The FE Commissioner began scrutinising Barnfield College at the end of this week, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has announced.
The Bedfordshire-based college has been under investigation by the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) and the Education Funding Agency (EFA) following allegations of poor financial management and the investigation report is expected to be published by the end of the month.
A BIS spokesperson said: “The commissioner will be visiting the college imminently, certainly towards the end of this week.”
An allegation of poor financial management along with concerns about “extensive” staff restructuring and redundancies were passed onto Education Secretary Michael Gove by local MPs Gavin Shuker and Kelvin Hopkins in October.
The college is part of the Barnfield Federation, which also includes six secondary school academies and four primary school academies.
Judy Oliver, acting chair of the Barnfield Federation board confirmed commissioner David Collins would be visiting for a fortnight.
“Both the management and governors of the college will be fully engaged with the FE Commissioner David Collins and his team,” she said.
The founder and former director general of the federation, Sir Peter Birkett, stepped down in the summer, just over a year after the college went from an Ofsted rating of outstanding to satisfactory (now termed requires improvement).
Student leader Joe Vinson has been given a seat on the director’s board of the Education and Training Foundation (ETF) after talks to ensure top-level learner representation.
Mr Vinson, vice president for FE at the National Union of Students (NUS), takes the post despite initial ETF board plans in which learners did not feature.
However, it is understood his post will remain open to successive student figures.
Mr Vinson told FE Week: “I am really excited about having a position on the board for the ETF.
“It is something the NUS has been requesting for quite some time now.
“I hope that added student representation will help give a unique and much needed perspective on how to improve the quality of education for learners.”
The ETF, the FE sector’s “self-improvement” body, had been in “discussions” with the NUS since FE Week exclusively revealed in April last year how a draft implementation plan had no place for learner representation on the board.
But there were proposed seats on the board for the Association of Colleges (AoC), the Association of Employment and Learning Providers and the Association of Adult Education and Training Organisations (AAETO), which operates under the name Holex.
However, an ETF spokesperson said: “Following consideration of a proposal from the NUS, to ensure that the organisation benefits from a representative learner perspective on its governance matters, the board confirmed Joe’s appointment at its December meeting. We are sure that he will provide an expert view, informed by knowledge of learner experience.”
The ETF (formerly known as the FE Guild) was formally launched in August last year, taking over from the Learning and Skills Improvement Service (LSIS).
Jenny Williams, director of vocational education and teaching at the ETF, was one of five full-time and seven part-time staff transferred to the new organisation from LSIS under Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) regulations.
And the appointment of former LSIS employee Helen Pettifor as director for professional standards and workforce development means that eight of the 21 people currently employed at ETF came from LSIS.
The ETF spokesperson said: “As part of the closure of LSIS, and in line with the transfer of some functions to the ETF, some staff transferred via the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) protocols.
“It was right for these staff to transfer, and their expertise and knowledge has enabled a number of services and programmes to progress at pace. Through open recruitment, we are seeking to ensure that the organisation has the expert and skilled professionals it needs.
“If the best candidate for a particular role has previously worked for LSIS, then that is simply a matter of fact. We will recruit the most suitable person for the job.”
Troubled K College is back on the market — this time with its own corporation playing a greater role in the sale after the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) tendering process proved unsuccessful last year.
Three bidders had approached the SFA to take on the college after a competitive tendering process, but talks ended without agreement.
But now interim principal Phil Frier has told FE Week that he expected to find new providers and have handed over the college’s SFA and Education Funding Agency provision by August.
“We’re working closely with both funding agencies, but we are now going to be able to engage with new providers directly,” he said.
“We’ll be having discussions with them over the next two months so that we are able to transfer the assets of the college over by August this year.
“I think those discussions will lead us to being clear about who the preferred providers are by February.”
Mr Frier declined to comment on who the potential providers were.
The Kent college is currently in administered status, having been visited by FE Commissioner David Collins after an ‘inadequate’ Ofsted inspection result last month.
The move stripped college management of the ability to make many key decisions independently, instead having to seek approval of the commissioner and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
“The intervention of the FE Commissioner and the Skills Minister has been very helpful because it has put back in the hands of the corporation some key decisions,” said Mr Frier.
He added: “I think with hindsight everyone agrees that the competition process slowed things down and the procurement process forced a straightjacket which created difficulties.
“It is easy looking back to see that we could have done it differently and the college could have been more directly involved from the start.”
The SFA would still have a “significant” role to play, he said, both financially and in terms of “decision making”.
