Association of Colleges chief executive Martin Doel (pictured) has told of his fears that more job losses could be about to sweep away FE and skills staff after it was announced provider budgets would be slashed by up to 24 per cent.

He said that with the average college having made 105 redundancies since 2009/10, he feared for the workforce as providers sought to balance their budgets in light of the latest government cut to FE and skills funding.

The Adult Skills Budget (ASB) is to fall 11 per cent next financial year, it was revealed on Thursday (February 26), and Skills Funding Agency (SFA) chief executive Peter Lauener has predicted this will translate to a 17 per cent cut next academic year.

But with £770m of apprenticeship money protected, and traineeship and English and maths funding prioritised, those who offer little or none of this provision could see their allocation, due out in just over a fortnight, fall by up to a quarter — even bigger than last year’s 15 per cent cut.

Mr Doel said the cuts were a “further blow to colleges and their current and future students”.

He said: “An additional major concern is how colleges, after suffering such considerable cuts, can continue to attract and retain the best staff. It is worth noting that the average college has made 105 redundancies since 2009/10 and we fear this figure will grow.”

The comments were echoed by Malcolm Trobe, deputy general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, who said: “The effect on colleges is potentially devastating. This sector has already suffered massive real terms cuts in funding and this announcement will put it under even greater financial pressure. It threatens the very financial stability of some colleges.”

Stewart Segal, chief executive of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, said that with the apprenticeship protected “we need to see growth during the year if we are to meet employer demand”.

Some providers, he said, are at an early stage of developing their traineeship programmes and therefore their “carry-over will mean that they will require a higher budget for next year”. He further warned there would be “huge pressure on the rest of the budgets” with English and maths also prioritised, “inevitably resulting in some groups of learners not being able to access funding and this could include high priority groups such as the unemployed”.

Shadow Skills Minister Liam Byrne meanwhile accused the Conservatives of “hollowing out” the ASB, while University and College Union (UCU) general secretary Sally Hunt described the cuts as an “act of wilful vandalism that will decimate FE as we know it today.”

David Hughes, chief executive of the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (Niace), said: “It is staggering that there is not more outcry about this drastic and sustained reduction in funding particularly given the clear consensus about the genuine threat that crippling skills gaps and shortages pose for UK economic growth.”

And Dr Mary Bousted, general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL), said the cut “looked like nothing less than a deliberate attempt to destroy the sector”. “It has already been battered by excessive cuts,” she said.

Joe Vinson, National Union of Students’ vice president for FE, said: “It’s appalling the government wants to reduce investment in skills when we need to stimulate the economy and give people the opportunity to gain work.”

Dr Lynne Sedgmore CBE, executive director of the 157 Group, said the predicted cuts meant she was looking at “new forms of social investment to sustain the future of high quality and accessible skills training for all”.

“We are working with the government to ascertain where legislative change may be needed in order to achieve this vision and to support the simplification of processes that may currently prevent innovation,” she said.

A spokesperson for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills conceded the cuts would be “challenging for the sector”.

But, she said: “The sector was made aware at the time of the last spending review that government funding was reducing and of the need to look to generate other income streams, creating sustainable business models for the future. Private investment in skills training is high so government funding — although important — is not the only
funding available.”

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Editor’s comment

There was no real surprise in the 5 per cent overall budget cut and little shock at the 11 per cent fall in the next financial year’s adult skills budget.

The SFA said this would look like translating into a 17 per cent cut to academic year allocations — but apprenticeships, traineeships and English and maths are the government order of the day so if you provide little or none of these expect your funding to fall by up to a quarter.

And while some question why these are prioritised, others question why higher education appears relatively unscathed and others still ask why older learners under BIS’s care aren’t afforded the same funding protection as that enjoyed by (some) DfE learners.

It’s not as if current funding levels are having no effect — just ask retiring157 Group executive director Dr Lynne Sedgmore to tell you about the rumour of 50 colleges in financial turmoil.

Jobs and provision might offer uncomfortable savings, but just how much more can be cut?

FE and skills has long been trying to shake off the Cinderella sector cliché, but what the government is instead discarding without the sector’s consent is its proud position as the ‘second chance’ saloon for adults to get on in life.

Chris Henwood

chris.henwood@feweek.co.uk

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6 Comments

  1. There can be no great surprise in the sector. Cuts have been flagged for some time and it was obvious that apprenticeships are protected.
    Providers must have planned for the inevitable and will have to reduce their overheads which means staffing cuts and reduced provision.
    To be fair, there were many years of growth and in time budgets will grow again.

    • Karen

      Yes cuts have been flagged for some time and yes we were aware that apprenticeships continued to be high priority and therefore would be afforded protection. Yes we had also planned financially for the maximum cuts that we had anticipated and were very close to the recent confirmation. However, that does not make the cuts acceptable. Even in these tough times when we expect cuts, it is reasonable to also expect that other parts of the wider education sector will receive their fair share of the cuts. It is unacceptable that further education is receiving the brunt of these cuts and it is likely that the neediest in our communities and in society as a whole will be the main casualties. This is wholly unacceptable to me and requires to be challenged.

  2. FE Lecturer

    The British government must be the most stupid in the world because they they are cutting investment in training and education for UK residents whilst increasing investment for our competitors via foreign aid. I can’t think of another country which is so willing to destroy its own future. They are even borrowing money to give away as foreign aid because the UK has nothing in the bank!

    We should NOT be complaining that the government is spending money on HE rather than FE, this is simply destructive and leads us nowhere. We should be calling for massive cuts in foreign aid so that we can fund education. Our chance for forcing change comes in May.

  3. Bob Harris

    I have witnessed the rise of the apprenticeship.And I have witnessed its’ abuse by college and private training provider alike. The far from broad range of genuine apprenticeships actually on offer to teenagers (sorry, to most PC places ‘young people) mean the majority of roles are continuation of bog standard college courses in the vocational sector. I am sure history will judge this sorry chapter as no better than the YTS adventure all those years ago. Additionally, if we really cared about Maths and English, spend the money at primary level and tame rhe problem whilst the child can still be nutured towards learning! I seem to recall the Wolfe report being pretty damning towards Functional Skills and the fact they aren’t GCSE quality or a worthy substitute! So why persist with them?

    • Karen

      Bob It’s a pity you haven’t looked at our apprenticeships for young people as they couldn’t be further away from the provision you describe above. Our learners and employers are the most effective PR for the college and they are always eager to share their experiences including the very positive impact that apprenticeships have had on their lives and productivity. We have never “abused” apprenticeships – we work extremely hard at meeting our own very high standards.

  4. Mike Farmer

    Well done FE week! It’s a sad reflection on our so-called serious mainstream media (BBC, Indpendent, Guardian, Times, Telegraph et al) that not one of them has considered this story worth publishing. Neither has Labour, which is supposed to be the main opposition (in England, anyway) been prepared to comment. Too busy announcing the cut in HE tuition fees (which will mainly favour high-earning graduates. Middle-class university students are newsworthy and need to be wooed, but not adult college students, it would appear. Most journalists and leading politicians come from well-off backgrounds and never attended an FE college. Some connection, perhaps? So who will you vote for on 7th May to reverse this cut?