The government has rejected an employer and provider suggested proposal that traineeship learners should be offered a financial incentive for taking part.

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) revealed how the idea of payment for trainees emerged from the sector in its first year evaluation of the scheme (pictured top right), published on Wednesday (March 12).

It said: “The main improvements to the programme that were suggested by providers and employers were to offer a financial incentive to participating trainees, and to improve the promotion or advertising of the programme.”

However, a BIS spokesperson said that while it “encourages, but does not require, employers to consider providing trainees with support to meet their expenses such as travel costs,” there were “no plans at present to offer a financial incentive to participating trainees”.

Trainees can already access financial support including the 16 to 19 Bursary Fund, and Learning and Learner Support funding for 19 to 24-year-olds, she said.

Access to Work funding from the Department for Work and Pensions might also be available for the work experience element of traineeships if the learner has a disability or health condition.

She said the National Apprenticeship Service’s traineeship marketing and PR campaign would continue to raise awareness. “This complements the work of training organisations locally,” she said.

A National Union of Students spokesperson said it was “supportive” of the programme, launched in August 2013 with the aim of giving young people high quality work experience and training to help them into an apprenticeship or employment, but that “offering a salary would be a huge incentive for these often vulnerable young people, as well as offering them a route into permanent employment or an apprenticeship”.

“Many of the employers offering traineeships are similar in size to those offering apprenticeships, so they should be able to afford to pay trainees,” she said.

A CBI spokesperson said: “If firms are in a position to pay trainees then that is welcome, but what is important is that such opportunities exist in the first place to allow young people to get a foothold in the labour market.”

John Allan (pictured), national chair of the Federation of Small Businesses, said: “If employers feel able to offer financial support for trainees, this should be encouraged. However, any mandatory paid requirement could risk turning some businesses away from the scheme. A careful balance is required.

“Where they can, businesses should look to offer expenses. The Government could do more too, by promoting financial support schemes. For example, the 16-19 bursary fund and the learner support funding.”

The evaluation document further found that half of 1,590 trainees surveyed went on to apprenticeships or employment, and a further 17 per cent undertook further learning.

Skills Minister Nick Boles, in a framework for delivery document (pictured top left) out the same day the evaluation was published and which referenced the results, said: “We owe it to young people to retain this focus on quality outcomes, which is why we have strengthened the use of performance data from 2015/16.

“As announced in the government’s response to the funding consultation on traineeships, we will do this via a number of routes; provider funding, the publication of provider-level employment outcomes to inform young people’s and employers’ choices, and by setting minimum standards for progression to employment from traineeships.”

The evaluation document came the same week Mr Boles revealed government hopes of doubling traineeships to hit the 20,000 mark this academic year.

Finance problems figured prominently in the two latest college inspection reports from FE Commissioner Dr David Collins (pictured above left).

The reports by Dr Collins on Greenwich Community College and 11,000-learner Central Sussex College were both published on Monday (March 9), following visits in early January.

The commissioner was particularly critical of the South East London college, which had around 3,500 learners as of November, which Skills Minister Nick Boles, following his advice, placed into administered status.

Among the problems identified by Dr Collins, who was sent in to inspect the college after it was given an inadequate Ofsted grading in December, was a “somewhat different picture” to its previous estimate of a £3.5m bank balance at the end of 2014/15 — the prediction now stands at around £500k after a £3m “deficit”.

And the report of Ofsted monitoring visit carried out a few weeks after Dr Collins’ was there highlighted little in the way of progress at the college, which currently has a £5.9m adult skills budget.

Andrew Murdock, the college’s finance director and vice principal, told FE Week: “The commissioner raises a number of issues which have been acted on.

“The college has taken immediate steps to address the projected deficit by cutting all unnecessary expenditure and making plans to reduce its long term cost base. This includes a review of staff costs and utilisation.”

Dr Collins also said that “a financial recovery plan is needed to address the college’s financial weaknesses, including issues of overstaffing and inefficient resource utilisation”. He added that a structure and prospects appraisal should be carried out “as soon as possible to determine the best way of providing high quality education and training for the learners and employers of the area” and called for “weaknesses at board level” to be addressed.

