Positive message from new principal of ‘inadequate’ college

The new interim principal of troubled City College Coventry said lessons would be learned from its second inadequate Ofsted rating in less than three years — but insisted it didn’t “feel or look like a failing college”.

Dr Elaine McMahon was drafted in from January 4 as an interim replacement for Steve Logan, who had spent just 18 months as principal. He arrived just as the college was graded as ‘requires improvement’ — having received a disastrous grade four result the previous year that resulted in the departure of the then-principal Paul Taylor.

John Hogg was subsequently appointed interim principal to turn around college fortunes in July 2013, and Dr McMahon (pictured) now faces the same task.

Dr-Elaine-McMahon

She faces ‘inadequate’ ratings for effectiveness of leadership and management, quality of teaching, learning and assessment, personal development, behaviour and welfare, outcomes for learners, 16 to 19 study programmes, and apprenticeships.

The report on the college, which was allocated £4.8m by the Skills Funding Agency for 2015/16 as of August, said that “much teaching is inadequate, too few learners complete their qualification successfully and too few current learners make good progress in their learning”, although it recognised that the leadership team had “secured successfully college finances”.

But Dr McMahon told FE Week: “When I walked in my first impression was that this doesn’t feel or look like a failing college.”

However, she added: “We acknowledge the findings of the Ofsted report and will most certainly learn from it. To do so, we’ll need to work hard to help ourselves, but there are many reasons to be optimistic.”

Such optimism will come in the face of inspectors’ comments that “performance management of managers and staff is weak and has not raised the quality of provision to good across much of the college’s work.”

They added: “Managers continue to overgrade the quality of teaching, learning and assessment, and do not use a wide enough range of measures to judge fully and reliably the quality of learning”.

Dr McMahon, who introduced herself to students in the college’s main foyer at 8:30am on Wednesday (January 6) and had spent the previous two days meeting with staff, said: “Importantly, our courses match the needs of local business in a city that is seeing high levels of investment and growth.

“Our facilities can support excellent learning and I‘ve already met many staff who are experts in their fields and passionate about student outcomes. These are the people who can lead the changes we need to see and I look forward to working with them in the coming months.”

Dr McMahon led Hull College for nearly nine years until early 2013, during which time it received an ‘outstanding’ rating by Ofsted. She subsequently had stints as interim principal at Harlow College, Ealing, Hammersmith and West London College and Edinburgh College.

Loss of UKCES standards proves an occupational hazard

Reforms to apprenticeships could be leaving behind the lessons learned by the UKCES in the development of NOS, government adviser Nigel Whitehead warned in the last edition of FE Week. Simon Perryman picks up on the issue.

As we enter 2016, I remain an optimist for the UK skills system. Much of what we do is excellent, the budget settlement wasn’t as dreadful as some had predicted, the idea of a new style levy will certainly energise apprenticeship uptake and the area-based review process, together with greater devolution, is a sensible policy response in a challenging world.

Other countries look to the UK as an exemplar of effective and pragmatic employer engagement. They admire our labour market information (LMI), copy our occupational standards and competence-based approach to vocational education and try, but rarely have the courage to develop, employer-owned institutions like the UKCES and sector skills councils (SSCs). In particular, they envy our apprenticeships as the glue that binds employers and education together to support the proper introduction of young people into the world of work. They admire our system for its pragmatism and adaptability.

The Government was right that apprenticeships and standards needed to be adapted and refreshed. The challenge as ever will be whether we can effectively execute this raft of new policy. It worries me when I hear Nigel Whitehead from BAE Systems and a UKCES Commissioner, raising concerns on a public platform about occupational standards.

It is particularly disappointing that the Government in England seems to place so little value on NOS, when internationally they are held in the highest regard along with the rest of our competence-based approach to technical and vocational education.
Trailblazer work has added new energy to the standards debate and has been effective at engaging employers. Managed sensibly, Trailblazer standards can provide a valuable ‘front end’ to NOS, testing their relevance and enhancing their value. But, it seems curious that the Government continues to deny the importance of having UK-wide standards and fails to acknowledge the importance of SSCs in doing the ‘leg work’ of turning Trailblazer standards into apprenticeships that can be assessed.

