A former principal of two colleges has been named as chair of a new steering group set up by the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) to support its work on simplifying the funding system for adult skills.

The SFA announced today that it has launched the new Funding Reform and Localism Steering Group (FRLSG) to “support our work on creating a simpler, more locally focused and responsive funding system for adult skills”.

“The group will help us shape how adult skills are funded, excluding apprenticeships, to meet local needs in a way that is simpler to operate,” an SFA spokesperson added.

She said that the chair will be Dr Ann Limb OBE, chair of the South East Midlands Local Enterprise Partnership (Lep), who was principal of Milton Keynes College from 1986 to 1996 and Cambridge Regional College from 1996 to 2001, before moving to the charitable and private sector.

Dr Limb (pictured) said: “This is a critical time for the FE sector and an opportunity to reinvigorate the sector’s long-standing connections with local employers and communities.

“As a Lep chair who has worked in the private sector for the last decade and a passionate advocate of FE, I’m pleased to have been asked to chair this group.”

The FRLSG will be made up of representatives from FE sector, Leps, and “combined authorities”, the SFA spokesperson said.

She told FE Week that The Association of Colleges (AoC) and Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP) would both be invited to join.

Gill Clipson, AoC deputy chief executive, said: “Colleges play a central role in providing a wide range of technical and professional qualifications which help adults to train for a new job or boost their skills in an existing role.

“We are interested in hearing more about the role of the steering group and would be keen to be involved to represent the interests of our members.

“Dr Limb is a passionate supporter of FE and we look forward to continuing our positive work with her. Adult skills funding has been cut by 28 per cent this year alone and we need to work together to protect this vital provision from further cuts.”

An AELP spokesperson said: “As well as apprenticeships, independent providers are heavily involved in the delivery of other adult skills provision, so we would be very pleased to be part of Dr Limb’s advisory group.

“The devolution agenda by definition will result in differing approaches adopted for skills in different areas, but there are important aspects such as funding arrangements with providers where some commonality in approach will be welcome to keep the system efficient and effective in terms of securing positive outcomes for employers and learners.”

Having reviewed the SFA’s existing advisory arrangements, the SFA spokesperson added, “our current groups, Funding External Technical Advisory Group (FETAG) and Qualifications Advisory Group (QAG) will cease to operate.

“We would like to thank both FETAG and QAG groups for the considerable support and commitment to the SFA over the last few years in implementing and embedding the current streamlined funding system and qualification funding reforms”.

“The advice members of FETAG and QAG have given has been invaluable,” she added.

The Data and Management Information Advisory Group (DMIAG), chaired by Dawn Ward CBE, principal of Burton and South Derbyshire College, will continue to offer advice to the SFA on the Individualised Learner Record (ILR), data collections and related issues, she added.

The UK’s leading employers’ organisation has criticised the government’s new apprenticeship levy consultation for failing to explore the cost involved or the minimum size of “larger employers” set to cough-up.

While the document accompanying the consultation launched this morning said that the levy will be paid by “larger employers” in all sectors, based on “the total number of employees”, it failed to give any indication of the size of workforce this would entail.

The document, published ahead of an announcement this morning by Prime Minister David Cameron on how public procurement contracts will help boost apprenticeship numbers, added that the government wants the levy “to be calculated on the basis of employee earnings and for employers to pay the levy through their PAYE return”.

But it failed to give any indication of the cost involved, instead stating that the “rate and scope” of the levy for “all sectors” will be announced as part of the autumn spending review.

Neil Carberry, director for employment and skills at the Confederation of British Industry, told FE Week: “There isn’t anything here on rate, remit or the definition of a larger employer, which was something we think is important and does need to be discussed with employers and the sector.

“Our view is these are critical issues and the CBI will respond to them, even though the consultation does not ask for it.”

He added: “The UK is facing needs a world-class apprenticeship system which delivers the higher level skills that business and the workforce need.

“We must not sacrifice quality for quantity. While we did not support the introduction of a levy, the key thing now is that the apprenticeships it delivers meet business demand and give young people routes to great careers and higher pay.

“The best way to drive up quality is to give employers real control and ensure that levy cash is committed to only funding apprenticeships in levy-paying businesses.

“The consultation is welcome, but there is much to do to build a system that works, including deciding the rate of the levy and building a levy structure that avoids the mistakes of the past.”

A Department for Business, Innovation and Skills spokesperson said: “The threshold for what defines a larger employer will be announced in the spending review.

