A University Technical College (UTC) developed in partnership with Burton and South Derbyshire College will never open, despite the government spending more than £8m setting it up, the Department of Education (DfE) has confirmed.

Approval for the Burton and South Derbyshire UTC was withdrawn “following low pupil recruitment numbers” a spokesperson for the department said, adding that the institution would have been “financially unviable for the taxpayer”.

The latest set of accounts for the year ended August 31, 2015  show that that UTC was given over £8m of funding by the Education Funding Agency, all of which was subsequently spent. 

Built in Burton on Trent, it included a range of new equipment for learners and was set to specialise in biomedical science and engineering.

The DfE spokesperson added: “We will be undertaking a full assessment of future plans for the site looking at all possible options while taking into account local circumstances.”

Alongside lead sponsor Burton and South Derbyshire College, other partners of the UTC project included Coventry University, Nestle, and hospitals in Burton and Derby.

According to the Burton Mail, the de Ferrers Trust, which oversees the de Ferrers Academy in Burton, has expressed an interest in taking on the building previously assigned to the UTC. 

FE Week contacted Burton and South Derbyshire College for comment, but was told that the college “no longer handles media enquiries for Burton and South Derbyshire UTC” and this responsibility has now been handed over to the DfE.

A spokesperson for the Baker Dearing Trust, the organisation established to develop and promote the concept of UTCs, commented: “The minister took the decision not to proceed with this project in May 2016. Baker Dearing regrets this but accepts this was the right course of action on this occasion.”

In July Ofsted’s former chief inspector Sir Michael Wilshaw slammed UTCs, telling them that they need to make “radical improvement” if the model is to survive.

It followed FE Week research in February, which found that forty per cent of UTCs opened between 2010 and 2013 saw student numbers fall for the last academic year.

Many have now been forced to close, such as UTC Lancashire which said in a statement on May 3 that it would close for good just three years after it opened — due to difficulties in enrolling enough students “to secure future financial viability”.

Meanwhile Central Bedfordshire UTC had announced in March that it would close in August — after admitting it had not been able to attract “sufficient pupils”.

Hackney UTC closed in July 2014, also following problems attracting learners, and Black Country UTC shut in the summer of 2015 after a “disappointing” Ofsted inspection and, again, low student numbers.

In April, Burton and South Derbyshire College fell from an Ofsted grade 2 to a grade 3, due to factors such as the quality of teaching, learning and assessment being “not consistently good across the range of the college’s provision”, and leaders and managers failing to “use self-assessment sufficiently well to identify aspects of teaching, learning and assessment that require improvement”.

A curriculum head at one of London’s largest colleges sent a string of racist, homophobic and abusive tweets but was allowed to keep his job despite an internal investigation.

Glen Maybury, who was head of leisure, health and public services at the City of Westminster College, used his personal Twitter account to make a number of unpleasant public posts, as well as retweeting a number of Islamophobic and anti-Semitic comments made by others, for several years.

According to the college’s senior leadership, a disciplinary investigation was launched in May this year after other members of staff made complaints about Mr Maybury’s conduct.

However, while the former curriculum lead is no longer an employee at the college, evidence seen by FE Week appears to prove that he had been allowed to return to his full-time role until at least September 7 this year, almost exactly around the time that this paper got in touch.

Senior staff were told suddenly on September 8 that Mr Maybury would be leaving at “lunchtime”, just a couple of hours after FE Week rang the college, anonymous whistleblowers have said.

These same sources confirmed that Mr Maybury had been seen in college this month, though its principal Keith Cowell insisted that this would just have been while he packed up his desk.

“I can confirm to you that he is not an employee at the college. He may have been in college to hand over and pick up personal effects. I don’t know what his movements are, but he is not employed by us,” said Mr Cowell.

When pressed as to whether Mr Maybury was no longer an employee of the college on the morning of September 8, Mr Cowell replied: “Yes. Yes. That’s what I said.”

Graphic tweets sent by Mr Maybury, seen by FE Week, include him insulting other Twitter users with comments like “you f****** r*****asaurus c***” and “you p***o”, as well as slurs against London Mayor Sadiq Khan and Jewish people, and offensive images of black people and genitalia, which were posted from 2013 to 2015.

The City of Westminster College, which has 7,000 students at two sites in Paddington and Queen’s Park in north London, is ethnically diverse, with 17 per cent of students coming from an Asian background, seven per cent from an Arab background, and 26 per cent from an African, black or Caribbean background.