“But ultimately the involvement of the FE Commissioner means there is now a channel from the corporation through the commissioner, to the department directly to the Minister,” said Mr Frier.
“And the discussion I had with the commissioner was that that’s the route now that will finalise the decision making.”
The college, formed by a merger between West Kent College and South Kent College in 2010, ran into financial difficulties which lead to the resignation of then-principal Bill Fearon in January last year.
When Mr Frier took over, he conceded the merger had “failed”, and the college faced being broken up and sold off through a tendering process run by the SFA, to which the college owed £15m, as well as commercial debts.
Mr Frier said: “Commercial debts will be transferred to the new provider.
“I don’t think there’s any doubt about that — you’d expect to take on the mortgage as well as the house.”
But he said the liabilities to the funding agencies were “still up for discussion”.
During the initial competition process, the college was divided up to be sold off in seven parts.
An SFA spokesperson said: “The agency received tenders from three bidders which covered all seven application options for the procurement.
“Unfortunately all of the bids were unsuccessful which meant that we were unable to proceed any further.
“We will now be working with K College on the transfer of provision and learners to alternative providers by August 2014.”
Parties should email philfrier@kcollege.ac.uk to express an interest in taking over provision at K College.
Ofsted inspectors have been issued new guidance on judging colleges’ provision of independent careers guidance.
According to the education watchdog, its revised handbook for inspectors visiting FE providers has undergone “minor clarifications” in areas like good practice visits, re-inspection monitoring visits and the reporting process.
And it has also seen the introduction of a section on inspecting colleges’ provision of independent careers advice for learners up to the age of 18.
The need for independent advice came into effect in September, and Ofsted said its inspectors had been aware of the change.
Its spokesperson told FE Week: “The changes are minor stylistic and grammatical clarifications to ensure the meaning is clear and ensure guidance and practice are fully attuned.
“There are minor clarifications around good practice visits, re-inspection monitoring visits, coverage of inspections, the reporting process and the requirement on colleges to secure independent careers guidance for learners up to the age of 18.”
The handbook itself says “inspectors should take into account the extent to which FE and sixth form colleges implement the requirement to secure independent careers guidance to learners up to the age of 18 introduced in September 2013”.
It also says inspectors should judge colleges on “the extent to which timely information, advice and guidance enable individuals to gain greater learning autonomy and decrease dependence on others, the availability and quality of advice and guidance on learning and personal issues and whether staff have the necessary qualifications, experience and skills to give information, advice and guidance”.
It comes amid an ongoing campaign by Association of Colleges (AoC) called Careers Guidance: Guaranteed, which aims to improve schools’ careers guidance.
As part of the campaign, the AoC has also drafted a petition to the Department for Education (DfE) calling for it to match-fund the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) on the National Careers Service (NCS).
In 2012/13, the DfE gave £4.7m to the NCS, compared to £85m from BIS, £14m from the Ministry of Justice and £1.5m from the Department for Work and Pensions.
Joy Mercer, AoC director of policy, said: “We don’t oppose Ofsted checking on the careers advice provided by colleges — we know our members have an excellent track record in this regard.
“However, the real problem, as Ofsted acknowledged recently, is in schools not colleges.
“As part of our Careers Guidance: Guaranteed campaign, we’re calling on Ofsted to make careers advice and guidance a deciding factor in the inspection grade a school gets — if their careers advice isn’t good or outstanding then they cannot receive either of these grades for their overall result.
“Helping young people to make their future education choices is too important to leave it to chance.”
Skills Minister Matthew Hancock has apologised for the Skills Funding Agency’s (SFA) new payment software fiasco after initially seeming to suggest the problem was down to providers’ “own internal management information systems”.
Mr Hancock said he took “full responsibility” for the disruption caused to providers trying to calculate how much government cash they were due.
The problems have been caused mainly by the SFA and Data Service’s new Funding Information System (Fis) software.
It should have been available to providers in August last year, but was not released until November and providers say it is still providing unreliable funding data reports.
But the government’s Learning Aim Reference System (Lars) online search engine should also have been available to providers by last August.
It is supposed to help providers’ Management Information System (MIS) officers check whether qualifications are eligible for funding, and how much per learner providers should receive.
However, it is still not available and providers are having to use Lars Lite instead, a temporary downloadable database from the SFA that providers claim is also producing unreliable data.
Mr Hancock insisted providers were being paid despite the issues, but Stewart Segal, chief executive of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, warned payments were not filtering through to subcontractors.
Mr Hancock told FE Week: “For several months the SFA has been working with colleges to overcome difficulties with the new software used for calculating how much money is owed to them.
