City Research Online

Abstract

The governance of English Further Education colleges is considered by government to need improvement. Since the incorporation of colleges in 1992, as independent corporations and exempt charities, government has introduced legislation, regulation, funding, and accountability levers to improve governance. The quality of governance within a college is formally considered by multiple agencies and each uses its own benchmarks to reach separate conclusions on the effectiveness of governance at each college.

The process of governance and governing within a college (institutional governance) is linked to, and dependent on, the system governance and accountability arrangements established by government. It is influenced by governance frameworks for other entities: for profit businesses, non-profit entities, and public sector entities, for example, a requirement to adopt a code of governance.

The transfer of colleges from local education authority control to independent entities under the Further and Higher Education Act 1992, can be viewed through the lens of the neoliberal marketisation of public services to new public management.

Hegelian dialectics were used as a lens of analysis to compare the current hybrid model of colleges under new public management as independent corporations with degrees of public control, with alternatives, in order to synthesise a new hybrid model.

The governance lens through which to view college governance was analysed through a literature review and testing with experts, and the model for non-profit entities refined to incorporate new public management overarching the interlocking lenses of agency, stewardship, and stakeholder theories.

This study concludes that the system governance of colleges could be termed an accountability arrangement rather than governance, and that it lacks sufficient clarity. Whilst colleges are constituted as independent entities, legislation, funding, and accountability processes mean that they are effectively under central government control. This status calls into question the role and standing of governors (trustees) and how they can fully meet their responsibilities as charity trustees.

Recommendations are made towards a new hybrid model, which were evaluated with sector experts using semi-structured interviews, proposing that colleges should:

• Be independent of government, with a funding agreement
• Have a clear purpose
• Be part of the community
• Have a unitary board with a senior independent trustee and a stakeholder advisory board
• Be permitted to remunerate governors

This study adds to the understanding of governance and accountability for quasi-public bodies and proposes changes in government policy to improve delivery of public services.

Publication Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Subjects:	J Political Science > JC Political theory L Education > LB Theory and practice of education > LB2300 Higher Education L Education > LC Special aspects of education > LC5201 Education extension. Adult education. Continuing education
Departments:	Bayes Business School > Bayes Business School Doctoral Theses Bayes Business School > Faculty of Management Doctoral Theses

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