“When these types of action take place in an institution that is meant to prevent discrimination, radicalisation and promote British values, how can these students have faith in the system?” asked the whistleblowers, speaking to FE Week.

Mr Cowell admitted that a disciplinary process had been launched earlier this year to investigate the incidents, and confirmed that this was “concluded in July”. The principal insisted that he could not confirm the outcome of the investigation owing to “data protection” issues.

Despite this, one source told FE Week that Mr Maybury had been working in his usual role from the start of term on August 23, at least until September 7 and possibly even on the morning of September 8.

This claim is backed up by an email sent to staff and seen by FE Week, which shows a “Glen Maybury” discussing college matters from an official account on September 8 – possibly indicating that any disciplinary procedure that had been carried out by the college earlier this year had indeed not led to him losing his job.

Lyndon Sly, the director for culture, media and sport – whose department Mr Maybury belonged to – also called for an emergency staff meeting on a “private” matter which was scheduled for the morning of September 9, FE Week can confirm.

Mr Cowell told FE Week that staff were confused about the situation surrounding Mr Maybury’s position.

“What I’m saying is it’s perfectly feasible that he might have been in the building,” he said. “But your contacting today has been useful as far as that’s concerned, because it seems we were unaware that there was confusion on the issue.

“If there is a sense of confusion we can certainly clarify that with the relevant staff.”

The first day back from parliamentary recess saw education secretary Justine Greening challenged over widespread apprenticeship funding cuts uncovered by FE Week.

Shadow skills minister Gordon Marsden lodged a series of written parliamentary questions yesterday, following up on FE Week research which revealed proposed funding reforms would mean around 30 per cent cuts for 16 to 18 year-old apprentices.

That figure could rise to over 50 per cent for those in the poorest areas of central London.

Mr Marsden asked if Ms Greening would “discuss with the treasury the potential to fully fund apprenticeships for 16-18 year olds from savings accrued as a result of the introduction of the apprenticeship levy”.

This echoed comments by FE Week editor Nick Linford on September 4, when he wrote: “The Treasury will make a £1.5bn annual saving by switching the total source of apprenticeship funding to an employer levy.

“Perhaps half of this £1.5bn saving could be used to improve social mobility by fully-funding 16 to 18-year-old apprentices?”

Mr Marsden also called on Ms Greening to release the publication date for the impact assessment produced by the Department for Education (DfE) in developing current proposals for changes in the apprenticeship funding rates for colleges and providers.

He asked Ms Greening in particular “what discussions she has had with large employers” about the impact of the new funding arrangements on their take-up of apprenticeships.

He requested she “make a statement about the implications for apprenticeship take-up by 16-18 year olds as a result of the Department’s current proposals for changes”.

Finally, Mr Marsden sought information about what assessment Ms Greening has made of the “disproportionate impact” of the department’s proposals on both small employers and young people in deprived areas.

He also wrote to apprenticeships and skills minister Robert Halfon earlier last week, warning the funding proposals “offer a damaging lack of support for young apprentices and further weaken proposed attempts to widen participation”.

Mr Marsden claimed the plans showed “little awareness of the equality implications” or the risk of “potentially putting off more small employers from taking on young people in this age range”.

A further 53 Labour MPs signed another letter to Mr Halfon, urging him to scrap the same apprenticeships funding cuts.

The group, led by David Lammy, former minister for higher education and MP for Tottenham, called on the minister “in the strongest terms to think again” and “reverse” the cuts, which could be “devastating” for apprentices in deprived areas.

It sparked widespread national media interest with the issue reported on by The Guardian, Independent and Mirror over the weekend.

The Association of Colleges joined calls for a rethink, with assistant chief executive Julian Gravatt warning the “funding reductions currently go too far and need more consideration”.

“We urge the government to spend time working through and examining all the funding options,” he added.

Speaking on behalf of the government, Mr Halfon said: “We want to encourage employers to take on young people.

“That’s why they won’t have to pay more to give a 16 –to 18-year-old their first step on the career ladder and why we’re proposing to give employers an extra £1,000 for every young apprentice they take on.”

The DfE was unable to comment by the time of publication.

The apprenticeship reform programme risks repeating the fraud that plagued Individual Learning Accounts without more robust risk planning, the National Audit Office (NAO) has warned.

