The Skills minister, secretary of state for education, and schools minister have today all reportedly backed Michael Gove’s bid to become the next Prime Minister.

The apparent decision by Nick Boles to support former education secretary Gove in the Conservative Party leadership race comes after he defected from the now-defunct campaign of Boris Johnson, who announced he was out of the running for Tory leader within minutes of the noon deadline for registration today.

Mr Boles had previously released a statement on June 27 on conservativehome.com, that backed Mr Johnson, saying: “He [Boris Johnson] is a modern, liberal Tory, who won two elections in a city that is naturally Labour, who has grown immensely in stature and maturity in his eight years as Mayor, and who will lead the country with the same humanity and sense of fairness that he brought to the leadership of our capital city.”

But tweets from journalists at the BBC and The Sun revealed today that Mr Boles’ support now lies in Mr Gove’s camp.

Education secretary Nicky Morgan has also announced her support for Mr Gove, releasing a statement on her website that said: “Having spent the past week talking to colleagues in parliament, party members and constituents, I have concluded unequivocally that the right person to do that is Michael Gove and I am delighted to be endorsing his candidacy today.”

On Twitter, schools minister Nick Gibb also gave his backing, posting: “Michael Gove is the man the party and country can trust to deliver Brexit.

“He is a passionate believer in social justice and a true reformer.”

Meanwhile, Sam Gyimah, childcare and education minister, came out for home secretary Theresa May’s leadership campaign, commenting on Twitter: “I’m backing Theresa May to be PM because she alone can unify and deliver for our country at this critical time.”

The wrangling within the Conservative party raises further doubts over the timeframe for the launch of the apprenticeship levy, release of information around technical and professional education reforms in the long-awaited Lord Sainsbury report, and outcomes of area reviews.

Delays to all three policy areas have been extensively reported by FE Week in recent months and have caused concern within the sector — despite Mr Boles’ attempted reassurance at the Association of Employment and Learning Providers’ conference last week that more information will be available before the summer recess.

The new Conservative leader will be announced on September 9, with voting beginning in July.

There will be no special treatment for employers which become providers in order to use their apprenticeship levy funding, Ofsted has said.

The education watchdog’s apprenticeship inspections will carry on “regardless of where that provision is delivered”, according to Paul Joyce (pictured), the regulator’s deputy director for FE and skills.

“I can assure you we will not have a two-tier inspection system,” he said in a speech to the Association of Employment and Learning Providers’ annual conference on June 28.

He confirmed that he is “committed to ensuring that the same inspection regime is used to evaluate the quality of apprenticeships provision, wherever that provision is offered and regardless of provider type”.

Ofsted inspections will “apply equally” to colleges, independent learning providers, and “new and existing employer-providers”, he added in an effort to reassure a concerned audience.

Mark Dawe, AELP’s chief executive, welcomed the speech, saying: “For Paul to say publicly that everyone will be treated the same, not a two tier system – you can’t get much more commitment than that.”

A spokesperson at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) told FE Week that Mr Joyce’s comments on not having a two-tier approach “are correct” and said BIS “will be inviting feedback on the administrative process”.

She added: “BIS and the Department for Education continue to work closely with Ofsted who welcome feedback to ensure that their inspection approaches are appropriate.”

FE Week understands that employers are nervous about the process of becoming a registered provider, which brings them under the scope of Ofsted inspections – as a bad inspection could undermine their reputations.

Employer-providers have already suffered as a result of this; Citroën UK became the second employer branded ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted under the new common inspector framework at the end of May.

The report on Citroën, which has a Skills Funding Agency allocation of £1.07m for 2015/16, highlighted concerns over leadership and safeguarding arrangements.

Inspectors found leaders had failed to set their subcontractor “robust and challenging apprenticeship delivery targets” and safeguarding arrangements for apprentices were deemed “inadequate”.

A spokesperson for Citroën said: “We acknowledge and accept the need to update the safeguarding elements of the programme.

“This is currently being actioned and will be in place, alongside further enhancements to maths and English provision, prior to a follow-up meeting with Ofsted.”

At the time, Mr Dawe warned: “Those organisations engaging with the apprenticeship programme for the first time under the apprenticeship levy may be better off sticking to their core business and instead using the services of an experienced training provider.”

Citroën UK’s result meant that a quarter of the employers inspected under the new framework launched in September had been awarded the lowest possible rating.

The government risks “failing” a generation by mishandling its traineeship scheme, shadow skills minister Gordon Marsden, (pictured) has said.

