education teaching undertaken by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, the statutory requirement to register as a member if IfL was repealed. This was welcomed by the University and College Union. Whilst UCU welcomed the news that "staff in further education colleges would no longer be forced to pay a fee to do their job". They also stated: "While the review leans (not surprisingly from this government) towards the need for less regulation, UCU does not support a deregulated sector. Employers in the sector – both colleges and private and voluntary institutions – have been found wanting in providing consistent and high quality support and resources for professional development." Surplus funds It was reported in March 2011, IfL had generated surplus funds in the region of £2m. This is in line with IfL's Reserves Policy (to maintain reserves at a level consistent with established good business practice and that is prudent). IfL maintains its status as an independent and self-regulating professional body and not-for-profit private company limited by guarantee and financial statements and policies are available from the IfL website. Historical context IfL is a private company limited by guarantee. The Prime Report (Further Education Development Agency (FEDA), 1995) was a key milestone in the creation of the institute, leading in 1996 to the establishment of the Staff Development Forum for Further Education (FESDF). The forum comprised a wide range of UK representatives including the Association of Colleges (AoC), the National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education (NATFHE), the Association of College Principals (ACP), the Further Education Funding Council for England (FEFC) and the Department for Education and Skills (DfES); with staff from FEDA acting as the secretariat and project managing the development of national teaching standards for further education. In 1997, Lucas and Betts (et al.) in "Policy and Management Issues for Incorporated Colleges" (Institute of Education) noted that although FEDA had established the Staff Development Forum for FE, it was a member-led professional body that was needed to develop a framework of professional development in the sector. In the event, the newly elected Labour government accepted the findings of the Dearing Report into Higher Education, leading to the creation of the Institute for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (ILTHE) and indicated that the General Teaching Council (GTC) for England, which had been a manifesto commitment, would be established. In 1999, within a backdrop of