Might it also have been better if we had started with a ‘road map’ of the occupations that needed to be covered rather than the ‘making-it-up-as-we-go-along’ approach to policy making that has led to proliferation and has been so frustrating for employers?
Shouldn’t we now be actively supporting SSCs in reaching out to their employers to co-ordinate Trailblazer work and its integration with NOS to retain our UK-wide system and make sure the new apprenticeships are ready for 2017?

Then there is the wider issue of delivering apprenticeships effectively. Is the Skills Funding Agency capable of delivering the new online Digital Apprenticeship Service? Its track record on IT and data collection hardly gives room for confidence.

Are colleges going to be able to step up quickly enough to take on the challenge of direct delivery. We are ready at Barnsley, with one of the best apprenticeship records in the country, but it would be good to have levy policy nailed down so we know what we are aiming at.

Just who is going to supply the energy to bring the new apprenticeship and levy system to life without totally confusing the business community? I hope Government creates an Institute for Apprenticeships that has employer leadership, the vision, the LMI and the partnership skills to continue to build a quality apprenticeship system for the UK. A system based on UK-wide consensus over a set of coherent occupational pathways, incorporating the best of Trailblazer standards and NOS for each part of the economy, supported by effective local brokerage to help bring education and business together.

I do remain optimistic for skills in the UK, but there is much we need to do together in 2016 to turn policy intent into practical reality if we want to continue to have an apprenticeship system that delivers quality as well as volume.

Framework for a ‘turbulent’ year ahead

Having spent the last four weeks in the Americas, primarily the Caribbean and Brazil, it was interesting to compare the impact of vocational education on the growth of their economies.

What struck me as interesting was developing countries, including China, India and most of South America, don’t have the hang-ups we have in the UK, and also the USA, between vocational and academic learning.

Despite overwhelming evidence we learn more at the workplace than school, college and university put together, when it comes to developing skills policy this seems to be forgotten and academia rules, unless of course you need a plumber, hairdresser or carer for your own mum.

This looks like being another turbulent year for apprenticeship providers with so many unanswered questions about Trailblazers, end assessments and the levy.

The timetable for moving from Specification of Apprenticeship Standards for England (SASE) frameworks to Trailblazer standards seems to have stalled, delayed or even been abandoned. The minister has told some employers they can retain their framework if they want to.

All participating employers knew what a SASE framework entailed, whereas each Trailblazer standard is unique with very different delivery and content requirements.

So employers who operate over several skill areas, even if their main occupation is ,say, manufacturing, will have clerical, or warehousing, or sales, or accounts, or maintenance apprentices all undertaking a very different type of apprenticeship not just with different vocational skills, but different delivery, assessment and end-testing requirements.

This will create difficulties for providers who operate over several sectors and for Ofsted inspectors to understand the vagaries of each standard. At least there now seems to be a glimmer of hope for standardisation with the realisation, led by Nigel Whitehead, that the National Occupational Standards (NOS) should still have a role. The NOS are the only common language we have to define vocational skills across all sectors.

There now seems to be a glimmer of hope for standardisation

Ironically, Trailblazer standards do not require formal qualifications, unless employers’ want them, resulting in the demise of awarding organisations (AOs) from apprenticeships.

However with the complex end assessment testing being devised by the various employer groups, AOs see themselves as the only party in town to undertake this, and in the hospitality sector have secured the monopoly.

End-testing with exams, interviews, projects, practical skills tests, etc, are estimated to cost on average a third of the total apprenticeship funding. So one of the unintended consequences of the Hancock/Richard reforms is AOs, instead of earning less than £100 per apprentice, will now be earning thousands. All this, without any pilots or cost analysis as to whether this will actually improve apprenticeship quality and provide better results than the current system, or any ‘value for money’ evaluation.

Without formal qualifications in place, there will be no government regulator to oversee the AOs’ role in end-testing, at least until the first scandal.

This calendar year will be full of changes for providers, nearly all of them of government’s making, to be ready for the levy in 15 months’ time and Trailblazer standards — if and when frameworks are withdrawn.