Richard Bourne OBE, chair of the college corporation, said: “We look forward to participating in the structure and prospects appraisal process. The board is aware of our role to ensure the community of South East London is well served with high quality FE in the future.”

Dr Collins was more positive about the Ofsted grade three-rated Central Sussex College, which he inspected after it was assessed as inadequate for financial health by the Skills Funding Agency in February last year.

He praised the “well balanced” governing board which has “changed significantly over the past two years” and said: “The senior management team has been completely revised following the appointment of a new principal [Sarah Wright, pictured above right] in 2013.

“The incoming principal inherited a number of major problems including a debt representing more than 100 per cent of turnover and unsatisfactory internal auditing arrangements.”

But Dr Collins added: “The new board and management team are performing well and should be supported in what is a major turnaround situation.”

However, he recommended that the audit committee at the college, which currently has a £4.5m adult skills budget, needed strengthening and “ways of reducing the college’s level of debt to manageable levels should be explored as a matter of urgency”.

Dr Collins added the senior management team needed someone with “overall college-wide responsibility for quality improvement and curriculum development”.

Ms Wright said: “We are pleased to note their published recommendation that the senior team and board of corporation are performing well and should be supported in what is a major turnaround from an inherited poor position.

“The college is working to ensure speedy progress against all recommendations.”

The FE Commissioner has recommended that Lancashire Adult Learning (LAL) should offload its skills programmes after he was sent in to inspect over a grade four Ofsted result.

The report by Dr David Collins (pictured) on LAL, which has around 7,000 students including 5,300 community learners, was published on Monday (March 9.

It recommended that the provider should “restrict its activities to adult and community learning”, while consideration needed to be given to “more appropriate ways of delivering the skills pro-grammes currently being offered through LAL by using colleges and providers with greater experi-ence and success in the delivery of this provision.”

There were around 550 employability learners, 300 apprentices and 80 students on traineeships being trained by LAL as of December.

And Dr Collin also called for changes to governance arrangements to “provide suitable monitoring and challenge of the executive”.

A spokesperson for Lancashire County Council, which has a current adult skills allocation of £2.2m, said: “We are working closely with the Skills Funding Agency, colleges, training providers and em-ployers to ensure there is no reduction in the skills investment in Lancashire and students enrolled on courses are able to continue with their studies.”

The Association of Colleges (AoC) has told Chancellor George Osborne (pictured) there is “no scope” for further reductions to FE funding in its submission for the 2015/16 Budget.

The AoC’s submission makes 10 suggestions for the Treasury to consider in its planning for the next financial year — five for 16 to 19 education and five for post-19 education.

The document (pictured right), published on the AoC website ahead of the March 18 budget, said: “There is no scope for further reductions in the funding rates in addition to those made in recent years without significant damage to the quality of education that can be offered to young people.”

It added: “There should be no further reductions in funding for FE and skills in addition to those announced in the 2013 spending review and the BIS grant letter to Skills Funding Agency [SFA].

“This is because the cuts and reforms already in train are resulting in a reduction in training and education for adults at a time when there are growing skills shortages.”

As well as calling on Mr Osborne to resist the temptation to reduce funding any further for both age groups, the AoC recommended “one-off funding” to support maths and English level two provision for 16 to 18-year-olds, which, since August, all providers must deliver for youngsters who don’t have a GCSE A* to C grade in those subjects.

The AoC said: “Budgets already allocated should be reviewed and consolidated to allow money earmarked for employer ownership pilots which have not delivered on their original promise (but which provide useful innovation) to be redirected to areas of more pressing need.”

It also called for “an end to large capital grants to boutique institutions, such as new free schools”, a reform of rules which mean colleges and sixth form colleges pay VAT while school sixth forms do not, an innovation fund to support the use of education technology, and “flexibility” to allow the SFA to carry forward capital expenditure into the 2015-16 financial year.