He clashed with skills minister Nick Boles in parliament over the “terrible” rates of progression from traineeships to apprenticeships last week, which FE Week first uncovered with a freedom of information request in June.

Progression figures show that overall progression from traineeships to apprenticeships stood at 22 per cent, but for those aged 19 to 24, it dropped to just nine per cent.

Mr Marsden raised the issue during Business, Innovation and Skills questions on Tuesday (June 28).

Citing our figures, he asked: “The Labour party has consistently supported traineeships for getting many more young people into quality apprenticeships, so why has the government wasted three years failing properly to promote, explain or target them?

“Ten days ago the minister warned about Brexit uncertainties threatening apprenticeships growth and the levy, so will he now spell out new initiatives to tackle that increase in traineeships that is needed, including support to FE colleges and providers who are desperate to press ahead with them or else risking failing that young generation?”

Mr Boles dodged the questions, accusing Mr Marsden of trying to “narrow this programme whose great strength is its versatility”.

He said: “He will know that traineeships are not only about pre-apprenticeship programmes.

“The whole point is to take people into either apprenticeships or jobs or further training – whatever is best for them.”

Mr Boles also referred to FE Week in his answer, calling it an “interesting publication” and saying he was “delighted” that Mr Marsden was an “avid reader”.

On the point that he makes, I am delighted that he is an avid reader of FE Week – it is an interesting publication

Speaking afterwards, the shadow minister insisted that Mr Boles’ response was not adequate “in any shape or form”.

“He ducked the terrible figures on completions for traineeships and was complacent over the current situation,” he said.

“It is all very well talking about the programme growing, but if we don’t get a proper scheme that fills the needs of the economy and creates more apprentices, then that is no good.”

Traineeships were introduced in 2013 as part of the government’s drive to help low-skilled young adults onto apprenticeships, but take-up has remained stubbornly low, and questions have persisted about their purpose.

There were 19,400 traineeship starts in 2014/15, an increase of 86.3 per cent on the previous academic year.

Publicly available statistics only give overall “positive” progression figures from traineeships – to jobs, apprenticeships, further training or education – rather than for each of these outcomes separately.

Our FoI request to the Skills Funding Agency was prompted by the government’s refusal to reveal how many people had moved onto an apprenticeship after completing a traineeship, despite repeated requests.

The figures showed that of the 5,200 completions by 19- to 24-year-olds, a mere 450 – less than 10 per cent – started an apprenticeship.

Richard Atkins was Association of Colleges (AoC) president when the body made traineeships reform one of its key general election manifesto pledges last year – and said the scheme “should be converted into pre-apprenticeship training, specifically created to prepare 16- and 17-year-olds for a full apprenticeship”.

Presented with FE Week’s findings, he said: “I suggest that a review of traineeships is undertaken this year, so that more young people are able to fill the employer vacancies for apprentices.”

The shadow education secretary Pat Glass has resigned after just two days in the post.

Glass, the MP for North West Durham, was appointed to succeed Lucy Powell on Monday follow’s Powell’s resignation over the weekend.

But after announcing yesterday that she would quit Parliament at the next general election, Glass has said today that she was also quitting her “dream job” in the shadow cabinet”.

“It is with a heavy heart that I have today resigned as Shadow SoS Education. My dream job but the situation is untenable,” she tweeted today.

Her resignation, which comes in the wake of a mass exodus from the Labour front-bench in protest against Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, effectively leaves the opposition without an education team.

Four junior members of the team also resigned on Monday, leaving just one MP – shadow skills minister Gordon Marsden – officially speaking for the party on education issues.

The mayor of Hackney has been appointed by London mayor Sadiq Khan as his deputy for planning, regeneration and skills.

Jules Pipe, who became the first directly elected mayor of Hackney in 2002, will focus on providing young people with skills for their future careers, alongside looking at housing and infrastructure development.

Mr Pipe became the first directly elected mayor of Hackney in 2002, and has served as chair of London Councils since June 2010.

He will stand down from both these roles next month to start his full-time role at City Hall.

Mr Pipe declared himself “delighted to be working with Sadiq” and “passionate about London”.

He added: “It is vital we use all the levers of City Hall to pursue a vision for the capital that delivers all its key needs.

“Young Londoners must be given the skills needed to access all the opportunities available to them in our great city.”

Commenting on the appointment, Mr Khan said that he “brings to City Hall extensive knowledge of the capital, and the key challenges it faces”.