For leaders in the sector it will require some second-guessing and smart moves to keep ahead of the game when so many policy decisions, especially regarding the levy and small and medium-sized enterprise contributions have to be made. At the same time we have to ensure our staff are prepared for the changes, our clients informed and our learners motivated as we continue to grow to play our part in the 3m starts target.

Cynics might suggest the reason the levy was introduced was to allow apprenticeships to continue to be funded without Brussels monies, if the referendum takes us out of the EU.

Getting to a higher quality apprentice system

The quality of apprenticeships is an issue never far from the FE headlines. Nida Broughton outlines her view of the possible effect of reforms.

Apprenticeships are an important part of the Government’s productivity plan — a high quality apprenticeship system is seen as vital to help meet the need for new technical and professional skills over the coming years.

While the apprenticeship programme has grown substantially over the past decade, its shortcomings in terms of the quality of training provided have been well-documented. With a new funding system to be put in place, the big question for policymakers in 2016 is how to solve the quality problem.

Research by Professor Alison Wolf has highlighted the low and falling levels of spending over the past decade. By 2013-14, spending per apprenticeship start came to £2,500, down from around £3,000 in 2002-03 before taking into account inflation. In this situation, it is unsurprising that there has been so much concern about the quality of some apprenticeship programmes and the value of the skills that they provide.

With a target for 3m apprenticeship starts this Parliament, the funding question was an urgent one. The new apprenticeships levy promises to bring in the kind of cash that is needed to pay for higher quality schemes. According to the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement, the levy is expected to bring in £3bn a-year by 2019-20, allowing a cash terms doubling in spending compared to 2010-11.

Problem solved? Not yet. In fact, on quality, there is a danger of slipping into complacency. Just as important as how much funding is available is how that money is spent.

A restrictive approach that only looked at how apprenticeships are delivered, and not the results that they produce, would be unlikely to result in value for money

This is an important question because the problem with the last decade of apprenticeships wasn’t simply poor overall quality. Some types of apprenticeships were very good indeed, providing good quality training that improved career prospects. Research by the Social Market Foundation, and others, show that level three apprenticeships generally provide a greater boost to earnings than level two apprenticeships. And there are substantial differences by occupation and sector, as might be expected given the differing patterns of skill demand across the economy. One apprenticeship is quite definitely not just as good as another. We need to make sure that money is directed towards the areas that make the biggest difference to productivity and good employment opportunities.

Putting employers in charge has been a much trumpeted change under the new system. A new Institute of Apprenticeships, independent and led by employers, is to regulate the quality of apprenticeships. But how is it to deal with the fact that some employers’ apprenticeship programmes will be much better than those of others — both in terms of boosting productivity and improving the career prospects of those enrolled on them? How the new Institute’s remit is drafted and how the Institute chooses to meet its remit will make a big difference to the future success of the apprenticeships programme.

Quality can mean many different things. A limited interpretation could mean the Institute sets some baseline criteria to ensure all apprenticeships meet a required standard, for example, number of training days, programme length and types of qualification that are included. These sorts of requirements may be relatively easy to set and monitor, but such a restrictive approach that only looked at how apprenticeships are delivered, and not the results that they produce, would be unlikely to result in value for money.

A more difficult approach, but one that is vital, is to build in greater rewards and funding for training that genuinely contributes to improved productivity and wage growth. Encouraging progression from level two to level three apprenticeships would be a positive step. Capturing information on how well former apprentices from different programmes go on to do, and publishing that data to help both prospective apprentices and the Institute to decide how funding can best be used would be even better.
It would be a great shame now, if having found a way to make the funds available, we do not invest them wisely in training that will make a genuine contribution to improving skills, pay and productivity.

Ramadan set to affect exam dates

Summer exams will be affected by the timing of Ramadan for the next four years, with GCSE re-sits compounding the issue for colleges, a senior exams officer has warned.

Andrew Harland, chief executive of the Exam Officers’ Association (pictured above), said the summer exam period was expected to clash every year between now and 2019 with the Muslim period of fasting, prayer, and charitable giving.