The stark message came in a damning report from the NAO, published today, on delivering value through apprenticeships – which revealed the Department for Education (DfE) has still has no contingency plan for if levy and funding reforms do not work out as planned.

The failure of the Individual Learning Accounts scheme – which was scrapped in 2001 after abuse by unscrupulous providers led to a reported £67m fraud – was blamed on poor planning and risk management by the government.

But today’s NAO report raised concern that lessons had not been learned — as it warned the DfE had not done enough to identify how providers, employers and assessment bodies might react to the apprenticeship reforms, raising the risk of “market abuse”.

It said: “DfE now needs to expand its work on behavioural risks, and also ensure it learns lessons from previous initiatives which have not turned out as planned, such as Individual Learning Accounts.”

Phil Hyde, one of the team behind the report, told FE Week: “We’ve flagged this [behavioural risk] up as a separate section, because we do think from past experience that this is something that’s very important for them to be on top of.”

The report found that although a delivery team had been set up to “consider the risks of fraud and gaming” it was “too early to say what impact this group will have”.

It urged the DfE to “do more to understand how employers, training providers and assessment bodies may respond to ongoing reforms, and develop robust ways of reacting quickly should instances of market abuse emerge”.

The report urged the government to develop contingency plans for key parts of the reforms – particularly the introduction of the levy.

As previously reported by FE Week, the government has so far been silent on the matter of contingency planning if the levy systems don’t work out as planned.

But according to the NAO report the “DfE believes that, in general, initiatives are progressing sufficiently well that no contingency plans will need to be drawn up before October 2016”.

It said that in July a team had been commissioned “to prepare contingency plans if elements of the programme should not progress as expected”.

It continued: “However, the contingency planning for funding reform, including the introduction of the levy, needs to continue to be developed.”

Mark Dawe, chief executive of Association of Employment and Learning Providers, said: “The NAO is right to highlight that further progress is needed to manage the risks involved in the reform programme because if we don’t get the transition process right, there’s a real danger that quality of apprenticeships will be adversely affected.”

Sally Hunt, University and College Union general secretary, said: “We have to avoid the unfortunate scandals of private for-profit firms ripping off the taxpayer that we have seen in higher education.”

Apprenticeships and Skills Minister Robert Halfon said: “Our apprenticeship reforms give young people a ladder of opportunity, provide employers with high quality apprentices and deliver real benefits to the economy.

“The new Institute for Apprenticeships will ensure that apprenticeships are even more closely tailored to the needs of employers.”

A DfE spokesperson said it would consider the NAO’s recommendations.

The 157 Group is set to rename and announce new ‘ambitions’ next month, less than a year after completing a strategic review.

It comes just 10 months after the group, which has over 30 college members, completed a strategic review which included six themes, such as “diversifying revenues” and responding to the “devolved skills agenda”.

The group’s planned new direction is said to be in response to the “evolving” technical and professional education  landscape in FE following the Government’s Post-16 Skills Plan published in July, but full details will not be revealed until October 19.

The group has already seen a significant shift in direction under its chief executive Ian Pretty (pictured), who took over from Dr Lynne Sedgmore last September.
 
In January, Mr Pretty told FE Week that he was of the view that there is “little to be gained from spending an awful lot of time on trying to affect a policy decision”, a big change from the membership body’s original purpose, which was created in 2006 after a recommendation in the Foster Review of Further Education the year before.
 
The name “157 Group” comes from paragraph 157 of the review which called for “a greater involvement of principals in national representation, in particular those from larger, successful colleges where management capacity and capability exists to release them for this work. There is a strong need for articulate FE college principals to be explaining the services they give to society and how colleges can make a significant contribution to the economy and to developing fulfilled citizens”.
 
Under Mr Pretty’s leadership, the group has taken on new members after previously restricting numbers. They have also moved away from claiming to represent only high quality colleges, allowing Ealing, Hammersmith and West London College to remain members despite it being hit with an inadequate Ofsted rating last December.

Tougher rules surrounding the quality requirement for apprenticeship providers have been called for by the Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP).

The association has today published its response to a government consultation, on funding proposals for how the system will work after the new apprenticeship levy for large employers is launched next April.

The Department for Education confirmed — through last month’s updated levy guidance — that providers rated inadequate for their apprenticeship provision are set to be banned from the new register, meaning they will not be able to run the training.

However, AELP has gone further and said in its consultation response that “a grade four overall in Ofsted, or a grade four in leadership and management, should raise enough concern to exclude the provider from the register”.

