The deputy chief executive of a major London college who abruptly left his post last summer over financial irregularities was recently appointed the finance director of another college in the capital, which insists it had full knowledge of his situation when it hired him.

May ‘Dare (pictured) left his job at Hackney Community College in August after he allegedly spent £338,000 of its money on IT supplies from a company which he secretly owned.

Some of his ex-colleagues have even accused his former employer of attempting a cover-up, though the college said the irregularities were discovered during an audit a few days after its merger with Tower Hamlets College last summer, and one day after he had gone on annual leave.

Gerry McDonald, the current group principal and chief executive officer of New City College Corporation (which now incorporates Hackney Community College, Tower Hamlets College and Redbridge College) told FE Week he left after “routine desk-based checks” found that the huge sum had been spent on equipment from his company, Newton Rachel Limited.

Mr McDonald said he “used his own company to purchase IT equipment on behalf of the college”, but “did not declare this to the then principal or the board”.

Despite this, some of Mr ‘Dare’s former Hackney colleagues told FE Week that the new college had tried to suppress news of the scandal.

One complained to FE Week that it was “almost as if the people who have taken us over feel no compunction to respect the need to keep things in the public domain”, while another said that “if Mr ‘Dare has sidestepped procedures in the use of public funds, and been allowed to avoid answering allegations that he personally benefitted, it’s just wrong”.

Last month, he accepted a job as the director of finance and operations at Epping Forest College, though a spokesperson told FE Week that he had made staff there aware of the dispute with his former employer “at the point of interview and before appointment”.

Mr McDonald strenuously denied any cover up concerning Mr ‘Dare’s departure, which was first reported in Private Eye.

He told FE Week that Mr ‘Dare, who sometimes goes by the name Kunle Oluwadare, “went on pre-arranged leave on August 5, before we had the opportunity to put the allegations to him. He then resigned, while on leave during the following week”.

FE Week also asked Ian Ashman, Hackney Community College’s former principal, up to the merger in August 2016 and current president of the Association of Colleges, about the allegations. 

He said: “The college has properly reported the situation to the authorities and undertaken an investigation. It would therefore be inappropriate for me to make further comment.”

FE Week understands Newton Rachel Limited was set up in October 2013, with Mr ‘Dare and his wife as the sole directors and shareholders.

He was employed by Hackney Community College for almost 24 years from its inception in 1992, and was made deputy chief executive of corporate services in April 2016.

An employee told FE Week that staff at Hackney Community College had been informed of Mr ‘Dare’s abrupt resignation in August, and were told that “financial irregularities’” had occurred.

They were sent a subsequent email by Mr McDonald, seen by FE Week, which said that the college had concluded an investigation into the matter and found “financial regulations were breached in relation to the procurement of IT equipment between 2013 and 2016”. 

Mr McDonald said that the college had not sought to recover the £338,000, because the goods it was used for had been received.

He also stressed that “no settlement agreement was or is in place”, adding: “We have referred the matter to the police who are dealing with it as an alleged fraud and possible abuse of public office.”

FE Week asked the Skills Funding Agency on what action they had taken in response to the scandal, and the impact on Hackney Community College, but a spokesperson said the agency had not intervened.

She said: “An independent investigation commissioned by Hackney Community College was conducted last year.

“The SFA is satisfied that the college implemented the recommendations and that no further action is required from the college at this stage.”

FE Week contacted Mr ‘Dare’s new place of work, Epping Forest College, to find out if managers had been aware of his previous dealings when he was appointed director of finance and operations on January 3, 2017.

A spokesperson told FE Week that “at the time of the appointment” the interview panel had known he was involved in an ongoing employment tribunal case with Hackney Community College.

On January 6, FE Week reported that Epping Forest College had been rated ‘inadequate’ across the board, in an Ofsted report that warned of safeguarding failings.

Mr ‘Dare told FE Week that he did not wish to comment ahead of his tribunal.

