The government has been accused of trying to “retrospectively justify an unjustifiable policy” with an impact assessment of plans to reduce funding for 18-year-olds that confirmed colleges would be hit harder than school sixth forms.

The assessment of plans to reduce funding for 18-year-old learners to 17.5 per cent less than 16 and 17-year-olds was released on Monday, January 13 — more than three weeks after it was promised by Education Secretary Michael Gove.

Skills Minister Matthew Hancock has assured MPs in a written answer to parliament that the assessment was drawn up before the funding rate cut was announced on December 10.

But it nevertheless shows that FE colleges will be among the worst-hit of all institutions — with an average reduction in funding of three per cent.

For land-based colleges it’s 2.5 per cent, for commercial and charitable providers it’s 1.5 per cent, and for sixth form colleges it’s 1.2 per cent.

But for school sixth forms it’s just 0.4 per cent. However, the report does not say how much cash the funding rate cut, due next academic year, is expected to save.

It was further revealed that no decision to reduce the impact of the policy could be made until the end of next month at the earliest.

James Kewin, deputy chief executive of the Sixth Form Colleges Association, told FE Week: “This is not a serious impact assessment — it is an attempt to retrospectively justify an unjustifiable policy.

“Fundamentally, we do not accept that there is a case for any further cuts to the 16 to 19 budget. Some sixth form colleges are already on course to lose a third of their funding by the end of this parliament. The burden of deficit reduction is once again falling disproportionally on colleges rather than schools.”

One of the main concerns raised about the proposal was that black and minority ethnic (BME) students would be disproportionately affected. And although the report accepts there is a higher proportion of BME learners among full-time 18-year-olds than the total 16 to 18-year-old student population, it does not say how adversely they will be affected.

Association of Colleges chief executive Martin Doel said: “The impact assessment confirms what we told the Department for Education before Christmas — the decision to cut funding by 17.5 per cent disproportionately affects 18-year-olds who are taking vocational courses in colleges.

“It also is more likely to affect black and minority ethnic students and those in London.”

National Union of Students president Toni Pearce said: “This cut will affect FE colleges more than school sixth forms, meaning FE students are yet again being treated like second class citizens.

“The FE system provides important second chances for millions of people, where all learners are treated as adults and given the opportunity to build their learning experience with their teachers, which is why cutting funding for these groups of students is incredibly damaging.”

A letter originally sent out by the Education Funding Agency last year said the decision, announced on December 10, had been made as those who were 18 at the start of the academic year “will already have benefited from two years of post-16 education and will not therefore need as much non-qualification provision within their study programmes as 16 and 17-year-olds”.

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Editorial: A shameful assessment

Whether the impact assessment for the 18-year-old rate cut was written before or after the announcement will be for others to debate.

More importantly, now that it has been published, what do we learn from it? And equally, what do we not learn from it?

Unsurprisingly, we learn that FE colleges supporting BME learners on vocational courses are hit hardest, while school sixth forms come out as good as unscathed.

Shameful.

Surprisingly, for a funding-related impact assessment, we don’t learn anything about the amount of money the government think it will save with this cut.

Shameful.

Education Secretary Michael Gove has already called his own policy “regrettable” and indicated those colleges hit hardest may get a degree of protection — or ‘cushioning’ as funders like to call it.

This is not good enough.

It’s an unfair, unjustifiable and under-researched policy in which Mr Gove should feel no shame in binning.

Chris Henwood

Just three FE and skills institutions made it onto a list of top employers for lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) people compiled by gay rights group Stonewall.

And among the sector’s representatives on the list of 100 employers doing the most to create supportive workplaces for LGB staff was Newham College, which hit the headlines last year when a recording of lecturer Dr Mark Walcott allegedly making homophobic comments was leaked on YouTube.

Creative Skillset and Somerset College completed the FE and skills sector’s representation on the list. It stands in contrast to the five universities, 10 law firms, 10 NHS trusts or ambulance services and 17 local authorities on the list.

It has prompted calls for more FE and skills bodies to promote their LGB-friendly approaches.

The National Union of Students vice president for FE Joe Vinson said: “It’s disappointing that only two colleges are featured on this list, especially because although there are thousands of for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students in FE colleges across the UK, not many LGBT societies exist on campus.”

University and College Union head of equality and participation Helen Carr told FE Week: “Colleges should be commended for challenging themselves and submitting an assessment to Stonewall.

“More should be prepared to do this and open themselves up to greater scrutiny.”

Her comments were echoed by the Institute for Learning chief executive Toni Fazaeli, who congratulated the two colleges, but encouraged more colleges to put themselves forward in future.

Newham College was the top performing college, ranked 82nd out of 100, despite hitting the headlines last year when a recording of lecturer Dr Mark Walcott making homophobic comments was leaked on YouTube.

It dropped 50 places in the ranking since last year and was overtaken by sector skills body Creative Skillset, at 41. For at least the last five years they had been the only sector institutions in the list until Somerset College joined them this year, at 91.

A Newham College spokesperson said: “Over many years, Newham College has focused unrelentingly on equality, and we are pleased Stonewall has recognised this.”

Referring to Dr Walcott, the spokesperson said it was an “isolated incident” and the college’s “really strong commitment to equality” had led to his dismissal.

“The individual concerned clearly did not share the college’s values, and was not promoting these values in his recorded conversation with staff,” he said.

Stonewall head of workplace Simon Feeke said: “Dr Walcott’s comments were absolutely reprehensible. But one individual’s homophobia shouldn’t detract from the fantastic work that many individuals are doing at Newham College to support gay staff and students.”

Jo Welch, diversity and inclusion manager for Creative Skillset, said: “It is important to us not only to be progressive and forward-thinking in our approach to diversity and inclusion but to evidence the action we take to address inequality and under-representation.”

Somerset College director of human resources and customer services Sheena Murphy-Collett (pictured) said: “I am absolutely delighted that our commitment and hard work has been recognised by Stonewall.

“We will continue to build on this success and further develop our strategy for all areas of equality and diversity.”

A total of 369 employers put themselves forward to be considered for the index. A Stonewall spokesperson was unable to say how many were from the FE and skills sector.

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.”

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.”

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.”