A care worker apprenticeship training provider is being chased for £1.2 million by the Department for Education after investigators uncovered systemic contract breaches.
A financial investigation outcome report published today said the sum is “being recovered” from Park Education and Training Centre after officials found missing evidence to support many apprentice funding claims over four academic years.
Investigators flagged a range of issues including a lack of signed apprenticeship agreements, enrolment checks, unverifiable signatures and absent off-the-job training records.
They also found no evidence that the north west London-based company had taken steps to address conflicts of interest between the provider and temporary employment agencies apprentices were employed by.
There was also a lack of proof to show apprentices received wages at or above the national minimum wage.
But company owner Aiah Kanda told FE Week the DfE’s clawback demand “has not been done fairly” and argued that Park Education and Training Centre should only have to repay “about a quarter” of the £1,203,085 sum claimed.
Kanda, who also part-owned home care agency Own Care until October last year, blamed “very, very high” staff turnover in the care industry for the lack of funding claim evidence.
The company owner said the department is now asking for “all the money” it paid for apprenticeship training since the company’s registration in 2021.
He questioned why the company should have to repay funding claims for apprentices who have received their diplomas but not yet completed their end point assessment, arguing that many fail to complete because of high turnover in the care industry.
He added: “So that because this person didn’t achieve something at the end, therefore you have to pay everything back. That doesn’t make any logical sense to me.”
Kanda suggested that missing evidence of learning could be obtained by calling learners.
He claimed that “over 80 per cent” of learners achieved but was unable to estimate how many completed their end-point assessment.
The businessman told FE Week the future of his company is now uncertain in light of the clawback demand.
He said: “With that huge amount of money, where is it going to come from? Because this money is not going to be lying down there, you’re paying teachers, you’re paying rent, you’re paying all those things.”
Park Education and Training Centre was set up in 2020 and received a ‘requires improvement’ overall effectiveness Ofsted grade following a full inspection in 2023.
Inspectors found a “varied experience” for the company’s 215 apprentices, with many making “slow progress” and receiving inconsistent training or reviews.
The DfE’s published data shows Park Education and Training Centre recorded a 62.2 per cent total apprenticeship achievement rate in 2023-24 for 50 leavers. It no longer appears on the apprenticeship provider and assessment register (APAR).
The department’s investigation report is the second the DfE has published on an ITP’s use of public funding since it updated its policy in December 2023.
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