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Public Accounts Committee warning over ‘high risk’ devolution plans

“High risk” devolution plans giving local enterprise partnerships widespread adult education budget spending powers must be subjected to far more stringent scrutiny, a new Public Accounts Committee report has warned.

The document was unveiled this morning, with committee chair Meg Hillier (pictured) insisting “every pound of public money” spent by LEPs and other relevant local bodies “must be a pound parliament can trace”.

It comes after an investigation published by the Mail Online alleged that LEPs had made more than 270 payments to companies, or other projects, connected with their own board members, with sums for example ranging from £13,000 to £1 million.

Question marks over accountability matter deeply to FE, with LEPs already in control much of the funds available to providers for capital spending – and last month’s autumn statement confirmed that the government is pushing ahead with plans to devolve the AEB.

The findings prompted Mark Dawe, chief executive of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, to hit out at “a system set up in a manner that leads to institutional bias”.

The new PAC report has raised further concerns about scrutiny, transparency and accountability, stressing that “taxpayers must be able to understand who is spending their money, how that money is allocated and where responsibility lies if the system fails to deliver good value or things go wrong”.

A spokesperson stressed: “This includes the ‘opaque’ nature of accountability for the activities of LEPs – designed to bring together the public and private sector – which are now negotiating local growth deals funded by a £12 billion fund over a five-year period”.

Ms Hillier complained today that the message coming from government was that combined authorities had signed up for devolution and “it’s over to them – full stop”.

But she said: “This high-risk strategy is squarely in the sights of our committee. Our concerns are not addressed to the policy of devolution but rather the risks inherent in its implementation.

“Every pound of public money spent by an elected mayor, LEP or other body must be a pound parliament can trace. Spending must face robust scrutiny.”

A LEP-funded report published in October by Metro-Dynamics, called ‘Leading the way’, previously came out in support of greater transparency.

It said: “LEPs need to continue to ensure that they are known for having the best possible approach to transparency and governance in terms of decision-making and spending.”

The chairman of the Greater Cambridge Greater Peterborough Enterprise Partnership, Mark Reeve, told FE Week on behalf of the LEP Network Board, that “all LEPs take any allegations of improper conduct extremely seriously”.

“LEPs continuously seek ways to improve transparency and share best practice,” he said.

“It is not the role of the LEP Network to monitor how LEPs allocate grant funding or assess conflicts of interest.

“The government has clearly vested that role in the democratically elected councils who are accountable for monitoring conflicts of interest and ensuring how grant funding is awarded by the LEPs.”

A government spokesperson said: “Our rules make clear the need for a published conflicts of interest policy and insist upon transparency in the way taxpayers’ money is spent.

“We won’t hesitate to act if any LEPs are found to have failed to follow our rules.”

Ofsted criticises ‘financial mismanagement’ at college preparing to join with university

Governors have been criticised for being slow to recognise “financial mismanagement” at Lambeth College, in new report unveiled by Oftsed.

The grade three across the board report, published by the inspectorate today, recognised that “clearer and firmer arrangements” had recently been put in place to ensure governors’ “oversight of the college’s corporate functions”.

But it warned: “In the last academic year, governors were slow to recognise key indicators of financial mismanagement at the college.”

A spokesperson for the provider, which had over 6,000 learners at the time of the inspection, told FE Week today: “The governors and senior managers accept the findings of the Ofsted inspection and are pleased to have had the opportunity to demonstrate that errors made in the past are not being repeated in the present.”

The report comes three days after Lambeth announced it was pushing ahead with plans to join forces with London South Bank University.

“Following the recommendations of the government area review of post-16 education for central London, Lambeth College is delighted with the decision…to join the London South Bank University family in principle and subject to the development of a full business case,” a spokesperson said.

Minutes from a meeting of the college corporation held in July indicated problems.

“The 2015/16 deficit forecast brought to the board on March 10, 2016, had been at £500k, but had now gone up to £5.6 million,” it said.

FE Week subsequently asked the Department for Education if the Skills Funding Agency had bailed out the college.

A spokesperson for the agency said in response that “exceptional financial support” had been provided.