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, and falls at a different time on the Gregorian calendar each year.

This year, it falls between June 6 and July 5, which is traditionally when many of the summer GCSE, A-level and vocational exams take place in colleges in England.

Mr Harland said that the length of the Islamic calendar meant Ramadan would fall in May or June in 2017, 2018 and 2019 as well as this year, but added that changes as a result of religious or other events were not uncommon.

He added that the sharp increase in the number of pupils re-taking GCSEs as part of new study programmes which require post-16 study of maths and English for those who fail to achieve a C grade in year 11, would create a particular problem for colleges.

He said: “With the retakes there are going to be thousands and thousands more pupils taking exams, which will be an issue for FE colleges.”

Mr Harland said a recent change in the way GCSE exams are sat would also have an impact.

He said: “The reason why these things are perhaps more critical now is because under the linear system all exams now happen in the summer.”

Under the previous modular system pupils could re-take modules in November.

The Joint Council for Qualifications has announced changes to timetables to bring forward some tests in subjects taken by large numbers of pupils such as English, maths and science, so they do not coincide with Ramadan.

But timetables released by AQA, Edexcel and OCR show a significant number of exams in those subjects are still scheduled to take place in June.

The Association of School and College Leaders has planned to meet Muslim leaders to discuss plans and issue guidance to colleges.

Malcolm Trobe, the organisation’s deputy general secretary, said the guidance would be non-prescriptive and would not “advise families or students on how they should address the question of fasting during Ramadan”.

It comes after children’s commissioner Anne Longfield told the Education Select Committee on Wednesday (January 6) that discussions were taking place around “delaying the exam timetable” this summer to fit with the Muslim tradition.

She had been pressed on the issue of how Muslims could be accommodated by Conservative MP for Fareham Suella Fernandes.

The Muslim Council of Britain was unable to comment as FE Week went to press.

Minister to visit centre proposed as new FE college

Skills minister Nick Boles has agreed to visit a Kent skills centre following an invitation from the local MP who proposed the site as a potential new FE college.

Mr Boles accepted an invitation to visit the Swale Skills Centre in response to a parliamentary question from Gordon Henderson, Conservative MP for Sittingbourne and Sheppey, on December 15.

Mr Henderson told Mr Boles in the House of Commons that “Sittingbourne is the largest town in Kent without its own FE college”.

He added: “However, we have a unique opportunity to change that. May I invite the Minister to visit the Swale Skills Centre in my constituency to learn about how, with the right help, it could easily and cheaply be extended into a small college?”

Mr Boles replied: “I would be delighted to visit my honourable friend’s constituency. We do not hear the opposition celebrating when new institutions open, including the Swale Skills Centre.”

Clayton Laker, head of the Swales Skills Centre, declined to comment on current funding arrangements for the centre.

A DfE spokesperson said: “Swale Skills Centre is funded by the EFA [Education Funding Agency], but as it is part of Sittingbourne Community College it’s funding allocation isn’t reported separately.”

Sittingbourne Community College was allocated £1.18m 16 to 19 funding for 2015/16 by the EFA as of October.

Other local FE providers include MidKent College’s Maidstone campus and Canterbury College, which are 14.6 miles and 16.6 miles from the skills centre respectively.

A Kent County Council spokesperson confirmed that the local authority had agreed to attend a meeting where the possibility of the centre becoming a general FE college could be discussed.

When questioned on the visit, a Department for Business, Innovation and Skills spokesperson told FE Week that full details of the visit “have not yet been confirmed”.

She added: “The Kent area review is scheduled to commence in November and will consider how the current post-16 institutions can best meet the needs of learners and employers in the local area.

“It will include a consideration of the location of institutions, the curriculum they offer and the travel to learn patterns for students in the Sittingbourne area.”

Mr Boles visited Essex in August 2014 to mark the “milestone” transformation of Prospects Learning Foundation in to the first new FE college in more than 20 years.

Former Skills Minister Matthew Hancock had confirmed five months earlier that Basildon-based charity Prospects Learning Foundation was to become an FE college. The move was exclusively revealed by FE Week in July last year.