A University and College Union spokesperson said: “The episode involving May ‘Dare and computer supply contracts exposes the need for rigorous checks in our colleges.

“Concentrating so much power in so few hands is not healthy and we are also unconvinced that outsourcing these types of roles is always necessary.”

FE Week also contacted the college’s auditors, TIAA, but was told: “We do not comment on work undertaken on behalf of our clients”.

The Metropolitan Police was unable to comment.

 

HACKNEY COMMUNITY COLLEGE COMMENTS

The email sent to Hackney Community College staff by principal and chief executive Gerry McDonald informed staff that the incident involved May ‘Dare working alone.

It said there was “no evidence or reason to suspect that any other staff member/s were involved in this breach”.

It also acknowledged faults on the part of the college, saying that “processes and procedures in relation to procurement had been applied inconsistently”, and “there were not sufficient checks in place to ensure that financial regulations were followed”.

Mr McDonald’s email concluded that financial regulations at Hackney Community College had subsequently “been reviewed, to include more specific separation of duties and tighter processes across purchasing and procurement”, which would be “supported by systematic audits, management and governance checks”.

 

EPPING FOREST COLLEGE COMMENTS

A spokesperson for Epping Forest College told FE Week that an incomplete employment tribunal called by May ‘Dare against Hackney Community College had influenced the decision about his employment at the college.

FE Week understands from Hackney Community College that this tribunal was called on the grounds of constructive dismissal, which is when an employee is forced to leave their job against their will due to their employer’s conduct.

“We felt the case between Hackney Community College and Mr ‘Dare had not yet been satisfactorily concluded, and not wishing to prejudge the outcome, the college agreed to appoint him on a temporary basis until his employment tribunal case was resolved,” he said.

He added that Epping Forest College also received a letter from Mr ‘Dare’s solicitor, which confirmed the tribunal is scheduled for March 2017.

The first ever procurement process for adult education budget contracts has finally been launched by the Skills Funding Agency.

FE Week reported two weeks ago that the procurement process had been given the ministerial green light, from secretary of state for education, Justine Greening, and was expected to begin within days.

The Skills Funding Agency first wrote to training providers in October and told them that their current AEB contracts would come to an end this July, rather than having them automatically renewed as before.

Invitation to tender for education and training services – Adult Education Budget 2017 to 2018

Now letters have been sent out and a new document, called Invitation to tender for education and training services – Adult Education Budget 2017 to 2018, has revealed the funding and timetable arrangements.

FE Week also, for example, today spotted an invitation to tender for education and training services – Adult Education Budget 2017 to 2018, for the North East, North West, Yorkshire and The Humber, East Midlands, West Midlands, East of England, London, South East, South West on the SFA’s Contract Finder site.

The key section in the new guide document on funding states: “The minimum funding that is available is £110 million, for the funding year 2017 to 2018. The funding year covers the 12-month delivery period from August 1, 2017, to July 31, 2018.”

It adds: “Please note that your response to this invitation to tender must be submitted through the SFA’s e-tendering portal before 5pm on February 27.”

Notification of tender results will be announced on May 19, while applicants must be ready to deliver on the contract start date (1 August 2017).

Anyone already pre-qualified for AEB funding can apply via SFA tendering site – and a section from the letter sent out to providers explained what happens if they don’t apply.

It said: “In our October letter, we referred to the part of the Public Contract Regulations 2015 that allows us to directly award contracts up to a predetermined threshold level of £589,148 for one year.

“If you are unsuccessful in securing a new contract through the procurement, or you choose not to tender, we will offer you a new contract up to the value of your current 2016 to 2017 AEB allocation or this threshold value, whichever is the lower.”

The new guide document stated that applicants must be able to “demonstrate their readiness to deliver the service immediately when the contract starts”.

“Delivery must not be delayed in any way, such as by not having the appropriate staff, processes, premises or relationships that need to be established,” the document added.