The LSBU family consists of the university, UTC and academy, together with a company called South Bank University Enterprises Ltd.

The college, which was allocated just over £11m from the adult education budget for 2016/17 as of September, said joining the group would offer it operational stability, while also helping to build clear learning pathways for students.

FE Week asked a spokesperson if the move would mean Lambeth would no longer be an independent corporation.

She said in response: “The exact structure of the college within the LSBU family is not yet decided upon.”

Mary McCormack, chair of governors, said: “We are confident this exciting and innovative partnership will broaden and increase the opportunities for Lambeth College students to progress from FE into higher level apprenticeships, higher education and employment.”

Professor David Phoenix, vice-chancellor at LSBU, added: “Post-16 education is a critical part of the fabric of our society and employers are calling for a more highly educated and skilled workforce.

“Welcoming Lambeth College into this exciting and innovative model with the LSBU family is an excellent opportunity to enhance the provision of FE across south London.”

It comes after FE Week reported in November that Lewisham Southwark College, which last year became the first college ever to receive two ‘inadequate’ ratings from Ofsted in a row, had explored a number of what it called “potential options” to improve in the wake of the London (central) area review, according to a spokesperson.

Options under consideration included separate mergers with two nearby institutions: London South Bank University and Lambeth College.

Both options were deemed unviable by the bosses at Lewisham. The college said at the time it was instead revisiting its “preferred” proposal – of merging with Newcastle College Group, based in the north-east of England.

Find out which organisations can assess the most apprenticeship standards

A big three familiar names dominate the updated list of 33 approved assessment organisations – taking responsibility for end point assessments with almost a third of new apprenticeship standards.

City and Guilds tops the list, having signed-up to assess 18, followed by Pearson Education with 16, and NOCN with 11, according to the updated register published by the Skills Funding Agency this morning.

It means they are together responsible for assessments with 45 out of a total of 153 standards cleared by the agency as ready for delivery.

Edwina McQueen, director of apprenticeships at City & Guilds, said: “City & Guilds has made a significant investment in developing end-point assessments to date as we know that they are an essential part of creating a high quality and efficient apprenticeship system in the UK.

“We have already developed end-point assessments for 18 occupations, more than any other awarding organisation, and have many more in the pipeline which will be released next year, including customer service and digital.”

She added: “Developing end-point assessment for each occupation requires a significant investment in creating assessment instruments and in developing the right support systems.

“At City & Guilds we have been planning this for some time and have a plan in place which includes assessment of existing published occupations and a strong focus on the needs of the future marketplace.”

Courses to be assessed by City and Guilds include for golf greenkeepers and property maintenance operatives at level two, and level four software developer.

City and Guilds has also developed end-point assessment for some occupations that are not yet out for tender.

Pearson covered standards including dental laboratory assistant, motor vehicle service and maintenance technician (light vehicle), and water process technician, all at level three.

A spokesperson for Pearson said: “We welcome the opportunity to continue to apply to the register and are reviewing each standard on a case by case basis.

“We are committed to ensuring that our end-point assessments deliver high quality apprenticeships.”

NOCN has approval to assess standards, for example covering adult care workers, and financial services customer adviser at level two, science manufacturing technician at level three.

Graham Hasting-Evans, managing director of NOCN, told FE Week: “We have [actually] been successfully appointed to deliver 14 end-point assessments in seven sectors [because the portal is not yet fully updated] making us third in the national league.

“We have worked towards this for the last four years, being fully committed financially and operationally.

“We have systems and staff now in place and we are ready to deliver, that is why we’re featuring so heavily in the AAO list – we’re here because we can do the job, plain and simple.”

It comes as FE Week revealed today (December 15) that under half of apprenticeship standards approved for delivery still have no approved assessment organisation, according to exclusive analysis of new data, despite recent assurance by SFA boss Peter Lauener and apprenticeships and skills minister Robert Halfon.

Failed UTC site used as cheap accommodation

Young professionals are living in a disused Walsall university technical college site, after the 14-19 institution was forced to closed in April last year.

