ABSTRACT
Born out of its belief in the efficiency of the market in raising educational standards and its dissatisfaction with local government, the Conservative government of the time removed the further education colleges from local authority control, with effect from 1 April 1993. In doing so, it launched one of the most ambitious and risky innovations in public administration in the eighteen years it was in power. It was risky because the colleges were not experienced in self-management-even after the introduction of devolved management in 1990 LEA staff remained available for advice and support and the local authority retained the ultimate legal responsibility. The tradition of interested and committed governance in schools had only patchily been translated into further education colleges. That these risks have not been realized, except in some wellpublicized cases, owes a great deal to the operational framework laid down by the new Further Education Funding Council (FEFC).