“I take full responsibility for everything that happens in my portfolio, including within the SFA and these IT problems. I am very sorry for the disruption caused by the new system, especially over Christmas. We have continued to pay all providers on time, and will work to resolve the problems as soon as possible.”
His comments follow a written parliamentary answer he gave, where he appeared to blame providers for problems — failing to address the issue with the SFA software. Tory MP Caroline Dinenage asked him what representations the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills had received from colleges and other providers on funding data not being reconciled by the SFA’s systems and resulting delays in payment to private providers.
Mr Hancock, making no mention of the SFA software problems, wrote: “There have been some issues for colleges and other providers in calculating funding due to them where their own internal management information systems have not been able to report accurately their management position.”
On the WhatDoTheyKnow website his fuller reply was seen as not answering the question by 210 people, at the time of going to press, as opposed to just two in his favour.
It prompted furious staff from providers across the country to post comments on Twitter, the FE Week and Information Authority websites criticising Mr Hancock’s response.
Among them was a user named alex.miles, who said: “Provider data is not the problem Mr Hancock……..luckily we have faith in our MIS PICS, but even that tells us it can’t be 100 per cent accurate until Fis, Lis, Hub etc etc etc are up & running correctly……that is no fault of the providers.”
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Another, named Jo Wright, said: “We are perfectly able to calculate what we believe we have earned due to our superb suppliers’ software. The trouble is that none of the systems provided by the Data Service agree with these figures.
“Indeed none of the figures supplied by the Fis, the OLDC and the Hub even agree with each other and it is that which determines what we are paid.”
However, a message on the SFA’s website conceded the new software had been plagued with problems. A spokesperson also told FE Week: “It is important to stress that this is an IT systems issue and that all funding is being processed and paid as normal. We have openly apologised to the sector for the inconvenience this has caused.”
The AELP’s Mr Segal said: “The issues arising from the changes to the funding information systems are clearly unacceptable and have created a number of delivery issues for providers.
“The SFA has responded where it can to manage the payments on profile and to adjust payments where there has been significant over-delivery.
“However, we have had instances where local contract management teams have not been responsive.
“Problems have also occurred where sub-contractors have not been paid for delivery because they may not have a profiled payment structure.”
The Association of Colleges and the 157 Group declined to comment.
The Department for Education (DfE) is facing a second National Audit Office probe, with efforts to increase participation in education and skills among England’s 16 to 18-year-olds set to come under the spotlight.
The DfE’s Education Funding Agency had already been under investigation since June last year by the audit office, which has been looking into whether it was “prepared to meet future challenges”.
The findings are expected to be out by next month, an audit office spokesperson told FE Week, but there are now plans for another investigation, this time into whether the DfE is doing enough about the expected growth in the number of 16 to 18-year-olds in education.
It is due out in the summer and comes as the government prepares to make young people stay in education until they are 18 by raising the statutory participation age. The change is expected to come into effect next year.
An audit office spokesperson said: “There are almost two million 16 to 18-year-olds in England. However, at the end of 2012, 9.6 per cent of 16 to 18-year-olds were Neet.
“The government is committed to raising the statutory participation age to 18 by 2015.
“It is increasing the number of places in education and training and providing more support to young people so that they can participate, particularly those with additional needs or who face barriers to learning.
“This study will examine the DfE’s approach to increasing participation and the progress that it is making. It will also examine whether education and training provision and learner support meets the needs of young people and employers.”
The investigation into the DfE’s agency for funding and compliance was started in June 2013, when an audit office spokesperson told FE Week: “The agency distributed more than £50bn in 2012-13 to local education providers in England to fund education and training for learners aged three to 19 — three to 25 for those with learning difficulties.
“The agency is also responsible for the oversight of financial management and governance in open academies, and for major capital programmes in the education sector.
“Our report will examine the performance of the agency to date, and consider whether it is prepared to meet future challenges.”
Government plans for the first new FE college in 20 years, to train engineers for the £50bn high speed two (HS2) rail link, have come under tough scrutiny from sector leaders.
The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and the Department for Transport (DfT) have unveiled proposals to train workers for the line that will link Birmingham and London by 2026.
The exact details of the college — which has been reported nationally as costing £20m — remain unclear, with the DfT and BIS yet to decide where it will be sited.
Sector leaders questioned whether what could potentially be the first new college since 1993 was actually needed, while it remained unclear who would run the institution.
It is also understood the deal will not involve simply bestowing incorporated college status upon an independent learning provider currently in existence.
