and reappointments strengthen our team of experts, all of whom have a wide range of skills and experience in the fields of business, education and employee representation.

“The 750 non-executive members of the LSC will play a pivotal role in the shaping and transforming this country’s further education system so that it delivers for employers. They are the voice of individuals and employers up and down the country.

“I know we will all work tirelessly to understand what business really need from training and show employers the real and substantial return they can reap by investing in training their staff.

“There can be no doubt that money used to buying quality training to improve employees’ skills makes good hard-nosed business sense.“

Education and Skills Secretary Charles Clarke said:

“To deliver an education and training system with the capacity to respond to the economic and social needs of the 21st Century and make fundamental changes in people’s attitudes to learning the LSC needs a committed, dynamic and representative range of members. I am delighted with the appointments that Chris has announced today. I look forward to working with them and their colleagues in building on the excellent progress the LSC has already made.”