A Midland council looks set to investigate a local 16 to 19 provider after Ofsted inspectors found it was failing to safeguard learners.

The chair of Worcestershire County Council’s Children and Young People Overview and Scrutiny Panel, Lynne Duffy, (pictured) told FE Week she would be calling for a probe after Beacon Employment was hit with a grade four rating by the education watchdog.

Its report on the 88-learner provider, which specialises in supporting young people with learning difficulties, was published last week and followed inspection at the end of September.

It said: “Safeguarding arrangements for learners’ are inadequate because Beacon Employment does not meet its statutory requirements.”

Beacon chief executive Sandy Beech claimed the problem surrounded her staff not having the correct level of qualification, but Ofsted declined to comment further on the issue.

Nevertheless, the findings have resulted in the Education Funding Agency moving to terminate its contract with the Kidderminster-based provider, and the local authority also looks set to act.

Coun Duffy said: “It is concerning that Beacon Employment doesn’t have proper safeguarding in place, definitely — safeguarding is absolutely paramount.”

She said she would bring the issue before her panel at its next meeting, in December, and would call for a full-scale council investigation into whether the problem was more widespread in the area.

“As a scrutiny team we would then ask for a report on all education providers, looking across the board to see where there’s a weakness and tell the regional Children and Safeguarding Board too,” she said.

Worcestershire County Council’s cabinet member for children and families, Liz Eyre, said she was “aware” of the Beacon issue and a spokesperson for the authority added it was “looking into it”.

The spokesperson added that Beacon must “conduct a thorough and comprehensive review” of its safeguarding “as a matter of utmost urgency” and should ensure all staff responsible for safeguarding “quickly receive appropriate training”.

Inspectors judged the provider inadequate across all headline areas, saying not enough learners were achieving and managers had failed to respond to the areas for improvement highlighted during Beacon’s last inspection, which resulted in a grade three rating, in February 2012.

A Department for Education spokesperson said: “We are moving to terminate our contract with Beacon Employment as it has been found to be failing in its duties. Ofsted will work with the institution and we hope it will improve sufficiently for us to work with it in the future.”

However, Ms Beech told FE Week she “did not recognise” the Ofsted result and said claims the organisation was failing to safeguard learners were “ridiculous”.

“We don’t accept the grades — there are areas within the report we think are extremely questionable,” she said.

“I’m not saying we’re perfect but we work with a range of people with all sorts of issues, we work with social workers and others closely on safeguarding issues… we have experience and knowledge, and that’s what it’s about, not ticking a box”

Ms Beech claims Ofsted focussed on the fact that no staff member responsible for safeguarding had a level three safeguarding qualification — and so failed to meet statutory requirements.

The inspection report was published in the same week as the fourth and final Ofsted monitoring visit report for Stockport College, which was branded inadequate in October last year.

The monitoring visit, at the end of September, found the college had made reasonable improvements in maths and English provision, governor oversight, teaching and accommodation, but insufficient progress on improving success rates.

Interim principal Ian Clinton said: “While I recognise the college still has improvements to make, I am reassured this latest visit endorses much of the hard work that has taken place.”

Sector figures have called for long-term funding security after Education Secretary Nicky Morgan (pictured) told MPs the government had “no plans” to cut the 18-year-old funding rate again next year.

The 157 Group and the Sixth Form Colleges’ Association (SFCA) welcomed comments from Ms Morgan during education questions in Parliament on Monday (October 27).

She said: “We have no plans to reduce the 16 to 18 academic funding rate in the 2015/16 academic year.”

Colleges and sixth form colleges were hit this academic year with a 17.5 per cent funding rate for full time 18-year-olds — a move implemented by Ms Morgan’s predecessor, Michael Gove.

Funding for 16 and 17-year-olds remained untouched from the previous year, at £4,000, while for 18-year-olds the rate fell to £3,300.

However, Ms Morgan further told MPs: “We can’t confirm the base rate of funding until we know how many places we’re going to fund and we won’t know that until January.”

The comments came just days after FE Week revealed Education Funding Agency director for young people Peter Mucklow had written to tell providers the 16 to 18 funding rate for 2015/16 would not be announced until January.

Executive director of the 157 Group Lynne Sedgmore said: “While this message provides some stability within which to plan for one year, it implies further cuts are still to come after that.

“16 to 18-year-old education has already borne the brunt of cuts to date. What we need is a truly long term funding settlement so that we can plan beyond every individual year.”