“He and I share a determination to ensure London’s prosperity is shared by all Londoners, and that we plan ahead to equip the city for its future economic, infrastructure, skills and housing needs,” he added.

“Jules will be a fantastic addition to my top team at a time when London needs a stronger voice more than ever before in championing its unique interests, following the fallout from the EU referendum result.”

Mary Vine-Morris, London region director for the Association of Colleges, gave her support for Mr Pipe’s appointment.

She said: “Jules Pipe has a wealth of knowledge and understanding of London and we are pleased to see him appointed as deputy mayor for planning, regeneration and skills.

“Area reviews and the future devolution of skills funding are two of the issues most concerning colleges.

“We look forward to working with him collaboratively as we seek to meet the future skills needs of London.”

Mr Khan became the city’s first Muslim mayor, after beating conservative Zac Goldsmith by 1,310,143 votes to 994,614 on May 7.

He subsequently told FE Week what he hopes to achieve for the sector.

“I was lucky to get a good education and go on to university, but I want all Londoners to have the same opportunities to get on in life that this great city gave me – whether that’s through apprenticeships, FE or other routes to employment,” said Mr Khan.

“I am going to be a champion for London’s neglected FE sector so that it can work for both Londoners and businesses.”

 

Key sector figures have urged the government to continue with its apprenticeship reforms following Thursday’s Brexit vote – and warned of the consequences if it doesn’t.

The vote by the British public to leave the European Union came after a speech by skills minister Nick Boles on June 13 raised concerns that such a verdict could kill off the apprenticeship levy.

It has already led to the resignation of prime minister David Cameron, on Friday, and a mass exodus from Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow cabinet on Sunday.

Mark Dawe, chief executive of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, was among those who argued it was now more important than ever to press ahead with its apprenticeship plans.

He said: “If anything, the referendum result means that a skilled British workforce will be needed more than ever, so the target of three million apprenticeship starts by 2020 takes on a new significance.”

Mr Dawe also stressed the need for “clarity” from the government on its levy plans.

He said: “I can understand they’ll pause for a moment and think, but if we don’t know what’s going to happen it’s going to by default not happen in April.”

Chris Jeffery, non-executive director for independent training provider Skills Group, reiterated Mr Dawe’s call for clarity.

While she said it could be a “long time before you see the impact” of the referendum vote, she warned that “any delay regarding the detail is only going to frustrate providers even more and employers as well”.

Their views were echoed by Professor Alison Wolf, who made the case for an employer levy to fund apprenticeship training in a report published days before the government first unveiled the charge last July.

She told FE Week that “skills policy has become more important than ever” in the light of the referendum result.

She said: “One argument for the apprenticeship levy was that firms had cut back their training expenditures over the years, in part because they found it cheaper and easier to use skilled migrant/immigrant labour.”

Professor Wolf said that if the UK decided to opt out of the free movement of labour within Europe “the need to increase our skilled, level three apprenticeship numbers will be more pressing than ever”.

But Gordon Marsden, shadow skills minister, warned that if companies’ “collaboration and cooperation with European companies in building things and winning contracts was being diminished, then obviously either their ability to or their need to recruit more highly skilled apprenticeships could become quite volatile.”

Martin Doel, chief executive of the Association of Colleges, pressed the government to “make it clear as soon as possible how it will continue to fund education and training for the good of everyone.”

And Shakira Martin, National Union of Students vice president for FE, cautioned that if the levy were scrapped “we’re going to see the aspirations of so many young people wanting to get into training and work squashed”.

She urged: “The government should be assuring young people that they have a future in the UK’s skilled workforce, not removing our future chances.”

But Nadhim Zahawi, the prime minister’s apprenticeship adviser, said the “apprenticeship levy and the enhancement of our nation’s skills is a central government policy, and this will continue to be the case.”

Others have raised concerns over the impact of the Brexit vote on the ESF cash the UK receives from the EU for skills training.

Sue Pember, director of policy and external relationships at HOLEX, urged the government to “stabilise their policy” around ESF-funded activities.

She said: “These funds have provided vital support for our adult education students and they will need to be replaced.”

A spokesperson for the University and Colleges Union (UCU) said that colleges received “significant funding” from the ESF, and called on the government to “act quickly to quell uncertainty and set out its plans for sustainable further education funding now and in the future”.

Janet Clark, education policy adviser at the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, said that it would be against any post-16 funding cuts but added that “future funding will depend on what happens to the economy”.

Brett vox pops from the AELP Conference.