Providers must also “have a track record in delivering high quality education and skills provision for those targeted by the AEB”.

It also explained: “An applicant must only contact the SFA by using the online message board attached to this specific ITT on the e-tendering portal.

“This is to ensure that the SFA can maintain the integrity and robustness of the tendering process, and guarantee that answers provided to questions are consistent.”

The new minimum target for public sector bodies to employ at least 2.3 per cent of their workforce as apprentices should be scrapped, a new report for the Institute for Fiscal Studies has warned.

The key chapter of the of the IFS’s Green Budget, called Reforms to apprenticeship funding in England, reiterated fears that quality could be seriously undermined in the drive for 3 million apprenticeship starts by 2020.

It warned there is a risk that “the focus on targets will distort policy and lead to the inefficient use of public money”.

The report out this morning, funded by The Nuffield Foundation is a charitable trust that “aims to improve social well-being in the widest sense”, warned against repeating mistakes of “recent decades, by encouraging employers and training providers to relabel current activity and seek subsidy rather than seek the best training”.

The government confirmed on January 20 that at least 2.3 per cent of the workforce in most public sector bodies in England will have to be apprentices, in a move requiring that 200,000 more will have to be recruited by 2020.

The target was provisionally aired a year ago, as part of a consultation on how large a role public bodies should play in meeting the government’s overall target of creating 3 million new apprenticeship starts by 2020.

But the IFS report said: “This potentially costly policy is largely designed to hit the government’s target for 3 million new apprentices, not as a way to increase the quality of public services. It should be removed.”

It added this “one-size-fits-all “approach to large public sector employers in England is “clearly not a sensible way to encourage more apprenticeships, or to help deliver efficient public services.”

The government response to their consultation on the 2.3 per cent target, published earlier this  month, described a number of bodies that, despite being defined by the ONS as public sector, will be excluded from the target.

These include the BBC and Channel 4, Post Office, and the Houses of Parliament.

FE Week exclusively revealed last January that any public sector apprenticeship target won’t apply to colleges.

The new report also noted that while there might be a strong case for expanding apprenticeships,

the government had failed to make it.

It said ministers would be better pursuing a more gradual increase “where we can ensure high-quality provision”.

“The government’s stated case for expanding subsidies for apprenticeships is weak,” it added. “There has been no collapse in training by employers (though there has been a shift from off-the-job

towards on-the-job training).”

Shadow skills minister Gordon Marsden commented favourably on the findings.

He said: “The IFS are confirming what we have consistently warned the government about over the past 12 months

“Rushing to hit a 3 million target without sorting out the quality or increasing the proportion of apprenticeships under the age of 25 means they risk failing to deliver the long-term skills strategy we need.”

A Department for Education spokesperson said: “The apprenticeship levy will boost our economic productivity, increase the country’s skills base and give millions a step on the ladder of opportunity. In 2019 – 20 the levy is forecast to raise £2.8billion, this will take the total investment in England to £2.45 billion, twice what was spent in 2010-11, with the Devolved Administrations receiving £460 million.”

“Quality is at the heart of all of our apprenticeship reforms. We have introduced new apprenticeship standards which are developed by employers themselves and rigorously checked and taken steps to protect the term apprenticeship from misuse helping us to achieve our target of 3 million apprenticeship starts by 2020 and providing excellent value for money.”

She added recent figures showed a 12 per cent increase in apprenticeships that were found to be good or outstanding in their Ofsted inspection, compared to last year, and “over the past year 60 per cent of new apprenticeship proposals have been rejected as a result of them not meeting our key quality criteria, ensuring that only high quality, skilled apprenticeships are being developed”.

“It’s essential that the public sector is representative of the country and has the skills it needs to deliver, both now and in the future,” she said. “Government believes that apprenticeships can play a major role in achieving the public sector’s ambitious goals and meeting national skills gaps. Consequently, Government has established a target to ensure public sector bodies are striving to incorporate apprentices into their workforces.”