Business Secretary Vince Cable said: “It is right that a large scale investment in bricks and mortar should also come with investment in the elite skills which will help build it.
“That’s why this government is launching the first FE college in over 20 years, which will train the next generation of engineers in rail, construction and environmental studies that this country needs to prosper.”
Association of Colleges president Michele Sutton said: “We are pleased to hear of the government’s plans for the first new FE college in 20 years.
“We believe this recognises the value and strengths of autonomous colleges which provide technical and vocational education closely aligned to the needs of industry.
“The fact that the new college will be focussed on providing much needed skills and technical expertise in industry-standard facilities is equally important and welcome.
“Colleges are already delivering this kind of vocational training, therefore we are keen to learn more of the detail, particularly in relation to value for money and the financial alternatives such as existing colleges also taking on the task of meeting the needs of HS2 by upgrading or adapting existing facilities.”
Association of Teachers and Lecturers general secretary Dr Mary Bousted said: “It is worrying that existing colleges allegedly don’t have the capacity or expertise to train sufficient numbers of young adults and adults with the skills needed.
“The government should be helping FE colleges to provide engineering and requisite skills. The need for an HS2 college may show there should be a review of how vocational education and training fits into wider industrial policy and skills development.
“The government seems to think that inventing new schools and colleges is the answer to everything.”
It is expected that HS2 will create up to 2000 apprentices during the lifetime of construction.
The college is expected to be open by 2017, when construction of HS2 is due to begin. Tracks to Manchester and Leeds will be built in a second phase, to be completed by 2032-33.
A BIS spokesperson said: “BIS and HS2 Ltd intend for the college to be a new institution and for it to apply for incorporated status — if successful HS2 Ltd will be strongly represented on the board of governors.
“The college will operate in partnership with existing FE and higher education providers across the UK to ensure that the skills needs of HS2 are met.
“Our vision is that the college will become a world leader in the provision of training for High Speed Rail.
“We believe that there will be strong export potential for the college once established.
“The college will also provide engineers for many other projects within the rail industry and beyond. It will not be solely reliant on HS2 for its business.”
The FE loans system could lead to a drop in learner numbers of up to 18 per cent, a thinktank has suggested.
Research by New Economy predicts the number of 24-plus learners in skills training in Greater Manchester will fall by between 15 and 18 per cent in the wake of the introduction of advanced learning loans.
The government itself had previously projected a 20 per cent drop, according to New Economy.
It comes after Business Secretary Vince Cable told FE Week last month that the apprenticeship FE loans policy was being dropped, but other FE loans would remain.
However, the Student Loans Company (SLC) was still processing apprentice FE loans at the time of going to press and could not confirm when they would stop.
Nevertheless, the New Economy research found that hardly any adults in Greater Manchester had taken out a loan to pursue an apprenticeship because of the significant cost involved.
New Economy director of skills and employment James Farr said: “It is a relief that apprenticeships are now not going to be included in the loans policy.
“The growth of apprenticeships among adults over 24 can be counted as being as one of the conurbation’s success stories of recent years. Loans would have wiped out much of this progress.
“But our research carries warnings should the government decide to extend the system of loans to other target groups in the future — to older learners at level two, for example.
“The clear implication is that the loans policy will lower investment in skills and harm employment prospects in years to come.”
The FE loans system was introduced by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) after it stopped part-funding study for those aged over 24. Now, loans to cover the full cost of training, which must be met by the learner, are handed out by the SLC.
New Economy claims its research is the first authoritative investigation anywhere in the UK into the impact of loans since the policy was introduced.
Its research was based on a survey of level three and above learners over 24 in Greater Manchester, of whom 83 per cent had taken out a loan to fund study.
A BIS spokesperson said: “Nationally, we have had more than 55,000 applications for 24+ advanced learning loans, which is in line with our expectations.”
He added: “To raise awareness of the loans and help learners to make their decisions we have used feedback from learners to develop a range of communication materials for providers.”
Trying paid off for Richard Huish College’s rugby team after it was propelled over the line into the last 32 of the Natwest Under 18s Cup for the first time.
The Somerset college’s team will now face Truro School, Cornwall, in a battle for a place in the last 16 of the competition for schools and colleges.
After successes in early rounds, Richard Huish continued its winning streak, beating Gryphon School, in Dorset, 22-18, Millfield School, in Somerset, 19-12 and Beechen Cliff, in Bath, 34–0.
A college spokesperson said the success stemmed from the quality of its rugby performance programme.
First team coach Chris Heal said: “It has been an exciting journey for the players, who have done exceptionally well to have got this far.”
