The cost of an ongoing strike at Lambeth College over new contracts for staff is nearing the £200,000-mark for the cash-strapped University and College Union, while learners brace themselves for a possible fifth week of disruption.

Teachers and lecturers on the picket line have been getting £50 a-day from the UCU, which has said up to 180 workers were on the strike called over new contracts containing longer working hours and offering less annual leave.

It comes just over a year after the UCU’s own honorary treasurer, Alan Carr, called for £2m of annual savings to be made by April next year.

And the UCU has already tried to raise more money to pay protestors with fund-raising during a “national day of action” on Wednesday (June 25).

Meanwhile a YouTube video has emerged (pictured above) in which protesting staff performed music hall song The Lambeth Walk — which they called “The Lambeth Walk(OUT!)” — in front of the college while learners and non-striking colleagues were inside working.

A UCU spokesperson said picket lines were “almost always enjoyable, good humoured places to be with members finding a variety of ways to get their message across,” but declined to comment on the effect the strike, which started on June 3, was having on union finances.

However, he added: “Like most unions, the UCU pays strike pay during strategically important or prolonged disputes. That is one of the many benefits of being a union member.”

The new contracts at the centre of the row offer 50 days a year annual leave — 10 days less than that given to existing staff.

However, Lambeth principal Mark Silverman has said the terms of the contract, introduced from April 1, were “in line with sector norms”.

He said they were part of the college’s recovery plan following financial deficits of £4.1m in 2012/13 and £3.5m this year.

And he told staff on Tuesday (June 24) that he was willing to enter into talks having emailed the UCU “firm proposals for discussion” the previous day.

Mr Silverman said his proposals included an offer to discuss the “implementation and management of the new contract,” including the proposed changes to sick pay and holiday entitlements.

He said he would also look at providing assurances to existing staff that they would not be affected by the new contract.

The UCU said, two days after Mr Silverman’s message to staff, that it had been consulting members and was therefore ready to negotiate.

The UCU spokesperson said: “We have been trying to resolve this dispute for months. It was a welcome first step, however late, to receive the proposals.

“During the week we have consulted with our members and have now responded. If the principal is prepared to seriously consider UCU’s response we can begin negotiations immediately.”

Meanwhile, the UCU was on Friday (June 27) due to consider an Association of Colleges pay offer said to be the biggest it had received in five years. It included removing the lowest current pay grade.

Pay for staff on the lowest remaining grade would also increase by 2 per cent to £7.65-an-hour, with all other grades rising by 1 per cent.

(Pictured above: A still from a YouTube video of Lambeth College staff singing and dancing while picketing outside work.)

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Editorial 

Draw the line

It was great to hear the UCU and Lambeth College principal Mark Silverman were set to follow the advice of learners who told FE Week they wanted those responsible to sit down and thrash things out.

But it took far too long to get that little progress.

This is a strike that has been costly to all parties involved.

Financially, reputationally and worst of all for the learners. It is just not right that they were without their lecturer for nearly a month.

In the coming years college bosses are going to be faced with some very tough decisions in the face of cuts.

And while it’s hard to imagine any principal relishing the thought of reviewing staff contracts, the wage bill and employment terms are always going to be bones of contention.

While further industrial action might therefore seem inevitable, both parties need to draw a line under this particular dispute.

Chris Henwood

New financial incentives of up to £10,000 for maths teachers who stay in the FE sector have been unveiled as the government seeks to improve literacy and numeracy.

It comes after grants of up to £20,000 for graduates who choose to teach English or maths in the sector were announced in February.

In the government’s further education Workforce Strategy, Skills Minister Matthew Hancock (pictured) emphasised a need to increase the number of English and maths teachers in FE.

He unveiled plans for a retention scheme involving “golden hello” payments of £7,500 for maths teachers in their second year of teaching.

Those who train to teach learners with special educational needs could get up to £10,000 under the scheme, taking the total potential incentive offered to new teachers to £30,000.

