A third general FE college is set to take over a school whose academy chain sponsor has been hit with two financial notices to improve (FNTI) by the Education Funding Agency (EFA) since 2013.

South Gloucestershire and Stroud College (SGS) has announced it will become the new sponsor of Forest Academy, formerly Heywood Community School, in Cinderford in the Forest of Dean from March.

The school, given a grade three “requires improvement” rating by Ofsted following inspection in May 2013, is currently sponsored by E-Act (formerly EduTrust Academies Charitable Trust), which controlled more than 30 schools before the Department for Education asked it to scale down last year after Ofsted inspectors raised concerns about the performance of a number of the chain’s academies.

The school, which converted to academy status in 2012, is the ninth to be given up by E-Act in response and the fourth taken on by a general FE college — Lincoln College Academy Trust took on Trent Valley Academy in May and renamed it The Gainsborough Academy, and three months later Leeds East Academy and Leeds West Academy were both transferred to the White Rose Academies Trust, which was set up by Leeds City College.

E-Act will be left with just over 20 academies under its sponsorship following Forest Academy’s move to SGS, whose principal, Kevin Hamblin, said: ‘The town of Cinderford needs a strong, successful and vibrant secondary school. Currently, the school faces challenges to improve the academic performance at GCSE level and also to capitalise on the growth opportunities available.

“SGS will be able to provide considerable support to the school and we will be working with staff, parents and pupils to relaunch the school from September 2015.

“We are developing a brand new enhanced curriculum with an extensive vocational offer and with immediate effect we will provide additional classroom support for all students and a comprehensive enrichment programme.

“We want to provide an environment that inspires learners and we have already submitted a bid for £4m of new investment to build a state-of-the-art teaching block and put investment in the quality of the existing teaching facilities.

“The outcome of this bid will be known in May 2015. SGS Governors will meet to formally review the due diligence report in late January, prior to a formal transfer on March 1st. Until then, E-ACT have agreed that SGS can operate as the sponsor under licence from the date of ministerial approval.”

The school is reported to have known about the possibility of the transfer since February last year, when its headteacher Tanya Prosser confirmed to The Guardian that she had been contacted by E-Act about the future of its dealings with SGS.

Neill Ricketts, chair of Forest Academy, said: “Forest Academy is excited about the prospect of working with SGS. It has the capacity and expertise to really transform the school. A local sponsor will be able to work a lot closer with the school, and our pupils can access learning resources, expert teaching and support staff.”

The move comes after Bedford College was asked by former Education Secretary Michael Gove last year to step in and take over the inadequate-rated Central Bedfordshire UTC, and after The Manchester College took on London’s £17m prison education contract following the withdrawal of welfare-to-work firm A4e.

In September last year, FE Week sister newspaper FE Week reported how a second FNTI letter has been sent to E-Act. The second FNTI required E-ACT to pay back an undisclosed advance of funding that the trust received from the government in May. It also required E-ACT to complete “satisfactory resolution of all outstanding redundancy claims”, and a number of previously set conditions.

It had first been put on FNTI by the EFA in March 2013 after “significant weaknesses” in financial management were identified.

At the time a spokesperson for E-Act said: “E-Act continues to work closely with the EFA to address the points raised in it initial report. The significant changes we have made to our governance, operations and financial management have positioned E-Act to fulfil our goal of transforming the lives of each of the 14,500 young people in our care. We look forward to receiving a clean bill of health from the EFA.”

The DfE is yet to comment.

Skills Funding Agency (SFA) director Keith Smith (pictured) has apologised to providers about a shock clawback warning that caused “sleepless nights” among sector staff, FE Week can reveal.

More than 700 providers were contacted by Una Bennett, deputy director for funding systems for the SFA, before Christmas with warning that they would have to repay against “provision that has been incorrectly claimed”.

It provoked an outraged response on the SFA’s Feconnect online forum, where a number of users complained that the correspondence was sent after the SFA’s own auditors signed-off provider accounts last autumn and did not specify how much needed to be repaid.

But an emailed apology to providers from funding and programmes director Mr Smith has since been sent and, like the original email, leaked to FE Week.

It stated: “We are sorry that within this [Ms Bennett’s] letter, issued so close to the Christmas break, the issue of recovery of funds was raised. This was premature since the main issue we wanted to highlight was the importance of accurate data.

“We were not clear that this is about establishing if your data was accurate and not about recovery of funds.

“The letter was intended to give you advance notice of the possible data coding errors.”

The email also identified mistakes that could have been made with ILRs, including the minimum length of 16 to 18 and 19+ apprenticeships and eligibility for 24+ advanced learning loans.

It asked providers to take these into account when double-checking their ILR data and to tell the SFA themselves before the end of January if they needed to make any repayments.