This would probably affect general FE colleges — which provide a wider range of courses — more than independent training providers that often only run apprenticeships, so would be more likely to have the same overall Ofsted grade.

The AELP currently has 806 members, including more than 40 colleges.

Its response added that “all providers should be treated and assessed the same” and “subject to the same tests, particularly financial viability and quality / Ofsted”.

“Poor financial performance indicates poor leadership and should be a concern, as should an overarching poor Ofsted grade,” it stated.

This should “exclude an organisation from the register, no matter what type of institution (e.g. college, independent, charity) they are”.

The Association of Colleges (AoC) was quick to reject AELP’s claims on Ofsted ratings.

Gill Clipson, AoC deputy chief executive, said: “Colleges are complicated businesses, delivering a diverse range of education and training, and an overall Ofsted grade is not a reliable measurement upon which to base a decision about inclusion in the register.

“The inspection process as it stands currently is optimised for direct classroom teaching, most commonly found in schools, and not the complex nature of work-based learning.”

She added: “We have significant reservations about the use of such a blunt instrument as an Ofsted grade, whether this is in relation to an organisation’s overall effectiveness or specifically the delivery of apprenticeships.”

More than 50 Labour MPs have urged skills minister Robert Halfon to reverse apprenticeships funding cuts exposed by FE Week.

The group led by David Lammy, former minister for higher education and MP for Tottenham, have all signed a letter to apprenticeships and skills minister Robert Halfon describing the potential cuts as “devastating” for apprentices in deprived areas.

This follows publication of FE Week research last month, which exclusively revealed that proposed funding changes could mean a fall of around 30 per cent in funding to providers for 16 to 18 year-old apprentices, and over 50 per cent for those in the poorest areas of central London.

It called on Mr Halfon “in the strongest terms to think again and reverse them”.

Mr Lammy’s letter — which was co-signed by 53 other Labour MPs — said the cuts would “hugely undermine the government’s pledge to create 3m apprenticeships by 2020”.

It added the move would “entirely contradict the prime minister’s promise to ‘help anybody, whatever your background, go as far as your talents will take you’, in order to create a country and an economy that ‘works not for a privileged few, but for every one of us’”.

The written plea to Mr Halfon echoed Mr Lammy’s comments in an interview with FE Week on August 23, when he said: “I have one question for the government in response to these cuts: why are you shafting working class kids?”
The proposed funding rates for apprenticeships were published by the Skills Funding Agency on Friday August 12, 2016.

FE Week’s analysis showed that, as an example, the two most popular apprenticeships measured by total 16-18 year old starts – level two apprenticeships in business administration and in construction – would face cuts of between 27 per cent and 52 per cent, dependent on location.

Mr Lammy’s letter raised special concerns over the removal of the ‘disadvantage uplift’ — which is additional funding provided for apprentices living in deprived areas.

He commented that this move was a “stark contrast” to the fact that the changes would mean funding for older apprentices who live in wealthier areas and work at larger employers would be increased in many cases.

He wrote: “We fear that the impact of these funding cuts will be devastating in deprived areas, where unemployment rates are already well above the national average, especially amongst young people.

“Taken in combination with the recent scrapping of maintenance grants to support young people from low income backgrounds who hope to go onto higher education, we are acutely worried that these cuts will do real damage to the life chances of many of our constituents.”

The point is of particular significance to Mr Lammy as his constituency, Tottenham, would be one of the hardest hit by the new funding rates.

The letter acknowledged other comments from FE Week’s reporting, in which Mark Dawe, chief executive of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, warned that many providers are likely to cut back or “withdraw provision altogether” if the proposed rates are implemented.

Mr Lammy supported Mr Dawe’s remarks, adding: “Cuts of this nature will mean that apprenticeships will simply no longer be viable in terms of basic delivery, and providers will certainly not be able to offer the high quality programmes that our apprentices need.”

It comes just days after similar concern was raised by shadow skills minister Gordon Marsden.

He wrote to Mr Halfon earlier this week to say he was “extremely concerned at the potential adverse effects for social mobility stemming from the proposed new apprenticeship funding methods”.

Apprenticeships and Skills Minister Robert Halfon said: “This government is doubling investment in apprenticeships because we know they create a ladder of opportunity for our young people. Through the new levy £2.5 billion will be invested in apprenticeships by 2019-20 – twice what was spent in 2010-11. That means more money going in to the system and more money on average per apprenticeship.