The former independent learning provider was renamed Prospects College of Advanced Technology (PROCAT) and Mr Boles, who was appointed as Minister that July, spoke at the opening ceremony.

New Year’s honour is just reward for 30 years of dedicated service to FE

Catherine Hill reflects on her experience of being awarded an OBE for services to FE and why she is proud to represent the sector on the New Year’s Honour’s list.

My 2016 got off to a fantastic start as I celebrated being awarded an OBE with family and friends.

I was ‘officially’ awarded an OBE for services to FE in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours list, which was released on December 31.

I was, however, informed by an official letter from the Cabinet Office at the end of November.

The letter was posted to my home address and sat un-opened for a few days.

We were having a new bathroom fitted and the plumber had kindly piled our post up on the shelf.

It was my husband who spotted the envelope marked ‘Urgent and Personal’.

I shared the news with my immediate family when we were all together at Christmas — they were delighted for me and it was quite satisfying to see my adult children speechless.

For the past 30 years I have dedicated my career to the FE sector as I am passionate about helping students succeed, progress to employment and become productive members of the community.

My mantra throughout my career has been simple yet steadfast — raise aspiration and expectation in every student, without exception, to achieve and be successful and never compromise standards.

The core business of our FE work should be to ensure that life changing opportunities are available to our students. If what we are doing isn’t for the benefit of our students then we should be questioning why we are doing it.

I have been a resident of Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire for 37 years, and had the pleasure of being part of some very knowledgeable and dedicated teams at colleges across the North West.

For the past 30 years I have dedicated my career to the FE sector as I am passionate about helping students succeed, progress to employment and become productive members of the community

I previously held positions at Burnley College, Accrington and Rossendale College in the Red Rose County and Bury College in Greater Manchester; all of which were graded as Outstanding by Ofsted during my tenure with them.

I came to Blackpool and The Fylde College in 2005 as head of quality and standards.

In 2009, I was appointed as vice principal and in 2013 I became deputy principal with the responsibility for all the college curriculum areas; working with the heads of schools to drive quality and standards.

During my time with Blackpool and the Fylde College, it has become one of the largest general FE colleges in England and gone from strength to strength.

Over the past 30 years the FE culture has changed considerably.

Contempory FE includes higher education, FE, and commercial work, and is about providing students with skills and attributes to take advantage of the career opportunities available, and for the fact that they may have several different careers over their working life.

Our sector also provides employers with highly skilled individuals to fill the skills needs of existing industries and the new and evolving jobs of the future.

I am humbled that the work that I am so fervently committed to has been recognised and the honour of the OBE gives me great pleasure.

I do feel extremely privileged to have held the roles that I have as there is nothing like witnessing first hand when a student has a light bulb moment. That instant when they find something that they are good at and enjoy and realise they can be successful.
Since the announcement, I have been astounded by the number of well-wishers who have congratulated me.

I would like to thank the teams of people I have worked with across the years, all of whom played a role in me receiving this honour.

The investiture will be at Buckingham Palace sometime over the next seven months.

Until then, its business as usual with our quality remit heavily focused on providing Blackpool and The Fylde College students with the best possible experience to help them secure their dream job.

Recognition for years of dedication to FE and skills

With Dr David Collins receiving a knighthood and Association of Colleges (AoC) chief executive Martin Doel gaining a CBE , there’s no doubt that FE was well represented when the awards were announced.

More than 20 sector-related figures were awarded, and one of the less widely known but equally deserving figures was Sally Cooke whose career in making technology accessible has seen her work with many FE providers, including Myerscough College, which granted her an Honorary Fellowship PhD in 2014. She is now able to add an OBE for services to FE, accessibility and inclusion to her achievements.

Most recently a director for TechDis, a Jiscfunded advisory service on technology and inclusion, Ms Cooke said she was “delighted” and “humbled” by the award.

“Many will know that FE & skills has been my passion for over 30 years … It seems fitting to me that other recipients on this year’s list include many people working (often voluntarily) for the benefits of those individuals who need to able to live and learn independently, which is a skill that I am proud to say FE providers work so hard to try and provide,” she added.

