- the Further and Higher Education Act 1992 (FHEA1992) established an independent further education sector
- all further education and sixth form colleges were brought into the further education sector
- the FEFC, now replaced by the Learning and Skills Council, was established as the main funding body of the further education sector.
This act has been built on and amended by later legislation which will be covered later in this unit.
Sections 18 and 19 of the FHEA1992 describe the powers of further education corporations. To view the extract from the legislation, click here.
The powers are summarised here.
The Powers of Further Education Governing Bodies
Principal powers:
Under the FHEA1992, the principal powers of the further education corporation are to:
- to supply goods and services in connection with the provision of education.
- provide further and higher education
- The goods and services referred to above are those resulting from:
- the provision of education
- the use of facilities
- the expertise of persons employed by them (in the field of their employment)
- the ideas of an employee or student.
Supplementary powers:
Their supplementary powers relate to activities that appear to the corporation to be necessary or expedient for the purpose of or in connection with the exercise of any of their principal powers. The act lists examples of such activities:
- conducting an educational institution
- provision of facilities such as boarding accommodation and recreational facilities for students and staff
- acquiring and disposing of land and other property
- entering into contracts, employment contracts and other contracts, in order to provide further education
- borrowing money and granting security, (this does require the agreement of the Learning and Skills Council)
- investing money
- accepting gifts
- other incidental activities such as founding scholarships or exhibitions, making grants and giving prizes.
Although the act does state that the further education corporation may do anything which appears to be necessary or expedient to the exercise of their principal powers, this must be interpreted within the context of:
- their principal powers (the provision of further education)
- their Instrument and Articles
- the regulations that govern charities and
- the recommendations of the Nolan Report (covered in Section 3 of this unit).
- You can read the full text of the FHEA1992 here.
The supplementary powers of further education corporations were extended by the Learning and Skills Act 2000, subscribing or otherwise acquiring shares or securities in a company:
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