David Igoe, chief executive of the SFCA, said: “This is a recognition that sixth form colleges have been cut to the bone and cannot sustain further cuts without serious consequences to delivery.

“In the face of further funding pressures within the DfE we were fearful of further cuts being announced this autumn.”

He added: “The new government after May 2015 needs to address the inequalities in the funding system to ensure the 16 to 18 phase receives its fair share of the available resource and sufficient to continue to provide the rounded education young people need to make the progress they are capable of and aspire to.”

Association of Colleges assistant chief executive Julian Gravatt said: “It is good news that there is no plan to change the funding formula.

“However, big issues remain, including the lack of protective ringfence for funding the education of 16 to 18-year-olds and the additional pension and national insurance costs heading towards colleges.”

Norton Radstock College has been told it can no longer operate on its own after FE Commissioner Dr David Collins identified issues with leadership, governance and college finances.

The 4,700-learner college, near Bath, was graded inadequate by Ofsted in May and has posted a deficit every year for the last three years.

In a newly-released report on his visit in June, Dr Collins called for changes in leadership and governance and said the college needed to operate “within a larger partnership” if it was to meet the needs of learners. It prompted Skills Minister Nick Boles to place the college into administered status, which means it will lose its spending powers and the ability to hire and fire staff.

In his report, Dr Collins said the college lacked direction and was “drifting,” and added that management and governance roles were “blurred and overlapping”.

He said: “The capacity, capability and accountabilities within the senior team are not meeting the needs of the college. The senior team does not review progress around teaching and learning with sufficient rigour or regularity.

“Too many staff at all levels seem comfortable with the college being seen predominantly as a caring institution for those learners who cannot travel elsewhere. Senior staff are quick to blame poor performance on the college’s approach to inclusivity.”

It is the third time Dr Collins has questioned the future viability of a college as an independent organisation in his 11 inspection reports to date. He made similar comments following visits to Bicton College and Stratford-upon-Avon College earlier in the year.

But hope for Stratford has been restored after Dr Collins gave positive feedback after a follow-up visit, having originally questioned the “long-term viability of the college as an independent institution” after his first visit in May.

He said: “I’m really pleased on my recent monitoring visit at the college on how much progress has been made through the hard work of staff and the new governing body. The college has not only improved on quality, but is well on the way to resolving its financial difficulties. There is still a lot of work to do but it’s great to be able to report on a success story.”

However, Dr Collins concluded that although Norton Radstock had done a lot in the past to develop “an inclusive and caring environment, especially for vulnerable learners”, he said financial pressures and its failure to improve the quality of its provision had left it in a weak position.

He said: “As one of the smallest colleges in the sector it needs to build on its strengths within a larger partnership to ensure that it can continue to meet the needs of learners in the area.”

He also urged to college to extend the repayment of a bridging loan owed to a bank, and said it should bring forward talks about the sale of some of its land.

In a letter to college chair Chris Dando, Mr Boles said: “Changes, particularly within the leadership, should be made as a matter of priority.”

Principal Shirley Arayan said: “Over the past few years small colleges such as Norton Radstock College have found it increasingly difficult to meet sustained reductions in funding and college governors are committed to ensuring the needs of our communities continue to be met.

“Leaders and governors have been working hard to address the issues identified in the Ofsted report whilst taking responsibility for the future of the college. Our focus has been on providing the stability required to serve our current students whilst developing strategies for the future.”

The closure of the Skills Funding Agency’s (SFA) online data collection (OLDC) system as a back-up for its breakdown-plagued replacement Hub system has prompted concerns about the lack of a “plan C”.

The OLDC was phased out on Friday (October 31), meaning providers must route all future Individualised Learner Record (ILR) returns data through the Hub — a system which has been fraught with teething problems since its introduction in July.

As reported by FE Week, the Hub has broken down at a critical time at least three times since it started being used.

The SFA previously acknowledged problems in August for R12 returns and also in September, when the Hub broke down on the deadline day for R13. And ongoing issues were reported as recently as last month when providers trying to meet the R14 deadline were hit with crashes.

Providers had been using both systems to make submissions, which meant that returns made through the OLDC were still submitted, even where the Hub failed. But the SFA has confirmed the Hub is now the only system available.

The situation has sparked a wide-ranging debate on the SFA’s FE Connect online forums. Martin West, a freelance consultant and software supplier, said: “This all should be of concern to the sector and I fail to understand why these questions are not being raised at a higher level than this forum.