“This consultation will help determine what that threshold is.”, although there was no mention of a threshold or related question in the consultation.

Views are only requested in the consultation on how “the size of firm[s] should be calculated” as no system has been agreed.

The document also said that “larger employers” would, under the proposals, claim back levy payments to fund training through a digital voucher system.

Smaller firms would be expected to use the same voucher system too, it stated, although the BIS spokesperson told FE Week last night that they would not have access to the levy fund.

He was unable to comment ahead of publication on how apprenticeships run by small firms would funded under the new system.

The document added: “We envisage that employers will receive ‘top-ups’ to their levy account over and above their own contribution,” it added.

There would though, under the plans, be “a limit” to how much employer’s voucher accounts “will be topped up each year”.

The document also raised questions over whether providers funded through the levy would need to be approved and their provision inspected.

It added that employers would be able to use the vouchers to cover all costs of an apprentice’s training, including English and maths, assessment and certification.

The consultation forms part of what the Prime Minister calls a “package of radical plans” to help the government hit its target of 3m apprenticeship starts by 2020.

The BIS spokesperson said that this would include new measures requiring all bids for government contracts worth more than £10m to “demonstrate a clear commitment to apprenticeships” from September 1.

Shadow Skills Minister Liam Byrne said that the Conservatives had made an “apparent U-turn” on the issue — after Tory MPs opposed previous Labour proposals for enforced targets on apprenticeship recruitment ahead of the general election.

Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin will also today announce plans to create 30,000 apprenticeships in the road and rail industry over the next five years.

Meanwhile, the government confirmed this morning that a further 59 new Trailblazer apprenticeship standards have been published, although none are “ready to deliver”.

Visit https://bisgovuk.citizenspace.com/ve/apprenticeshipslevy to download a copy of the consultation that closes on October 2.

 

Plans have been announced for struggling Greenwich Community College to “merge into” Bromley College of Further and Higher Education.

Basic details of the “merger proposal” for the South East London colleges were announced this morning, but a spokesperson for Bromley has now told FE Week how it anticipates this working.

He said that the Greenwich college would, under the proposal, “merge into Bromley [College] from a legal and financial perspective”.

“The name [of Greenwich Community College] will therefore disappear, although a Greenwich FE brand identity will remain in place and the exact name will be the subject of further consultation,” he added.

It comes after FE Week reported in March that FE Commissioner Dr David Collins had recommended a structure and prospects assessment (SPA) for Greenwich following its grade four Ofsted rating in December last year.

*The SPA, along with Skills Minister Nick Boles’s accompanying letter to Richard Bourne (pictured top right), acting chair of governors at Greenwich, in which the merger proposal with Bromley was backed, was published on Tuesday, October 27, 2015.

Richard Bourne (pictured top right), acting chair of governors at Greenwich, which had around 5,000-learners in March and was allocated £9m by the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) as of April, said: “There has been a thorough process to analyse the opportunities available to the college for the future, including a standalone option.

“The college has worked hard in the last six months to improve the way it is operating and see improvements to the quality of the provision,” he added.

But Mr Bourne added: “I have spoken to the chair of Bromley and I am reassured that it will be an excellent partner.

“I look forward to working with colleagues in Greenwich and Bromley to bring the merger to a successful conclusion.”

Roger Dawe (pictured top left), chair of governors at 9,000-learner Bromley, which received a ‘good’ Ofsted rating in February 2013 and was allocated around £9.3m from the Skills Funding Agency as of April, said: “Bringing together Bromley and Greenwich colleges gives us an opportunity to enhance the quality of education, skills and training we provide.

“It would greatly benefit students, employers and the local communities across both boroughs and across South East London as a whole.

“Taking into account the increasing challenges the further education sector faces, we need to look seriously at opportunities like this. It makes good sense.

“We need to ensure these challenges are met and fully realise the opportunities they bring.

“Many steps remain to be taken before this proposal becomes finalised and a merger takes place.”

A spokesperson for Greenwich and Bromley added that the merger proposals would not affect students enrolling for the colleges for 2015/16 and “both colleges will be delivering a first class curriculum for the coming year for students and employers”.

It comes after FE Week revealed in May that “discussions” had taken place over possible closer collaboration between Greenwich and fellow grade four Ofsted rated Lewisham Southwark College, which both faced structure and prospects assessments.

It is understood that this option is no longer being considered.

The SFA declined to comment on the proposals for the Greenwich and Bromley colleges.

The Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP) has questioned the sense of forcing resits on learners who fail maths and English GCSE after the pass rate fell for 17-year-olds.

