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30 Part Three Reducing bureaucracy in further education in England 3.9 The experience of the Administrative Burdens Reduction Programme is relevant. This programme was established in 2005 with a target of reducing the administrative burdens on businesses and the third sector from regulations – such as filling out forms and providing information – by a net 25 per cent by 2010. While we had some reservations about the reduction measurements, in 2008 we found that simply having the target was an important driver in incentivising departments to consider the burdens imposed by their regulations. 14 Bottom-up analysis 3.10 It would not have been practicable or appropriate, within the scope of our study, to design a new information and assurance system. Nor could we have carried out the analysis and consultation to establish precisely which items of information continued to be needed, providing benefits to the system, and which did not. Our visits to colleges have given us an insight into which aspects of the system they perceived to be of least benefit. Paragraphs 2.7 to 2.9 above give examples of areas where providers reported that the level of administration was still high. Figure 10 lists the main areas of costs for colleges and the potential impact of removing those areas that providers reported were of least benefit. 3.11 The analysis suggested that colleges saw scope to simplify funding, qualification and assurance systems for providers by around 50 per cent. This would represent a possible cost of around £482,000 per college, which might be released for frontline services. We doubt whether immediate reductions on this scale would be practicable because colleges may not always be aware of the full value of information to other parties, such as the Agency or the Office for National Statistics. In addition, the colleges would not at the time have been able to take into account simplifications planned but not yet implemented. 3.12 Our findings do indicate, nonetheless, that setting an ambition of substantial reductions over a period of time would be achievable and worthwhile, and provide an impetus to change. A reduction of 25 per cent against our estimated cost of administering funding, qualification and assurance systems for the whole further education sector (£250–300 million) would be in the region of £60–75 million. Clear planning as a change programme 3.13 For the Department to simplify funding, qualification and assurance systems it needs a complete picture of its final operating model as a whole, so that its individual initiatives clearly link to a strategy, with milestones, resources and dependencies. Initiatives also need to recognise the impact of change on education providers. The plan should include a clear set of priorities, the timings for the simplification initiatives, how the different initiatives relate to each other and how resources are allocated. Our review of the initiatives found that these elements were weak or, in the case of milestones, missing. Each initiative has been given a projected outcome but the Department lacks 14 National Audit Office, The Administrative Burdens Reduction Programme, 2008, HC 944, 2007-08.
Reducing bureaucracy in further education in England Part Three 31 Figure 10 Areas where the general further education colleges visited by NAO reported simplifi cations were possible Regulatory area Collection and issue of data Qualifications and awarding Funding, financial health and audit Estimated cost (£) Areas where colleges visited reported potential simplifications would be feasible 583,000 Colleges collect more data than they felt they needed and much of what is collected is used to drive the complex funding formula. The information colleges do use is collected with more rigour than is necessary for their own purposes. Changes to data requirements and funding formulas impose significant costs on colleges. Colleges would reduce the data requirements imposed significantly and reduce the frequency of changes to the system. 170,000 Awarding organisations use different data systems causing duplication. Greater standardisation could reduce the time taken over data entry. 99,000 There is some duplication between the various audit requirements and the processes undertaken by different auditors. Estimated potential cost reduction (£) 383,000 80,000 13,000 Inspection and reviews 52,000 Providers see no value from the surveys they carry out for the Department. 6,000 Total 904,000 482,000 NOTE 1 The saving of £482,000 would represent a reduction of 53 per cent on the estimated cost at present. Source: National Audit Office visits to general further education colleges a clear plan setting out how all the initiatives work together as a programme. In relation to dependencies, the Department recognises that many of the initiatives affect each other but there is no detail on how this will be managed. 3.14 The extensive consultation performed by the Department (see paragraphs 2.3–2.5) focused on the concerns surrounding the current system and the proposed reforms. Complexity is not just created by the system in place but also during processes of changing the system to reform it. Our visits and work with providers found that the constant changes, and providing key information late, impose an additional administrative burden on providers. 3.15 While developing many of its initiatives the Agency has estimated the cost implications of the changes to the Agency itself. An example of this is the business case for the IT changes needed for the single account management system. The case to support this IT project focused on the benefits and costs for the Agency of this change. It did not include the impact on providers. The financial impact on providers was not assessed because the Agency expected impacts to almost certainly be positive.
Page 1 and 2: REPORT BY THE COMPTROLLER AND AUDIT
Page 3 and 4: Department for Business, Innovation
Page 5 and 6: Contents Key facts 4 Summary 5 Part
Page 7 and 8: Reducing bureaucracy in further edu
Page 31: Reducing bureaucracy in further edu
Page 39 and 40: Report by the Comptroller and Audit
Page 41: Published by TSO (The Stationery Of

Full report (pdf - 326KB) - National Audit Office

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