The AoC document warned devolution proposals should “enhance not inhibit” colleges’ ability to respond to the local needs of their communities.

It also said plans to extend FE loans to learners over 19 should be “widened” to consider how the government can “foster individual investment in learning”.

The inaugural FE Week Annual Apprenticeship Conference went with such a bang, how could we not do it again next year?

Hundreds of delegates from across England and across the spectrum of FE and skills organisations — from providers to awarding organisations, and from government officials to MPs, and more besides — descended upon the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre.

Broadcaster Kirsty Wark kept the speakers — including Skills Minister Nick Boles (pictured), Shadow Business Secretary Chuka Umunna and Ofsted FE and skills director Lorna Fitzjohn, among others — in check.

Extensive coverage of the two-day conference can be found in the supplement with this edition of FE Week.

Click here for an expert piece overview of the conference from David Harbourne

The Education Funding Agency (EFA) has promised extra cash to support a struggling college’s improvement strategy, following a visit from the sixth form commissioner.

Hartlepool Sixth Form College will use the extra £22,000 to support professional staff development after commissioner Peter Mucklow (pictured) found not enough students were completing their courses, teaching was not “consistently good” and staff performance monitoring processes were “not sufficiently robust”.

Mr Mucklow visited the college on January 22, following a grade four Ofsted result in September.

Principal Alex Fau-Goodwin said it had been “a very productive visit, challenging but extremely supportive and a fair outcome”.

“The EFA has agreed to support the college improvement strategy with additional funding to support the quality improvement strategy,” he said.

“It will be used on professional development to help staff access excellent practice, either through work shadowing, good practice visits, consultancy or external staff development events.”

The extra cash was suggested by Mr Mucklow as one of his 10 recommendations for the college, including the chair of governors and committee chairs should consider “twinning” with peers in a high performing college to share experience and expertise.

In his report Mr Mucklow criticised the college for focussing on “attaining student numbers and financial viability to the detriment of quality”.

However, he acknowledged the college was facing “increasing competition” and an expected drop in the number of 16 to 19-year-olds available locally which would “present significant financial challenges”.

This meant the college would need to “reduce costs” and “undertake scenario and contingency planning” to enable it to “live within its 2015 to 2016 academic year budget”, he said.

Mr Fau-Goodwin said: “The college is already making good progress in addressing the recommendations made by the commissioner.

“We anticipate meeting full all recommendations before the end of this academic year.”

Mr Mucklow agreed with the principal’s assessment, saying Mr Fau-Goodwin had drawn up a “comprehensive” post-inspection action plan.

An EFA spokesperson said the financial contribution was “nothing unusual”.

He added: “We have consistently shown that we will not hesitate to take action where there is evidence that any school is failing to give young people the very best start in life.”

An Association of Colleges (AoC) report has called for “radical reforms” to the way FE provision is inspected, saying it should be separated from school inspections.

The 26-page discussion paper, commissioned by the AoC and produced by FE consultant Mick Fletcher (pictured), recommended self-regulation for adult provision and “a slimmed down” Ofsted process for learners up to 19.

The report foreword by West Nottinghamshire College principal Dame Asha Khemka, said the document was “intended to stimulate discussion, to gather views and to encourage a debate”.

The report examines the history of inspection in the UK, how inspection is carried out around the world as well as the impact of the current Ofsted regime.

In the report, Mr Fletcher said: “The time is right for radical reforms that separate arrangements for school age students from those for older learners.

“There need to be changes to the way provision for those up to the age of 19 is inspected, but the approach should be common across all educational settings.

“For adults there needs to be a decisive step towards self-regulation.”

The report highlights that in other countries, external inspection of post-compulsory education is “rare”, and weighs up the possibilities of alternative forms of performance management.

Mr Fletcher said: “Some argue the FE sector is now sufficiently mature to move to self-regulation in line with higher education institutions. Colleges have over 20 years’ experience of self-assessment.”

He added: “In a world where individuals and employers are increasingly expected to fund FE, a college’s focus should be on their paying customers rather than a government agency.”

But, on the other hand, he added, there was “strong political support” for keeping external inspection.