The launch of the payments will coincide with a change in funding rules which will mean full-time learners without a grade C in GCSE English and maths will have to work towards the qualification.

In the strategy document, Mr Hancock said: “FE is not seen as a sufficiently attractive career option. It isn’t attracting enough of the best young graduates to replace those teachers who are coming up to retirement; it is not as immediately attractive as teaching in schools or working in industry.

“And there are skills gaps. There are too few specialist teachers in the key areas of maths and English and insufficient support from the wider workforce for the work of maths and English specialists.

“The sector struggles to fill vacancies in some key occupational groups and to keep vocational education up-to-date and relevant in order to meet skills gaps in the economy (particularly higher vocational skills).

“The government’s infrastructure plan, and our growth objectives for industrial strategy sectors, will increase the demand for these skilled individuals further, making it harder still for colleges to recruit suitable individuals.”

Under the scheme, the grant of up to £10,000 in a teacher’s second year in the job could be paid on top of grants of up to £20,000 aimed at encouraging graduates to teach in the sector.

The new scheme has been welcomed by the Education and Training Foundation, which will administer the payments.

Chief executive David Russell said: “We are delighted that the generous financial incentives that have already boosted the recruitment of able and committed subject specialists to teach in our schools are now being made available to the education and training sector.

“There has never been a better time to come and teach in our vibrant and diverse sector, and we hope that colleges and training providers across the sector familiarise themselves with what is on offer, and take full advantage.”

Peter Roberts, chair of the 157 Group and chief executive of Leeds City College, said: “The additional funding for staff recruitment contained within the “FE Workforce Strategy” is clearly welcome.

“Such government investment is a clear acknowledgement of the good work already being done by the vast majority of FE colleges to support high-quality vocational training and the raising of skill levels in English and maths.”

BBC Radio 4 will today broadcast an interview with the Skills Funding Agency during which they confirm they are in discussions with Ofsted about the possibility of having more focus on the large subcontractors.

The interview will feature on the BBC’s consumer affairs programme Face the Facts which has carried out an investigation in to Bright International Training Ltd.

According to the BBC, today’s (Wednesday, 2 July) thirty minute programme will feature its presenter John Waite’s (pictured above) investigation into “a company which claimed to be the UK’s leading training provider [Bright International Training] and held tax-payer funded contracts worth millions of pounds for courses designed to get people back to work.

“But he discovers how some of its learners were given certificates for courses they never completed and others have had qualifications revoked for sub-standard work. Hundreds – possibly thousands – of other learners, many paying their own way in search new careers, have been left without the courses they paid for.”

Face the Facts will also include interviews with “industry insiders”  who will claim that the circumstances surrounding Bright International Training “exposes a loophole in the way the system is regulated.”

The show follows the published results of a four-month investigation into alleged malpractice at Bright International Training by the awarding organisation NCFE, which concluded that there was evidence of malpractice and resulting in at least 225 learners losing their qualifications.  

During the programme the SFA will point out that the education watchdog Ofsted can visit subcontractors like Bright International Training as part of their inspections into larger primary providers. However as a result of ‘what’s happened at Bright’, they will say they’re discussing with Ofsted whether they might increase its monitoring.

The agency will say “Our priority is to ensure learner interests are protected and safeguarding public funds. Ofsted inspect subcontractors, through the lead contractors route and name them in inspection reports.

“In this case we will recover any funds that have been incorrectly claimed directly from the lead providers.

We are in discussion with Ofsted about the possibility of having more focus on the large subcontractors.  We are working with the lead providers to support affected learners. Bright had not received money directly from the Agency, and the contract is quite clear that the responsibility rests with the lead provider. They are responsible for assuring themselves that any subcontractors have sufficient capacity, capability, quality and business standing to deliver the provision that is being sub-contracted.

The BBC have confirmed that Bright International Training deny the allegations made.

Face the Facts, An Unqualified Failure, will be broadcasted on BBC Radio 4 at 12:30pm on Wednesday, 2 July and will be available on the broadcaster’s catch-up service i-player.