Black Country UTC was one of the first of its kind when it opened in 2011, but low student numbers, financial challenges, and poor Ofsted results were said to be behind the decision to shut it down.

Part of the former £9.5 million Black Country UTC, is now being used by members of a “live-in guardians” scheme, which offers cheap accommodation to professionals and students.

Walsall council said the live-in guardians were being used to “secure the building”, while also sharing the site with the council’s outdoor pursuits team.

The council is renting the rest of the site to the Sneyd Community Association. Specialist equipment left behind following the closure was “redistributed by the EFA”, officials said.

Hackney UTC also closed in 2015, and a string of collapses have followed.

In February, an FE Week investigation found that forty per cent of UTCs opened between 2010 and 2013 saw student numbers fall for the last academic year, and seven of the flagship institutions will have shut by the end of this academic year.

Although the government aims to ensure their sites are still used for “educational purposes”, this hasn’t always proved to be the case.

The £8.6 million Burton and South Derbyshire UTC, in Staffordshire, which never managed to open because of recruitment problems, is also empty.

But the de Ferrers Trust, a local academy trust, is hoping to relocate sixth-form provision from its flagship de Ferrers academy into the UTC’s “world-class” facilities.

Steve Allen, chief executive of the de Ferrers trust, said the Burton and South Derbyshire UTC site was the “perfect environment” for a 16 to 19 institution.

“In other UTCs they have relocated the furniture to other schools, but we would like to utilise the building with the furniture, and that’s part of our bid.”

At the £6.49 million Central Bedfordshire UTC, which closed this summer, the engineering block and main building are used by Bedford College.

Meanwhile, buildings on the site of Hackney Community College, which were used by Hackney UTC between 2012 and 2015, continue to be used for education.

Tottenham UTC has requested permission to become the second London Academy of Excellence, while Greenwich council has confirmed plans to spend £13 million converting the Royal Greenwich UTC into a secondary school.

The status of the site that once housed UTC Lancashire in Burnley, which announced its closure in May, is unknown.

Commenting on the use of space dedicated to unsuccessful UTCs, Angela Rayner, the shadow education secretary, accused the government of having “no strategy for dealing with abandoned sites”, and described the “failure of UTCs to recruit pupils” as a “waste”.

She added: “Rather than experimenting with our children’s future, the government really needs to concentrate on the issues that matter — proper funding, motivated teachers, smaller class sizes.”

A Department for Education spokesperson said: “Where UTCs have closed, we have undertaken a full assessment of the site and aim to ensure that it continues to be used for educational purposes.”

Exclusive: Still no assessment organisations approved for over half apprenticeships

More than half of apprenticeship standards approved for delivery still have no approved assessment organisation, FE Week analysis of latest government data has shown.

Former top skills civil servant Dr Sue Pember, who is now director of policy at adult learning provider membership body Holex, said it was “morally wrong” of the Skills Funding Agency to let learners to begin new apprenticeships without an approved AO for their end point assessments.

She hit out after FE Week found there were only 63 standards with an approved AO to do the end point assessment, out of 147 granted final approval by the government and are therefore available for learners to start on.

Our analysis of figures out today on AOs has now shown there are still 78 standards without one, which amounts to just over 50 per cent of the total approved for delivery (see table below).

The lack of progress is despite assurances last month from apprenticeships minister Robert Halfon, as well Skills Funding Agency boss Peter Lauener, that the government was working hard to speed up the approval process – with the current state of play described as “not ideal” but “manageable”.

After being presented with our analysis, Mark Dawe, chief executive of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, told FE Week this morning: “Our concern is that there will still be a major shortage when the levy starts.

“The new system also adds significantly extra cost to delivering an apprenticeship and without a good choice of EPA organisations, monopoly or duopoly pricing for EPA will take funding away from providing high quality training for the apprentice.

“More importantly, it is simply wrong for an apprentice to start a programme without knowing how they are going to be assessed.”

Mr Halfon was grilled by MPs on the topic during a sub-committee on education, skills and the economy evidence session on apprenticeships on November 2.

He told MPs: “Even where there isn’t an assessment organisation yet, we’re pretty sure that by the time they’ve finished their apprenticeship, which could be on year, two years, they will have the assessment organisation in place.