“It is seen as more objective and is increasingly well established across the public sector,” he said.

Mr Fletcher went on to make three key recommendations.

He called for “a slimmed down and more independent Ofsted inspecting provision for those up to the age of 19 in schools, colleges and other settings”.

For adult provision, he said, there should be “a peer review process… linked with expanded arrangements for local accountability”.

He also called for quality assurance of FE higher education delivery to recognise the “distinctive nature” of the provision.

A government report on the apprentice Trailblazers has identified the emergence of “potential risks … that require national attention in coming months”.

The changeover to a new funding system and the pace of development of new apprenticeship standards were among several risks to successful delivery, according to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills interim report entitled Evaluation of the Apprenticeship Trailblazers.

It was published on Thursday, March 12, and looked at how the Trailblazer groups, which the government sees as implementing the Richard Review recommendations for greater employer ownership of apprenticeship training, was progressing.

The 60-page report said the ability to manage risks and “set up a structure and process that allows Trailblazers to truly take ownership of their development is the key challenge for the national policy team and one they are tackling head on”.

Stewart Segal, chief executive of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP), said: “We have for some time been recommending that there should be an independent evaluation of the Trailblazer process so we welcome this assessment.

“The report makes some interesting observations on the new standards and raises the issue of different approaches between sectors. We need to ensure that there is a balance between flexibility and having a coherent and transferable system.

“We welcome the flexibility we have seen recently around matters such as end-assessment and grading where the government has accepted that grades are not appropriate for all sectors.

“On funding, the report raises a number of issues that AELP has brought up including the fact that co-investment can take many different forms. It reinforces the concerns of employers if mandatory cash contributions are part of the new system.

“We have long recommended the need for employer investment but this can be achieved in other ways. We hope that the government takes this report’s findings into account in its rethink of the funding model.”

The report came out the same day Skills Minister Nick Boles announced 200 more employers had signed up to the Trailblazer overhaul of apprenticeships.

Mr Boles said: “Giving leading firms from British Gas to video games manufacturer Ubisoft the power to design and deliver high quality apprenticeships, means we can ensure more young people have the skills our economy vitally needs.”

New College Durham principal John Widdowson will be the next president of the Association of Colleges (AoC), it was announced today.

Mr Widdowson, who has been a college principal for 16 years and has served on the AoC board and Higher Education Funding Council for England (Hefce), will take over the role from Exeter College principal Richard Atkins in August.

He is the first principal from a college in the North East to be elected to the role.

Mr Widdowson said he wanted to help the AoC “secure a positive future” for FE, “confronting the practical issues we face and sustaining the values and vision that colleges represent”.

He added: “Whatever government is elected in May, AoC must reinforce colleges’ position as essential to the UK’s economic recovery and making education accessible to all regardless of their background.

“I’m looking forward to working with AoC to influence decision makers to get the best for colleges, our students and communities.”

Born into a family of mill workers and growing up in Lancashire, Mr Widdowson fell into the education world by accident after taking a job at a local college for some extra cash after graduated with a law degree from Durham University.

He joined New College Durham as principal in 1998, having been vice-principal at Cambridge Regional College for 10 years. During his career he has also led sector bodies such as the Further Education National Consortium and the Mixed Economy Group, a group of 44 colleges which offer higher education in an FE setting.

Martin Doel (pictured right), chief executive of the AoC, said: “John brings a wealth of experience to the role of president at a time when further education is looking towards a challenging future but one in which colleges must have a central role.

“After the general election in May, our work with the next government will be of great importance and I know John will be an asset in helping AoC to move towards achieving the aims we set out in our manifesto.

“We’re also pleased that John is the first principal from the north east to be elected as president.”

Richard Atkins said: “John has many years of experience in running a college, as well as experience on the political stage, and I know he will work tirelessly to get the best deal for colleges and their students.

“FE has faced more than its fair share of funding cuts in the past year, but John will help us to look forward to what happens next in the sector.”

Read FE Week’s profile of Mr Widdowson from April 2012 here.