Bradford Council takes over the responsibility for education and training of the district’s 16 to 18-year-olds from April.

The provision has been delivered to local authorities across the country by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) but that will change after a Government Bill received Royal Assent.

The changes mean Bradford Council will soon be responsible for commissioning education providers for 16 to 18-year-olds instead of the LSC, which has invested £50 million in the district’s sixth forms and further education colleges since September 2007.

As part of the transfer of responsibilities, eight LSC staff are transferring to work in the Council’s Children’s and Young People’s Services department.

The five local authorities in West Yorkshire have also formed a group led by a committee of each authority’s director of children’s services.

This will work with educational groups to collaborate educational services for 16 to 18-year-olds who live in one local authority but receive education or training in another.

One of the Council’s tasks under the new arrangements will be to offer more options for vocational qualifications, and the Council has identified 8,900 14 to 19-year-olds who would benefit from this Foundation Learning.

Diplomas – vocational qualifications that can be taken alongside GCSEs and A-Levels – in eight subjects are being studied by 269 students at schools and colleges in Bradford. Another five will be available from September.

The Council is also working with the National Apprenticeship Services to increase apprenticeship opportunities.

Councillor Michael Kelly, the Council’s executive member for services to children and young people, said: “It’s entirely consistent for the Council to have responsibility for the complete offering for our children and young people to ensure they develop the knowledge and skills to enable them to fulfil their potential. Moving this resource into the Council’s provision is the best way to achieve this.”

Councillor Andrew Thornton, chairman of the Council’s young people and education improvement committee, said: “Clearly this is a positive move. We’ve now got to get the right mixture of the right courses and the right provision for young people in the district so that it benefits them all.”