“We want to encourage employers to take on young people. That’s why they won’t have to pay more to give a 16 –to 18-year-old their first step on the career ladder and why we’re proposing to give employers an extra £1,000 for every young apprentice they take on. This will help to ensure every young person, regardless of background or ability, has the chance to take their first step into work.”

 
The full list of signatories can be found below:
 
David Lammy MP
Rushanara Ali MP
Dave Anderson MP
Jonathan Ashworth MP
Ian Austin MP
Tom Blenkinsop MP
Paul Blomfield MP
Ben Bradshaw MP
Karen Buck MP
Liam Byrne MP
Ruth Cadbury MP
Ronald Campbell MP
Sarah Champion MP
Rosie Cooper MP
Jim Cunningham MP
Nic Dakin MP
Thangam Debbonaire MP
Jack Dromey MP
Gill Furniss MP
Mary Glindon MP
Roger Godsiff MP
Lilian Greenwood MP
Helen Hayes MP
Mark Hendrick MP
Sharon Hodgson MP
Kate Hoey MP
Kate Hollern MP
George Howarth MP
Imran Hussain MP
Helen Jones MP
Peter Kyle MP
Holly Lynch MP
John Mann MP
Madeleine Moon MP
Siobhain McDonagh
Jim McMahon MP
Lisa Nandy MP
Kate Osamor MP
Jess Phillips MP
Steve Reed MP
Emma Reynolds MP
Marie Rimmer MP
Joan Ryan MP
Steve Rotheram MP
Yasmin Qureshi MP
Virendra Sharma MP
Ruth Smeeth MP
Wes Streeting MP
Gareth Thomas MP
Stephen Timms MP
Karl Turner MP
Stephen Twigg MP
Catherine West MP
Daniel Zeichner MP

An indefinite teaching ban has been imposed on a former Bournemouth and Poole College lecturer — after he was found to have sent inappropriate messages to a young female student.

Michael Browne was employed by the college, in Dorset, from September 2009 until July last year, as an applied ICT programme leader and teacher.

He was found by the National College for Teaching and Leadership (NCTL) to have engaged in inappropriate communication with the 17-year-old student, leading to the imposition of a prohibition order by education secretary Justine Greening’s office.

A new report by NCTL explained that this means he is prohibited from teaching indefinitely and “cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children’s home in England”.

A spokesperson for Bournemouth and Poole College told FE Week today: “Mr Browne was dismissed in July 2015, following a period of suspension and investigation, in accordance with the college’s policies and procedures relating to professional conduct.

“We have a clear and public safeguarding policy supported by robust procedures that we adhere to.

“We responded immediately to concerns brought to our attention and involved the local authority’s designated officer and also the police.”
He added: “Detailed information was passed to all the relevant authorities in full cooperation with them.

“Our first and foremost concern is always for the safety and wellbeing of our students, and we continued to support the student to the completion of her studies.”

The NCTL professional conduct hearing heard that Mr Browne had exchanged messages with the student via his personal email address and mobile phone, and asked her in May last year to delete their conversations.

He said in one, it was claimed, that sleeping with her was on his “bucket list”.

Mr Browne was accused of sexual motivations for his conduct. But while he admitted his email messages included sexual language, he denied his actions were sexually motivated.

He did however accept that his behaviour amounted to unacceptable professional conduct, which could bring the profession into disrepute.

The student was interviewed by the police after allegations were made in May 2015, and while no criminal charges were brought, the emails were examined and disciplinary proceedings were conducted by the college.

The emails were also given as evidence in the NCTL hearing, and a video recording of the police interview of the student was played in private.

The panel found Mr Browne unable to explain the content of, or why he had sent, some of the emails which had sexualised comments, leading to the conclusion that his conduct had involved an element of sexual gratification.

It did, however, accept his claim that he had no intention of engaging in a physical relationship with the student.

He was found to have fallen “significantly short of the standards expected of the profession”, including the responsibility of teachers to “uphold public trust in the profession”.

Mr Browne will be able to apply for the prohibition order to be set aside from August 2018, in which case a panel would meet to discuss whether to lift the ban.

Jayne Millions, who made the decision to impose the order on behalf of Ms Greening, said: “In my judgement the panel’s recommendation is the right one. Mr Browne’s behaviour is such that a prohibition order is appropriate and proportionate.”

Image: Bournemouth and Poole College