Helping FE learners master maths led to York College’s Margherita “Miggy” Biller earning her MBE. The many achievements of the head of maths at York, who has worked in FE for the last 44 years, include supporting student Daniel Lightwing throughout his selection process for the British International Maths Olympiad team. The team went on to win four silver medals and a bronze in 2006.

Principal Alison Birkinshaw said: “I join staff and students at York College in congratulating Miggy on her MBE. We all know she is thoroughly deserving of this honour.”

An MBE for services to FE and the community in Sutton and Croydon was a special surprise for Anita McGowan, lecturer and tutor at Croydon College, as she celebrated her birthday over the New Year. Previously working in law firms, she now lectures in human resources at the college, was elected academic staff governor in 2012 and works with community groups.

“Hearing about the nomination and the award just before Christmas and keeping it quiet from family and friends has taken tremendous effort,” she added.

For Kate O’Rourke, vice chair of the governing body at City and Islington College, receiving an MBE for services to FE was “just the cherry on top of the ice cream”.

A qualified solicitor, Ms O’Rourke has been a member of the college’s governing body since 1996 and became vice chair in 1998. Her work has included a special focus on championing adult learning. Ms O’Rourke said: “I feel very privileged to have been part of the City and Islington College for so long as it has given me wonderful opportunities to work with great people, and for such a great enterprise.”

Philip Round, ex-chief executive of Herefordshire & Worcestershire Group Training Association, was awarded his MBE for services to apprenticeships and skills. Mr Round retired last year after 35 years with the association, which delivers work-based training and apprenticeships. He said: “I benefited from a superb start to my own career through an apprenticeship and have tried to promote this route and make it accessible.”

Receiving an MBE was a “shock” for Donald Graham, the vocational programme manager at Foxes Academy, a specialist college for 16 to 25-year-olds with learning disabilities in Minehead. “I could not believe that it was for me,” said Mr Graham. “I feel so proud to work for Foxes Academy and fortunate to have been given the opportunity to achieve such prestigious recognition on their behalf.”

His work involves helping young people with learning disabilities to gain work experience skills.

Clare Harrigan, chair of the board of governors at Leeds College of Building, also gained an MBE for her work.

Ian Billyard, principal at Leeds College of Building, said: “Clare’s experience and passion for the built environment has been invaluable to our college over 15 years in her role as governor and then as vice chair and chair. Her knowledge and support proved pivotal in our continued success.”

Eva Lambert received an MBE for services to sport, education and health in the local community.

Ms Lambert has spent over 30 years contributing to community life in Huddersfield and has worked closely with Greenhead College, where she was previously a governor from 2003, vice chair from 2008 and chair of governors from 2010 to 2015.

The college gave a statement praising her work, saying: “Eva has consistently made a difference to the people she belongs to and loves. The award of MBE is an honour which recognises the value of an individual’s service to the community and in the case of Eva Lambert it is a richly deserved distinction”.

Stewart Segal, chief executive of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, said: “It was very good to see the recognition that strong supporters of apprenticeships and offender learning have been given in the New Year’s Honours.

“With the priority that the government is giving to apprenticeships and traineeships, we hope to see more frontline deliverers of these programmes achieve recognition in the future as well as others making a difference with programmes under the new Adult Education Budget.”

David Hughes, chief executive of the Learning and Work Institute also commented on the honours: “Its fantastic to once again see key figures from across the education and skills sector getting the recognition they fully deserve.

“Martin Doel has been a powerful voice for the sector, during a period of significant change. I’m delighted he’s been recognised for the important role he’s played in championing colleges, tutors and learners themselves during his incredible tenure at the AoC.

“Richard Ward has been an incredible advocate for the sector, as well as a longstanding supporter of Niace [National Institute of Adult Continuing Education]. We look forward to continuing to collaborate with and support Richard for the years ahead as the Learning and Work Institute.”

