A GOVERNMENT minister has hailed Bolton's new 'super college' as "central to Government values" for the future.

Margaret Hodge, the minister for employment and equal opportunities, was speaking at the launch of Bolton Community College -- a merger between Bolton College and the council's Community Education Service (CES).

The new college, launched yesterday, will have an annual budget of £18 million and will boast a student body of about 1,200 full-time and 18,000 part-time students.

During the launch, principal Alison Bowes said the college would provide a comprehensive range of learning opportunities for everyone over 16 in the borough.

"One of the strengths of the old college was that it attracted students from the younger age range," Mrs Bowes told the BEN. "The beauty of the CES is that is attracted students from the more mature age range.

"By combining the two we can now offer a service to the people of Bolton across the age range, and the range of courses that we can now offer thanks to the merger means that people in Bolton can come to us to study just about everything there is."

Bolton College formerly operated from two main sites: Manchester Road and Horwich. By joining forces with the CES, the college will be able to offer education opportunities from close to 130 sites across the town.

The decision to merge the two organisations stems from an action plan agreed by senior management and the governing body at Bolton College and the former Further Education Funding Council (FEFC), which has since been re-named the Learning and Skills Council (LSC).

The moves comes following a period of turbulence at the Manchester Road college, which in recent years has faced financial crisis and falling student numbers.

Principal Mrs Bowes said the new college was looking to the future and was enjoying renewed relationships with the LSC.

In unveiling the new "super college", Mrs Bowes and Mrs Hodge also revealed the new mission statement for the institution, namely: "Bolton Community College will take you further towards achieving your full potential, by providing high quality lifelong learning opportunities."

Earlier , Mrs Hodge also officially opened the college's Early Years Centre at the Manchester Road site.

The £62,500 centre provides creche facilities for up to 50 children under two-and-a-half while their parents study, and complements an existing creche for children aged between two-and-a-half and five.

In launching the new college, Mrs Hodge said the Government was trying to strike a balance between economic prosperity and social inclusion.

"Past governments of the left and right have concentrated on one or the other of these," she said. "We are trying to see economic prosperity and social inclusion not as competing objectives but as linked.

"We will achieve economic prosperity if we make the most of our most valuable asset, people in the community.

"And what is happening here with the merger of these two institutions is central to both our objectives of economic prosperity and social inclusion."