The government’s flagship elearning organisation is failing to offer value for money, despite having spent about £1bn of public funding.
The University for Industry (Ufi) is responsible for Learndirect, the largest government-backed online learning initiative in the world.
Computing revealed last year (9 December, 2004) that Ufi was struggling to attract private investment, having spent almost £1bn of public money.
And a Public Accounts Committee meeting this week, to discuss a National Audit Office (NAO) report into Ufi, found the organisation had generated just £12m in commercial income by July 2005. ‘Ufi potentially offers value for money but it doesn’t do it yet, an NAO representative told the meeting.
Ufi chief executive Sarah Jones told MPs that most of the organisation’s £12m of commercial income has been generated from two public sector accounts with the Connexions service (£6m) and NHSU (£1.1m).
‘We’ve had a lot of interaction with businesses. We are reaching companies but we’re not generating enough money,’ said Jones.
Just 37 per cent of employers are aware of Learndirect’s services for businesses, according to the NAO report.
Jones said that Ufi aimed to increase private sector-generated revenue from just £1m a year to £40m by 2010, but MPs said the three-year target was too tight.
Committee chairman Edward Leigh said: ‘Ufi is spending a lot of money but not generating as much as expected because the organisation is too complex.’
Ufi has so far spent £930m, and plans suggest it will spend a further £200m-plus by academic year-end 2006. By July 2005 about 1.7 million people had taken four million courses via Learndirect.
Autor: Mark Samuels
Quelle: Computing, 24.11.2005