Carole Stott, chair of the AoC board, said: “We are pleased to see that the hard work and dedication of so many college principals, teaching staff and governors have been recognised in this year’s New Year Honours list. They work tirelessly to ensure that their students receive top-quality education and training and this is reflected in their awards.”

Click here to see the full New Year’s Honours List and here for an expert piece by Catherine Hill, deputy principal at Blackpool and the Fylde College, who was awarded an OBE for services to FE this year.

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Third round of invitations to tender for long-awaited ESF contracts launched

The third round of invitations to tender for delayed European Social Fund (ESF) contracts have been published.

The six local enterprise partnership (Lep) areas involved are Cumbria, New Anglia, Cheshire and Warrington, Worcestershire, Lancashire, and London.

While one contract has been tendered for each of the first five Leps, a total of 28 have been issued for London, worth around £30.2m.

The other five LEP area contracts are collectively worth £7.9m, making the third round of invitations worth more than £38m in total.

The Skills Funding Agency (SFA) unveiled the new invitations to tender on through the government’s ‘Contract Finder’ web portal with the following details:

ITT ref Contract value Contract lots Contract title ITT link
 29910 £720k 1 NEET in Cumbria LEP area Click here
 29921 £200k 1 NEET in New Anglia LEP area Click here
 29906 £2.5m 1 NEET in Cheshire & Warrington LEP area Click here
 29908 £518k 1 NEET in Worcestershire LEP area Click here
 29914 £4m 1 NEET in Lancashire LEP area Click here
TOTAL £7.9m 5

The contracts for London are as follows:

ITT ref Contract value Contract lots Contract title ITT link
29977 £6.2m 4 London 23-002 Preventative NEET Click here
29983 £2.3m 4 BAME who are NEET Click here
29974 £2.2m 4 Targeted NEET 16-18 Click here
29976 £3.7m 4 Targeted NEET LDD 16-24 Click here
29973 £2.1m 4 18 – 24 NEET Mental Health Click here
29975 £3.8m 4 18 – 24 NEET Specific Groups Click here
29897 £9.9m 4 London 23-009 Outreach NEET Click here
TOTAL £30.2m 28

The timeline for the ITTs (below) means that applicants have 22 working days to respond, slightly fewer that the 27 day period available for the previous round of ESF contracts. After tenders have been awarded on May 6, winning bidders will have 11 working days before delivery commences from May 24, which is the same time frame allowed in the previous round.

Task Deadline
Publication of ITT 6 January 6, 2016
ITT closes February 5, 2016
Notification of tender results May 6, 2016
Day 1 mandatory standstill period May 7, 2016
Day 10 mandatory standstill period May 16, 2016
Contracts issued from May 23, 2016
Delivery commences from May 24, 2016

 

It comes after the second round of invitations to tender for ESF cash totalling £16.2m was published on December 14 for four Lep areas — Swindon and Wiltshire, Greater Manchester, West of England, and Cornwall and Isles of Scilly.

It followed a report by FE Week on December 11 on concerns held by director of employment and skills at the Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP) Paul Warner that drawing-out this ESF tendering process — through a series of rounds instead of in one go — could lead to sub-standards bids being submitted.

Providers who were unaware of future tenders, he warned, could win a contract only to find delivering it might hamper their ability to deliver ESF provision put to market at a later date.

Such a situation might, he suggested, put ESF contract-winning providers off going for further contracts despite having the necessary expertise.

It had previously been exclusively revealed by FE Week on December 4 that the Lep areas the invitations to tender would go to included Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire, and Solent (covering the Isle of Wight, Portsmouth and Southampton).

The other Leps involved were Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership, Northamptonshire Enterprise Partnership, and Leicester and Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership.

The combined value of these contracts is £15m.

Furthermore, FE Week exclusively reported on November 10 that the SFA was planning to run a “sequence of procurement” for handing out £650m of delayed ESF cash, which must be finished by the end of September next year at the very latest to allow a minimum delivery period of 18 months.

It followed a summer when ESF-funded providers were forced to lay-off staff as a result of delays with issuing new ESF contracts.

It is thought this was caused by disagreements between the British government and the European bureaucrats over what role local enterprise partnerships should play in the process.