In 2002, the then Minister of State for Lifelong Learning and Higher Education asked the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) and the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) to explore ways the two councils might work better together to achieve integrated policy development for mixed economy institutions (MEIs). As a result, a HEFCE/LSC Joint Steering Group was established, by practitioners, to carry out this work. The group’s focus was to identify problems (such as the requirement of reporting to multi agencies) and to suggest solutions to reduce the burden on MEIs.

This report sets out the findings of the practitioner group with the addition of case studies which illustrate some of the complexities and problems, and possible solutions. Short, medium and long term solutions are proposed. Among the issues considered were: an integrated approach to progression and planning, data, accountability and funding, and quality assurance.

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