ABSTRACT
In this chapter we turn to the accountability of the colleges for academic quality through quality assessment and inspection. The line of accountability runs in the opposite direction to the flow of funds. The large and diverse further education sector in England has a framework for financial and academic accountability which derives from the 1992 Further and Higher Education Act. This transferred to colleges and to the Further Education Funding Council (FEFC) a range of functions previously administered by local authorities. Public funding for the sector is voted by parliament through the Department for Education and Employment (DfEE) and allocated to colleges by the FEFC according to a method which is consistent across the country. Colleges are accountable to the FEFC for their use of public money and for the quality of the education they provide, and the FEFC itself is accountable to the DfEE and to parliament. As part of the process for ensuring the proper use of public funds, the FEFC has a financial memorandum with the DfEE and with each college setting out terms and conditions for funding. The FEFC also has a control framework which monitors colleges’ accounts and financial forecasting, their individualized records of staff and students, their claims for funding, their strategic planning and the academic quality of their provision.