The latest email saw the SFA come under fire once more on Feconnect, where one user complained that she had suffered “sleepless nights” by the initial email over what was likely to turn out to be just a £150 discrepancy on her original ILR claim.

Julian Gravatt, assistant chief executive at the Association of Colleges, said: “It’s important that data errors are corrected but it was wrong to introduce a new over-claim process five months after the year end.

“It is good that the SFA has adjusted its approach and is providing colleges with a chance to discuss the evidence so that a sensible decision can be reached about the final funding amount.”

Stewart Segal, chief executive of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, said: “We recognise that error reports through the year should have picked up issues to be addressed but equally in our view, there have been data collection problems and therefore it’s right that individual providers should have the opportunity to discuss matters fully with the SFA.”

Dr Lynne Sedgmore, 157 Group executive director, said: “We are pleased the SFA has acted swiftly in contacting providers and allaying some of the fears the original communication will no doubt have provoked.

“We will be looking to address some of the lessons to be learned from this episode with the SFA over the coming weeks and it is a good sign that they are now seeking active provider engagement in resolving any outstanding issues.”

The SFA declined to comment.

Do you know how much you have to pay back? Email news@feweek.co.uk to tell an FE Week reporter.

The Prime Minister reached new heights when he visited a Nottingham provider to find out more about apprenticeships, writes Rebecca Cooney.

David Cameron took a tour of Skills Funding Agency-registered East Midlands Roofing College and tried roofing for himself.

And he wasn’t slated for his efforts either — 26-year-old former apprentice Linden Blackwood said: “He was actually quite good, so I told him he could start on Monday. He said it was nice to know he had options.”

Mr Blackwood said Mr Cameron had been keen to hear about his experience. “I told him how, without an apprenticeship, I’d either still be hunched over a book studying something I hate or in a dead-end job,” he said.

Main Pic: former roofing apprentice Linden Blackwood shows Prime Minister David Cameron how to lay a roof.  

Skills Minister Nick Boles denied apprenticeship reforms had been “kicked into the long grass” after the government went back to the drawing board with plans to route funding through employers.

Mr Boles was quizzed by MPs on the House of Commons Education Select Committee on Wednesday (January 14) — the day after the government said more research was needed on its proposals to route apprenticeship funding via employers either through the PAYE system or a credit account.

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills said it would be holding “discussions and workshops with key stakeholders” rather than a third formal consultation on reforms.

And, although Mr Boles admitted this would mean a delay until after the election, he denied the reforms were indefinitely on hold.

“You will be aware that we are running into the buffers somewhat in terms of the election. It is definitely not long grass,” he told MPs

“My personal ambition is to make it as short grass as possible but I make no promises about whether we’ll be able to make the chair’s [Graham Stuart] request of getting a solution announced by May 8.”

He also claimed the initial proposals, drawn by predecessor Matthew Hancock, had not been fully formed.

He said: “You’ll understand if we do more homework. Bluntly, we don’t want to go off half-cock [sic] again, because frankly it’s not been ideal to come forward with two proposals and then decide not to go ahead with either of them.”

His concession came after a three-month technical consultation on the proposals from March attracted 1,459 responses, and an earlier consultation that uncovered wide-spread opposition to employer-routed funding in 2013.

However, Mr Boles emphasised that he still wanted employers to contribute to training costs.

Teresa Frith, AoC senior skills policy manager, said: “We are pleased to hear the Minister has reiterated the message from his consultation response earlier this week that he plans to take his time and get these reforms right. There are big changes ahead for apprenticeships and these need to be made in a controlled way.”

Stewart Segal, Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP) chief executive said: “We are very pleased that Mr Boles has listened to our submissions, and his honest admission to MPs about the weakness of the original funding reform models confirms our view that policy was not constructed on evidence properly gathered from employers of all sizes and learners.”

The pushing back of the reform agenda was further welcomed by organisations across the FE and business sectors, including the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (Niace), Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and Federation of Small Businesses (FSB).

Niace chief executive David Hughes said: “It is complex to get this right though and I am pleased with the caution about how quickly a simple system can be established.”

Neil Carberry, CBI director for employment and skills, said: “Government and businesses need to get their heads together to hammer out how the system will work. We need as many companies as possible to be offering apprenticeships, but that can only happen if the system is simple and flexible enough to meet the needs of smaller businesses.”

Mike Cherry, FSB policy chairman, said: “Successful businesses spend money on training and recognise that apprenticeships are a smart investment. But to feel confident in that outlay, businesses must have trust in the apprenticeship framework. This is why we are pleased that the government is taking the time to get this right, including the decision not to adopt a PAYE-based funding model.”