“Huge amounts of resources are being put in in terms of working with the providers; a lot of work is going on with the employers to make sure of that.”

Mr Lauener provoked a dismayed reaction the previous day at the AELP winter conference, when he told delegates that having no approved AOs for over 40 per cent of learner starts was not a major problem.

He added: “There are 4,200 starts on standards, and there are 800,000 apprentices, so come on, let’s get this in proportion.”

“We don’t expect any of the apprentices that are in training at the moment to reach their end-point assessment without having an end-point assessor provider rightly in place,” he said.

“That’s what I would regard as a disgrace, if we were to get anywhere near that – we’re not in position, we don’t think we will get to that position as of the changes we’re making.”

Dr Pember was highly critical of government progress with this back in October.

She said: “I think it’s really morally wrong to start an apprentice on a programme when you don’t know how they are going to be tested at the end.

“You wouldn’t start somebody on the equivalent of an A-level without knowing the assessment at the end.”

An SFA spokesperson said: “We are making sure that all end-point assessments meet our rigorous quality standards and we carefully scrutinise every application to ensure this is the case.

“Of those standards with current apprentice starts, 86 per cent have an end-point assessment organisation available to them. This rises to 96 per cent of all apprentice starts who are expected to reach their gateway within the next 12 months.

“We are working towards all standards having end-point assessment organisations by the time the apprenticeship reforms begin in April.”

Mass delays to publication of special needs learner plans spark calls for government intervention

“Very concerning” delays with councils delivering education health and care plans (EHCP) for young people with special needs, which could deprive many of FE support from January, have sparked calls for a government crackdown.

Local authorities are legally obliged to put in place the new plans for young people in FE and training – which are different to previous learning difficulties assessment (LDA) recommendations.

They were given until the end of August to do this for 19 to 25-year-olds.

An extension until December 31 was subsequently provided by the Department for Education – but this was only supposed to apply in “exceptional circumstances”.

Despite this, freedom of information request responses indicate that less than 30 local authorities across the country had transferred all their learners by the August deadline – with 10 failing to transfer a single one by that date.

Sue Pember, director of policy and external relations at local authority community learning services membership body HOLEX, told FE Week: “EHCPs trigger the right level of support and funding.

“They are there as the key tool to help ensure our most vulnerable young people have the right education and training.

“If the local authorities can’t do it, then DFE should step in and sort the issue out.”

She added: “Because there is no fundamental issue with the actual task of doing an EHCP, the only reasons we can see for them not being done is local authorities not prioritising and not having a enough ‎trained staff.

“The‎ reason behind giving this job to them was supposedly they were best placed to do it. They would/ should have known the student from a young age and would have been supporting them through school and therefore reassessment at 16 should have been relatively straightforward.”

Liz Maudslay, policy manager for special education needs at the Association of Colleges, which launched a ‘year of mental health’ in colleges at the organisation’s annual conference last month, said: “It is very concerning that a number of local authorities have not yet transferred students with learning difficulties and disabilities, who have an assessment, onto an education heath and care plan.

“Local authorities must do much more to help get the right support in place as soon as possible.”

Thomas Mitchell, a specialist education law solicitor at Simpson Millar, which lodged the FOIs, added urgent action was needed to stop young people with special needs bearing the brunt in the new year, if their ECHPs have not been completed.

He warned: “If all EHCPs aren’t in place by December 31, these young people could find themselves without the necessary college support or placements.”

The DfE told local authorities over the summer that justification for delaying EHCPs in “exceptional circumstances” should “avoid any disruption to high needs support”.

But it stressed: “These cases should be the exception not the rule, and cases where an EHCP assessment is still underway by September 1 should be particularly exceptional.”

The FOI responses by 136 local authorities indicated that almost as many learners did not have an EHC by the original deadline, as the number who had one – 4,529 compared to 5,336.

LDAs were replaced with EHCPs for all new FE learners with support needs from 2014.

