Nick Harvey says, 'The Government has confirmed that it will not bail out the Learning Skills Council over the college funding shambles in the near future. I have been officially notified by Minister that there will be no further movement on this issue.'
Kevin Brennan, Minister for Further Education, Skills, Apprenticeships and consumer Affairs in stating the Government's position says, 'I know that North Devon College, like many other colleges up and down the country with similar good projects, will be disappointed. I can assure you that the process used by the LSC to select projects which are to proceed in the coming months was based on rigorous and fair criteria.
'Whilst we don't anticipate being able to give final approval to any further projects in the immediate future, I would like to reiterate that the Government remains committed to the Further Education capital investment programme.'
Nick concludes, 'Regardless of Government apologies this whole affair has left a bad taste and there is no hiding the fact that those projects selected to go ahead are in Labour areas.
'Despite its promise of commitment ultimately the Government is offering little other than support for private finance initiatives and borrowing, which are highly unlikely to meet total funding requirements.'
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