The 2014/15 academic year was the first in which learners who previously had not achieved a grade C in either subjects, but had continued onto post-16 study, were required to either resit their GCSEs or equivalent level functional skills exams.

It is a key reason why the number of 17-year-old learners across FE and schools who sat maths GCSEs increased 30.2 per cent from 100,587 last year to 130,979 this year, while the number sitting English rose by 22.9 per cent from 79,045 to 97,163.

Meanwhile, the A* to C pass rate for that age group fell from 38.9 per cent last year to 35.8 per cent for maths, and from 37.9 per cent in 2014 to 35.1 per cent this year for English.

An AELP spokesperson said that this fall strengthened its view that more post-16 learners who failed maths and English GCSE first time round should do functional skills instead of GCSE resits for FE and skills courses.

Paul Warner (pictured above), AELP director of employment and skills, said: “At the moment there’s a bit of an assumption that the government considers GCSEs as the be all and end all when it comes to resits, which is why so many learners on FE courses are made to do GCSEs when there are other options such as functional skills that may be more suited to them.

“The fall in the pass rate for 17-year-olds suggests that a lot of people who are being made to resit would be better off taking another route.”

At present, learners who get a D for maths and English GCSE first time round have to keep resitting GCSE exams throughout their FE courses until they pass.

Learners who get below a D can take functional skills exams instead.

The Department for Education (DfE) confirmed today that this will continue in 2015/16.

However, Mr Warner said: “We are not anti-GCSE, but I think in a number of cases, learners who get a grade D might be better off taking another option for English and maths.

“AELP training provider members engage with thousands of employers every day with the running of apprenticeship and traineeship programmes.

“Many of these employers are now happy to recognise functional skills for English and maths as an alternative to GCSEs because they provide the applied skills which the apprentice or trainee needs to do their job.”

Martin Doel (pictured right), chief executive of the Association of Colleges, said: “We would urge the government to work with closely with employers

and colleges to ensure maths and English qualifications reflect the workplace and everyday life.”

He added: “Colleges supported an increased number of young people re-sitting GCSE English and maths this year with a third of students over 17-years-old achieving an A* to C grade.

“It is a great result for those thousands of students who’ve spent time re-sitting these exams.

“It is important for everyone to achieve a good standard of spoken and written English and the ability to do simple calculations but GCSEs aren’t suitable for everyone.

“Congratulations to all students who received their GCSE results today and whatever the grades, there are a host of options open to them and they should calmly assess their personal situation, look at what they want to achieve and decide on the best route for them.”

A DfE spokesperson said: “Post-16 schools and colleges are making good progress in ensuring all 16-19 year olds are given the opportunity to achieve good GCSEs in English and maths by age 19.

“For the 2014/15 academic year, we know the vast majority of colleges enrolled nearly all their students without A*- C GCSE on approved English and maths courses.”

y all their students without A*- C GCSE on approved English and maths courses.”

Latest official statistics have shown the proportion of young people not in education, employment or training (Neet) in the UK has continued its downward trend.

An Office for National Statistics (ONS) report published today said that there were 922,000 16 to 24-year-old Neets between April and June this year — a decrease of 21,000 from January to March 2015 and down 44,000 from a year earlier.

The figures meant 12.7 per cent of the total number of 16 to 24-year-olds in the UK (7,258,000) were Neet, which the ONS said was the lowest figure during any quarter-period over the last five years.

The proportion of Neets among 16 to 24-year-olds for April to June was 0.3 per cent down on the previous quarterly figures for January to March, and 0.5 per cent lower than the figure for the same three monthly period last year.

The report added: “Just under half (47 per cent) of all young people in the UK who were Neet were looking for work and available for work and therefore classified as unemployed.

“The remainder were either not looking for work and/or not available for work and therefore classified as economically inactive.”

The government, which had previously refused to acknowledge the ONS UK figures, has also put out its own report today using different figures based on its own rules and covering just England.

It showed that the proportion of 16 to 24-year-olds who were Neet had fallen by 0.4 percentage points to 13.1 per cent, down 23,000 compared to the same period last year, and the lowest level since 2004.

The figures for 16 to 18-year-old Neets had fallen by 0.6 percentage points to 7.5 per cent, representing a fall of 11,000, which is the lowest level since 2000, and 19 to 24-year-olds Neets had fallen by 0.3 percentage points to 15.7 per cent, a reduction of 12,000 on last year.