Previous guidance for local authorities, published by the DfE, said: “All young people who receive support as a result of an LDA who will continue in FE or training beyond September 1, 2016, must have an EHCP by that date where one is needed.”

A DfE spokesperson told FE Week today: “We have brought about the biggest changes to special educational needs and disability provision in a generation and are increasing overall high needs funding.

“We allowed some funding flexibility in exceptional circumstances for local authorities in transferring 19 to 25-year-olds who had LDAs last year to ECHPs. This was to safeguard the interests of young people and ensure their high needs provision was not disrupted.”

She added that “19-25 year olds need the plans to be eligible for high needs funding. However, we allowed some funding flexibility to this rule, ‎in exceptional circumstances”.

The Local Government Association declined to comment on the delays.

New plans for police constable apprenticeships unveiled

A police constable degree apprenticeship could help aspiring officers to meet new requirements for a degree level qualification to enter the profession from 2020, according to an announcement from the College of Policing today.

The apprenticeship would be paid for by the force and take three years to complete, with the aim of better preparing officers for the “increasingly complex” nature of police work.

Graduates would be able to take a six month graduate programme, which would also be paid for by the police force, and there would be other opportunities to study a specific policing degree at university.

The promotion structure within the police force would also change, to support officers to gain further qualifications as they climb the ladder.

All newly promoted sergeants, for example, would undergo a 12-month higher-level apprenticeship in leadership and management and be confirmed in post when they completed the course.

Newly promoted superintendents would complete a master’s apprenticeship, and officers seeking the rank of assistant chief constable or above will require a master’s before applying.

Chief constable Alex Marshall, the College of Policing chief executive officer, said the nature of police work “has changed significantly”.

He said: “Cyber-enabled crime has increased. So has the need for officers and staff to investigate and gather intelligence online and via information technology.

“Protecting vulnerable people has rightly become a high priority for policing. Officers and staff now spend more of their time working to prevent domestic abuse, monitor high-risk sex offenders and protect at-risk children.”

He added: “We recognise that the strengths of policing include its accessibility as a career to people of all backgrounds and it being a vocation. We want to preserve these strengths.

“But we also want to ensure that the increasingly complex activities undertaken by people working in policing are properly recognised.”

The College of Policing recently carried out a consultation on a programme of work to design a Policing Education Qualifications Framework.

It received over 3,000 responses, almost 80 per cent of which were from police officers.

Nearly three quarters of the respondents in policing said they were interested in gaining accreditation for their existing skills.

If approved the planned changes are expected in pilot form in 2017, when the College of Policing will also publish a directory of education qualifications for officers and staff, including guidance as to how their on-the-job experience counts towards recognition.

The directory will also include advice on what funding may be available to support them.

Mr Marshall said: “Our plans will future-proof policing so that, as it becomes more complex, officers will be accredited to the appropriate standard.

“Regardless of which force they’re in, they’ll know that their skills and knowledge match those of colleagues elsewhere in the country.”

Governors back first sixth form college merger with multi-academy trust

Governors from the Sixth Form College Solihull have voted to press ahead with plans to join forces with a network of local schools – in what looks set to be the first ever union between a SFC and multi-academy trust.

The merger with Ninestiles Academy Trust – which currently includes seven schools across Birmingham and Solihull – is expected to complete before the start of next academic year, depending on final government approval.

The SFC was most recently rated ‘good’ by Ofsted in 2013, while the trust’s lead school, Ninestiles An Academy, was graded ‘outstanding’ in the same year.

James Kewin, deputy chief executive of the Sixth Form Colleges Association (pictured left), told FE Week: “Having a high performing SFC at the centre of a multi academy trust means that students will receive a seamless, specialist education at all levels.

“This makes a lot more sense than secondary academies establishing their own sixth forms as we know that many lack the expertise or scale to thrive.”

The SFC and academy trust first began merger talks in early 2015 and a spokesperson said the proposal was backed by the government following the Birmingham and Solihull area review, between September 2015 and March 2016.

At separate meetings held simultaneously yesterday on December 13, both boards voted to move forward to the next stage of their merger.

It means they will now jointly submit a formal application to the DfE, requesting the college converts to academy status and joins the trust.

