THE ‘inadequate’ Lancashire Adult Learning College is bracing itself for a follow-up Ofsted inspection this month.

Bosses at Lancashire County Council, which runs the service, have been putting in place a range of improvements since it was given the lowest possible rating from the education watchdog last year.

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County councillors will hear about the improvements at a meeting at county hall in Preston today.

The governing body decided in July that it would defer the appointment of a new principal until after the government’s comprehensive spending review in November.

The college oversees all Lancashire County Council-run adult learning services.

A spokesman said: “We understand that the national budget will be reviewed, and while we anticipate that there will remain some sort of funding for our learners in the medium term, we don’t know the shape or size of that funding.

“We could progress with the recruitment process but we would be unlikely to actually appoint any successful candidate at a time of such great change and uncertainty.”

The service is currently supported by the principal and deputy of Nelson and Colne College.

After the service was blasted by Ofsted in November last year, the further education commissioner made seven recommendations relating to management and quality assurance, among others.

The spokesman added: “In the light of the expected funding cuts, we have retained some teachers on hourly-paid teaching posts rather than open up vacancies to those people.

“We are satisfied, however, that we have a strong complement of established teachers to be the core of our delivery team, and strong hourly-paid teachers, who we will invite to apply for established posts once our future funding picture is clearer.

“In all cases, we are ensuring that teachers are able to participate in all training to secure even more improvements in our teaching and learning profile.”