COLLEGE REACTS TO GOVERNMENT FUNDING ANNOUCEMENT
June 26, 2009 3:05 PM
In response to today's funding announcement from the Learning and Skills Council, David Dodd, Principal of North Devon College said: "Given the relatively small amount of money on the table, we recognise that funding a project of North Devon's scale and ambition is difficult at this time but this is still a huge disappointment.
"While we're pleased for those colleges who are getting something, to a college that has nothing it means nothing.
"I am hopeful that changes within the LSC will draw a line under this appalling mess and ensure that the 'Building Colleges for the Future' programme actually does what it says on the tin.
"The LSC's new chief executive, Geoff Russell, visited North Devon College recently and I welcome his fresh approach to finding solutions to getting projects like ours moving when the public purse is almost empty.
"A new approach is sorely needed, because previous regimes have done us no favours at all.
"North Devon College has seen just £2 million of Government capital for new buildings since colleges were incorporated in 1993.
"In 16 years, I doubt many colleges of our size have suffered such a lack of investment. Today's announcement just adds insult to injury, particularly when you consider the time, money and energy that we and our partners have invested in this project over the last four-and-a-half years.
"Our project brings together the South West Regional Development Agency, the Higher Education Funding Council for England and LSC in a partnership with a vision of learning as the main driver of economic, social and cultural development in an area that desperately needs investment.
"But HEFCE and RDA funding is conditional on support from the LSC as our major backer.
"Ironically, our partner funding agencies now fall under the same wing, inside Government - the new Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, with its mission of 'investing in our future'. This is exactly what we are trying to do in North Devon and there is, perhaps, some light at the end of the tunnel now that Government thinking is wholly in tune with our project's aims and objectives.
"This is not the end of the road for our project. It is widely recognised that a new estate is essential to realising our vision of becoming a world class learning institution at the heart of the community and we will find a way forward, because the need for our project has never been greater.
"In the meantime, buildings are important but it's what goes on inside that really matters and North Devon College's students and staff make us an outstanding success. Not many colleges can say that; new buildings or not."
What would you like to do next?
-
Subscribe for updates
Follow the party's activity on...
- Twitter:
- Liberal Democrats
- Facebook:
- Liberal Democrats
- YouTube:
- Liberal Democrats