“I expect that despite our requests that the OLDC should be retained for 14/15 due to the unresolved issues with the Hub, that the OLDC cannot be used as a plan B for 14/15 as it is not set up to do so. This begs the questions does the SFA have a plan C and have the objectives of the data collections and funding transformation project been achieved?”

An SFA spokesperson acknowledged the Hub had not had enjoyed a smooth introduction, and although she sought to reassure providers that technical issues had been resolved quickly, she could offer no information about what failsafe system would operate if problems persisted.

A spokesperson for the Association of Colleges said: “The plan to modernise data collection arrangements is right, but we’ve passed on college concerns about the operations of the Hub to the SFA and have encouraged it to tackle known problems.

“When we last discussed this a few days ago, the Hub seemed to be working more effectively than it had been the previous weekend.”

Stewart Segal, chief executive of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP), said: “Independent providers, mindful of their cashflow considerations, need to have confidence that the Hub is functioning properly, especially now that the old system has been phased out.

“Providers should be paid in a timely manner for delivery and if there are problems with the Hub, providers should not be penalised as a result. To date, the SFA has reassured AELP that no provider will be disadvantaged in the future with the backup system no longer in place.”

The SFA spokesperson said: “We acknowledge that data collections processes in the 2013 to 2014 funding year did not run smoothly. We acted quickly to resolve any technicalities, when they occurred, and communicated at the earliest opportunity to reassure our users.

“During the 2013 to 2014 data collection year, we have improved our systems and listened to users’ feedback. In the main the systems for the 2014 to 2015 funding year are working well.”

A Lancashire college has been fined £20,000 after an employee broke his back while changing the filter of an air extraction system.

Burnley College admitted it failed to protect the 63-year-old engineering technician — despite specialising in teaching health and safety courses — at Preston Crown Court On October 23.

Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspector Rose Leese-Weller said: “It’s astonishing Burnley College failed to ensure basic health and safety systems were in place when it employs lecturers who specialise in this area.”

She added that because the filter had been fitted quickly into a badly chosen location, the worker, who has not been named, “had no choice” but to stand with one foot on a step ladder and one foot on a cabinet to reach the filter.

When the stepladder toppled from under him, he fell and landed on a bench, breaking his spine in several places and fracturing his breast bone.

He can now only walk short distances and is likely to need pain killers for the rest of his life.

An investigation by the HSE found a supervisor was aware he was working in this way, but failed to make alterative, safer arrangements.

No one from Burnley College was available for comment.

Lambeth College staff who went on a five-week strike earlier this year will vote on whether to take further industrial action after rejecting “improved” offers over contract changes.

University and College Union (UCU) members walked out indefinitely on June 3 in a dispute over new staff contracts introduced on April 1, which the UCU said would leave staff with longer working hours, less sick pay and less annual leave, before returning to work on July 9.

The UCU shelved a ballot for further strike action mid-voting three weeks ago to allow members to consider whether to accept “improved” offers from college bosses.

But these were rejected by 92 per cent of branch members who voted — although it is understood less than 55 per cent of UCU members who work at the college took part in the ballot.

A UCU spokesperson said a ballot asking members whether they supported further industrial action “up to and including indefinite strike action” would be launched today (November 3) and close on November 17.

He said: “The latest proposals tabled by the college were roundly rejected by an overwhelming majority of UCU members.

“Our members are dedicated to their learners and would much prefer to be teaching than thinking about further industrial action but [college principal] Mark Silverman needs to address what are clearly widely held objections within the college to the introduction of inferior contracts that creates a two tier workforce.”

The college offered a guarantee that staff taken on before April 1 would have stayed on the original contract until at least September 2017.

Alternatively, existing staff could have accepted a £1,500 “cash incentive” to transfer to the new contract by September 2016.

Both options were dependent on staff agreeing to work an extra hour per week from September — increasing their overall annual working hours from 828 to 864.

Mr Silverman said: “It’s extremely disappointing that UCU has rejected what we offered.

“We should remember that this dispute is about a new contract for new staff. The new contract does not need to apply to staff employed by the college before April 1.

“It was UCU that said there needed to be a single contract [for old and new staff]. We made what I think was a very reasonable offer to move towards that, which was rejected.

“We are working on a plan to deal with any possible strike action, but haven’t got to the stage yet of knowing how many staff will be on strike or when it will take place, so it is too early to talk about specific measures.”

The college was slapped with an Ofsted grade four rating in 2012 but worked its way up to a grade three last year.