A college that recently tumbled from good to inadequate has become the first to have a clean sweep of notices of concern since the Skills Funding Agency went public with its intervention process.

An ‘inspection notice’ has been handed out to Telford College of Arts and Technology, following its grade four Oftsed report published on June 14.

This means it now has notices of concern in all four intervention areas – with each of them issued within the last eight months.

The first, for ‘financial health’, was issued on November 15.

It was followed on February 12 with a notice for ‘financial control’, and on May 6 with another for failures over ‘minimum standards’.

The SFA confirmed TCAT had the dubious honour of being the first college to have this clean sweep, since the agency started publishing its list of notices in February.

David Rose, the college’s vice principal, told FE Week it had “reshaped” its management team and was “continuing to make good progress” with its financial recovery.

He continued: “The improvements needed at the college are already being implemented quickly by our senior team and teaching staff.

“We are all working extremely hard, and we have a clear strategy to create a stronger, financially sustainable, and more dynamic organisation.”

The latest notice comes after Ofsted awarded the 19,500-learner college the lowest possible rating following a visit by inspectors in early May.

In a damning report, the education watchdog criticised college leaders for failing to provide “clear leadership and strategic direction” and for not acting “quickly enough” to arrest the decline in standards at the college.

But it acknowledged that interim principal Jo Lomax, who took over from former principal Chris Scott in March, had begun to make changes, although inspectors noted that “it is too early to gauge the impact of these changes”.

The college is currently in administered status following a visit by the FE Commissioner’s team in December.

Sir David’s intervention was prompted by the college being issued the first of its notices of concern.

His report, published in January, noted that that “the college has experienced a rapid decline in its financial health in recent years”.

In a letter accompanying Sir David’s report to college chair Rick Tyrer, dated January 27, Skills Minister Nick Boles said: “The financial recovery plan is incomplete and there are still serious concerns over financial planning and forecasting.”

In April the college announced plans to merge with nearby New College Telford.

Both colleges are part of the Marches and Worcestershire area review, which is involved with wave two of the review process, which had its first steering group meeting on January 18.

NCG (formerly Newcastle College Group) is the first FE institution in the country to be authorised to develop and award its own honours and masters degrees.

The move was hailed as a “landmark development for the sector” by NCG chief executive Joe Docherty.

While a number of FE colleges can currently award foundation degrees, which are equivalent of two thirds of a full honours degree, FE providers have previously had to have their degrees developed, validated and awarded in partnership with an established university.

NCG is the first college to which the Privy Council has granted taught-degree awarding powers — allowing it to run its provision without any partner university.

Martin Doel, the Association of Colleges’ chief executive, described the move as a “big step forward in demonstrating the quality of higher education provision delivered in the sector”.

He said: “We predict that more colleges will follow the example set by NCG in the next few years and provide a distinctive higher education service that meets the needs of local employers and communities.”

NCG’s network of colleges and training providers includes Newcastle College, West Lancashire College, and Kidderminster College, and already offers more than 85 foundation degrees.

The college received £2.3m from the Higher Education Funding Council for England for 2016/17, more than some universities, including the University of Winchester, which received £2.1m.

Mr Docherty said: “We look forward to seeing other colleges following this path and would be happy to share our experiences with others in the sector.”

Hartpury College in Gloucester, which received £1.4m from HEFCE for 2016/17, told FE Week that it was “already on the journey towards achieving” its own taught-degree awarding powers.

Rosie Scott-Ward, the college’s vice-principal for higher education, told FE Week: “We’re currently in the scrutiny part of this process, with the aim of being able to develop and award our own honours and masters degrees in future.

“As the national leaders in our specialist subject areas of equine, sport, agriculture, veterinary nursing and animal science, and with numbers of higher education students at Hartpury at an all-time high, it was the next natural step to apply for full taught degree awarding powers.

“We’re confident we’re outperforming many established universities and that our students would be proud to be awarded a Hartpury degree.”

Bradford College, which received £1,685,361 of funding from the HEFCE, also told FE Week that it intends to apply for full taught-degree awarding powers.

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills is soon due to report the outcome of its consultation into maintenance loans for learners in FE.

The consultation, which closed on June 16, investigated the introduction of loans for FE learners aged 19 and above at higher levels (four to six).

Universities and science minister Jo Johnson hailed the move as a “significant step forward for NCG”.

He said it “opens up more opportunities for young people in the local community to enjoy the benefits that higher education can bring”.

A spokesperson for the Privy Council told FE Week: “I can confirm that the Privy Council approved an order granting NCG taught degree awarding powers on June 21, on the recommendation of BIS.”

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.”