Paul Ashdown, principal of the SFC (pictured above), said: “I believe strongly that this merger would bring together our existing and complementary strengths to create an all-through expertise which would drive and sustain a system of excellence.

“As part of a strong trust, we would also be able to secure and enhance the outstanding educational opportunities we provide to young people from schools all across Birmingham and Solihull.”

Martyn Collin, interim chief executive officer at Ninestiles Academy Trust, said: “By joining forces, we would be able to offer children the unique opportunity of accessing a learning pathway which will lead them on a journey remaining within one network of educational establishments from aged three right up until they are 19 years old.”

Other SFCs have moved into mergers in the last year, including Prior Pursglove College, in North Yorkshire and Stockton Sixth Form College, in Stockton-on-Tees, which joined together as Prior Pursglove and Stockton Sixth Form College in May.

The resulting institution is currently pursuing academisation.

Shrewsbury College also joined forces with Shrewsbury Sixth Form College in July, with another merger proposed between Hartlepool College and Hartlepool Sixth Form College.

Mr Kewin said: “SFCs are at various different stages of the academisation process, and some at the most advanced stage have already concluded their formal consultation.

“Most are likely to establish their own multi-academy trust and will use this as the vehicle to help drive up standards in local schools.

“A smaller number will join an existing multi-academy trust or establish a single academy trust.”

Minimal impact of schools’ careers advice on progression to FE exposed

Careers advice in schools is having little to no impact on young people’s decisions to stay on into FE, a new study has revealed.

The disappointing results of Edge Foundation and City & Guilds report come over 18 months since the government launched the Careers and Enterprise Company, to help 12 to 18-year-olds “access the best advice and inspiration about the world of work by encouraging greater collaboration between schools and colleges and employers”.

It showed that 62 per cent of 16 to 19-year-old respondents believed the decision to study in FE would help them to go on to get a good job.

But just one per cent said careers advice at school had been the most important factor in their choice to study in the sector.

Around a quarter of young people in FE, the findings also indicated, still rely on their parents as their main source of careers guidance, while only 16 per cent of learners would turn to their institution’s careers service for information about the job market.

Over 30 per cent of apprentices said their employers were their first port of call for details about the workplace.

Well over half (57 per cent) of respondents said they wanted more information from employers, while 44 per cent called for more presentations by representatives of colleges and schools.

The findings make up the first wave of results from a longitudinal study of learners in vocational education undertaken by the Institute for Employment Research at the University of Warwick and commissioned by the Edge Foundation and City & Guilds.

Further waves will focus on employment status, job satisfaction, wages and intentions towards further study.

Over 600 young people aged 16-19 took part, including college-based students in full or part-time study and apprentices engaged in work-based learning.

Chief executive of the Edge Foundation, Alice Barnard, said: “The poor quality of careers information, advice and guidance is compromising students’ choices and leaving a significant proportion of young people with no sense of direction for their future.

“Naturally you expect young people to seek advice from mum and dad, but many parents and carers will just not know enough about the range of career or learning opportunities to be the main influencer in such an important decision.

She added: “There are currently over 650,000 19-24 year olds who are not in education, employment or training, and I fear this number will rise further unless young people can access quality careers information.”

Kirstie Donnelly, managing director of City & Guilds (pictured right), added: “Sadly these findings come as no shock to me.

“Last year we commissioned a study among 14-19 year olds and found a similarly worrying picture of patchy or incorrect careers advice, and a complete lack of understanding among young people about the breadth of the jobs market.”

She said: “This report adds to the growing canon of evidence that there is a postcode lottery for careers advice for young people.”

On December 2, FE Week reported that the colleges and local enterprise partnerships included in the Careers and Enterprise Company’s “enterprise adviser network” also revealed a postcode lottery for FE coverage, with 15 LEPs not covered – and London completely absent.

Claudia Harris, the company’s chief executive, confirmed that it did not work with any of the capital’s 44 FE and sixth form colleges.

She said the company was working with “nearly all” local enterprise partnerships across the country, but the list of colleges that FE Week saw listed just 24 of the 39 LEPs.