Skills Minister Nick Boles said: “Today we have yet more evidence this government is delivering on its commitment to get all young people either learning or into work.”

“While the proportion of young people NEET is at its lowest for this time of the year since 2004, we will not stop there.

“Our focus remains firmly on equipping all young people with the skills they need — not least through our pledge to deliver 3 million new apprenticeships in this Parliament.”

A charity has called for employers that train young care leavers to receive a larger financial return on planned apprenticeship levy payments.

Barnardo’s issued a plea to the government today for it to reserve 20,000 apprenticeships in England for 16 to 18-year-olds from the care system.

After learning of the proposal, the Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP) raised concern about placing “mandatory requirements” on apprenticeship employers.

When asked by FE Week how it would address concern that employers could be put off apprenticeships if they are told who to hire, a Barnado’s spokesperson proposed handing firms that take on care leavers a larger return from future levy payments.

He said: “Under the current government proposals [announced by Chancellor George Osborne on July 8], employers will be taxed [through the levy] according to the number of apprenticeships they can take, then reimbursed to cover the costs of taking on an apprentice.

“As care leavers will need additional support to successfully complete the apprenticeships [which would be costly to employers] the government could increase the levy subsidy on offer.

“That means that employers who take on a care leaver apprentice would get a higher return.

“Just as the current proposals have minimal financial impact on the business, which is taxed more but reimbursed, or the government, which funds the apprenticeship but receives taxation, reserving apprenticeship placements for care leavers in this way would have little financial impact, despite the more support they may need.”

An AELP spokesperson said that it would “look carefully” at Barnado’s proposals and had “always been supportive of apprenticeships being socially inclusive”.

But he added: “An apprenticeship should involve a willing employer, a committed learner and a quality training provider, so we have concerns about any mandatory requirements for employers.

“On the issue of entry requirements for apprenticeships which Bernardo’s raises, this is precisely a major reason why we want to see the traineeship programme grow significantly over the next five years [to prepare more young people for apprenticeships].”

Meanwhile, David Corke (pictured right), director of education and skills policy for the Association of Colleges, said: “Barnardo’s is absolutely right to highlight the need for young people leaving care to be given additional support to find a good job.

“Colleges would be ready and able to provide the training as part of this proposal.

“However, the detail would need to be worked on because colleges often find employers unwilling to employ young apprentices because they are deemed not ready for the workplace immediately after leaving school and there would also need to be support for employers to ensure the job role is maintained following the apprenticeship.”

The Barnado’s spokesperson said that care leavers often struggle more than children from stable homes to secure good enough GCSE grades to qualify for apprenticeships.

Only 37 per cent of care leavers pass five GCSEs A*-C, he added, and “those results put the entry criteria for some apprenticeships out of reach”.

Mr Osborne (pictured left) announced plans for a levy on large businesses, to help fund apprenticeship growth up to the government’s target for 3m starts by 2020, during his July budget speech.

It came after Professor Lady Alison Wolf called for such a levy, but on all employers, in a report released by the Social Market Foundation.

The Treasury explained after Mr Osborne’s speech that revenue from the levy would help fund all post-16 apprenticeships in England and “provide funding that each employer can use to meet their individual needs”.

When asked for its views on the Barnado’s proposals, a Department for Education spokesperson said: “We are improving the lives of care leavers and helping them make a successful transition to adulthood.

“A good apprenticeship can help support this, and that is why we’re fully funding apprenticeships’ training for eligible care leavers aged 19-23.

“We have also changed the law so young people can live with their foster family after they turn 18, and given every child who leaves care a personal adviser. We are also investing over £100m through the Innovation Programme to support vulnerable children.”

The Confederation of British Industry, which is opposed to the apprenticeship levy plan, declined to comment on the proposals by Barnado’s.

The Federation of Small Businesses also declined to comment.

The government’s new Earn or Learn Taskforce will oversee plans to force young benefits claimants onto apprenticeships or traineeships if they do not find a job or acceptable unpaid work.

The “troubleshooter” taskforce was launched earlier this summer to track government progress on its target for 3m apprenticeship starts by next parliament, as reported by FE Week on June 3.

The Cabinet Office announced today that the taskforce, made up of eight MPs including Education Secretary Nicky Morgan (pictured right), Skills Minister Nick Boles (pictured below left)) and his predecessor Matthew Hancock (pictured above), who is the Cabinet Office Minister and also chairs the group, will implement plans to force unemployed 18 to 21-year-olds to start an apprenticeship, traineeship, or a paid or unpaid job.