College finance directors have been targeted in a bailiff scam involving a chilling “long series” of phonecalls with the con artists themselves.

Staff in at least eight colleges, including the College of Haringey, Enfield and North East London and City of Southampton College, were subjected to the rip-off attempt this month.

So far, FE Week understands, no college has fallen for the scam.

However, it is thought that the fraudsters are employing the same tactics on each occasion, centring their bogus story on Northampton County Court, to which a non-existent debt running into thousands of pounds is meant to be owed.

A man calling himself Brian Hall contacts the college, claiming he was a bailiff coming to collect £7,000 — £3,995 of which the college owes to fictional company Studio Media and £3,000 owed in court costs over the debt.

When the college says it has no idea about the case, the man offers to help them gain a temporary court order while the issue is resolved, giving a phone number he claims is for Northampton County Court’s bailiff department.

Stewart Cross, vice principal for finance at College of Haringey, Enfield and North East London, which was targeted on January 6, said: “He was very plausible. He put a lot of pressure on and it was quite a long series of conversations.”

Michael Johnson, vice principal for finance at City of Southampton College, which was contacted on the same day, said: “He bombarded us with calls suggesting he was getting closer and closer to the college — but he was very pleasant. He tells you he’s giving you a direct number that’s not on the website to help you avoid getting stuck in a queue.”

The person who answers the phone, introducing himself as Simon, says he can grant a temporary order — if the college transfers the original £3,995 debt to a holding account while the case was be re-examined.

The Association of Colleges (AoC) and also Action Fraud — a national fraud helpline operated by the City Of London Police force — have issued warnings.

An AoC spokesperson said: “We are aware that eight college finance directors have received a phone call from the same person about the same debt at Northampton County Court. Colleges have reported the matter to the police which is the right thing to do if there is any suspicion of fraud.”

Pauline Smith, head of Action Fraud, said colleges should phone Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 if they are targeted.

A Midland college has been warned its internet software was sending out the “wrong message” after it blocked learners from accessing lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) websites.

Henley College Coventry students who tried to view websites related to the LGBT community, such as the site for the Birmingham Pride march, have been met with a pop-up stating the sites had been blocked due to being “Gay or Lesbian or Bisexual Interest” sites.

The College’s National Union of Students LGBT officer Aimee Challenor warned of fears it could lead to “homophobic bullying,” while gay rights group Stonewall said young people were potentially being stopped from “accessing vital support and advice”.

The college said the block was caused by automatic settings on the software, and the wording in the pop-up was “definitely not the college’s”.

However, Ms Challenor, a 17-year-old creative digital media production student, said the response “wasn’t good enough”.

“By installing that software, the college has a responsibility to ensure it complies with equality legislation and guidelines,” she said.

“I echo the concerns of other students who have said that by blocking sites for simply having LGBT content it puts the wrong message out to students who are either LGBT or who are questioning their sexuality or gender identity.

“It basically says we should hide it and be ashamed, which we shouldn’t. There are also fears that this could lead to a rise in homophobic bullying within the college.”

Stonewall senior policy and campaigns officer Hannah Kibirige said: “Blocking access to websites with LGBT content not only sends a negative message to students, but could prevent LGBT young people from accessing vital support and advice.

“We know that many colleges are inadvertently blocking sites by using ‘catch-all’ internet filters.

“Every college should check their filters regularly, encourage students to report blocked sites and report any issues to their service provider.”

Henley College Coventry principal Ray Goy said: “The issue arose after the college changed its content-filtering software which, unfortunately, filtered out LGBT content.

“This then generated an automated message denying access to the site being requested. Henley College Coventry is proud of its record of tolerance and celebration of diversity and would never set out to offend anybody or set itself up as a moral arbiter on issues of sexual orientation; indeed, we proactively challenge all forms of discrimination, and have a longstanding LGBT group, Henley’s Rainbows, at the college.”

He added the LGBT site block was removed “within 20 minutes of being brought to our attention by a student”.

However, Ms Challenor said many sites — such as Birmingham LGBT centre and London Pride — were still being blocked by the filter system for “uncategorised” reasons.

She said she was “pleased that it’s not the college being homophobic”.

“My message to other colleges would be to tell them to make sure their software meets the law as well, to make sure this isn’t repeated,” said Ms Challenor.

Mr Goy said ongoing website blocks of LGBT sites were caused by the software’s interpretation of the website, not necessarily because of the college itself.

“Not all sites — and particularly many of the smaller ones — are ‘categorised’ within the content-filtering software,” he said.

“As a matter of safeguarding, we block such uncategorised sites as we have no idea what material they might contain.”

But, he said: “These sites can be unblocked by request as were the LBGT sites.”