The young claimants, she added, will “lose benefits” if they do not comply from April 2017.

But David Corke, director of education and skills policy at the Association of Colleges, cast doubt on whether this would work in practice, insisting that “alternative technical and professional qualifications [in addition to apprenticeships and traineeships] must [also] be available to help these young people back into work or training”.

Mr Corke (pictured right) was also lukewarm in his backing for another measure that the Cabinet Office said today would be implemented by Mr
Hancock’s taskforce — which will involve a new “boot camp” to get claimant’s work-ready within six months.

The Cabinet Office spokesperson said that this will involve 18 to 21-year-olds starting on an intensive activity programme “within the first three weeks of claiming out-of-work benefit”.

“The intensive curriculum includes practicing job applications and interview techniques as well as extensive job search, and is expected to take 71 hours over the first three weeks of the claim,” she added.

“A dedicated work coach will work with jobseekers and continuously review what was achieved during the initial three week work course.”

But Mr Corke said: “A ‘boot camp’ approach may not necessarily be the best way to encourage young people back into education or training which could lead them to a job.

“Colleges already work closely with Jobcentre Plus to ensure that education and training is available for young people who need or want it.”

An Association of Employment and Learning Providers spokesperson said: “We have [already] been pressing [the government] for training providers to be involved earlier in the process to assess [Jobcentre Plus] clients’ barriers to the jobs market and what support they may need.”

Mr Hancock said: “By working across government to make sure that every young person is in work or training, by opening up 3m more apprenticeships, expanding traineeships, and making sure that a life on benefits is simply not an option, we want to end rolling welfare dependency for good, so welfare dependency is no longer passed down the generations.”

He added: “We are absolutely committed to ending long-term youth unemployment and building a country for workers, where nobody is defined by birth and everyone can achieve their potential.”

Six FE colleges are preparing to open 10 new Careers Colleges over the next two academic years, with the potential another 15 to open by 2019.

Former Conservative Education Secretary Lord Baker first announced plans in October 2013 to create a series of Careers Colleges, focussing on training from 14 years old with each specialising in a different sector and working directly with employers, at existing FE colleges.

The Careers College’s Trust, which Lord Baker set up to help oversee their establishment, said today that five of them will open next month.

Barking and Dagenham College’s Careers College, for example, will specialise in digital and creative industries, while South Tyneside College’s will offer advanced manufacturing, engineering and computer science, and Yeovil College’s will cover health and care.

Meanwhile, Harrow College will open two Career Colleges from the start of 2015/16 — one specialising in creative and digital industries, and the other in professional and business services.

The Trust added that Birmingham Metropolitan College will open a Careers College in professional services and one in creative and digital industries in September 2016.

Lincoln College will also launch three separate Careers Colleges, specialising in construction, health care and engineering in 2016/17.

The 10 new Career Colleges will join two that opened last September at London’s Bromley College and Liverpool’s Hugh Baird College, which specialise in catering and hospitality respectively.

Yeovil College principal John Evans (pictured above) told FE Week: “We chose to go down the Careers College route, rather than simply direct recruitment because of the focus on employer involvement and we have strong relationships with many of the major employers in the area.

“Yeovil District Hospital told us about the shortage of healthcare professionals they were experiencing, which was forcing them to recruit from Spain and Portugal — so there’s clearly a need for specialist training like this.”

The college’s relationship with the hospital is also close in a more literal sense, he explained, as the two are just across the road from each other.

“We have been building to this for a long time as we often have hospital staff coming in and out to give demonstrations,” he said.

“The long term plan is to build a 14-to-19 college site, complete with a mock ward and operating theatre so healthcare professionals so they can visit, teach a lesson and then go back to their normal work.”

Mr Evans added that the college was not initially planning to recruit 14-year-olds — so provision will start at 16 for now and expand “gradually” over the next couple of years.

The announcement about the new Careers Colleges came as new research commissioned by the Trust showed more than 80 per cent of 1,001 secondary age students questioned thought that the education system should be more career-focused.

Lord Baker, founder and trustee of the Trust, said Career Colleges were designed to help address this issue and he was “delighted” that the network was expanding.

“If young people themselves are not feeling prepared for work, employers will continue to struggle with the recruitment issues that have become such a challenge for UK industry,” he said.

“Put simply, this is what young people want and what businesses need.”

A spokesperson for the EFA, which funds Careers Colleges, said: “Equipping young people with the knowledge and skills most valued by employers is central to our plan for education.”