Views are being sought on the new Provider Access Project.
The Project will allow providers to view their contract-related data held by the Skills Funding Agency and forms part of the commitment to share information more efficiently.
A survey will be launched on March 7.
In particular, the survey will focus on types and methods of sharing information, identifying the priorities and benefits to the FE sector.
The deadline for the survey will be April 5.
Following the abolition of the Education Maintenance Allowance, Labour candidate Ken Livingstone pledges to restore London-wide £30-per-week allowance if he is elected as Mayor in May. But he also tells FE Week he wants other cities to follow…
The battleground for the fight to become the next Mayor of London moved to the FE sector after the Labour candidate Ken Livingstone pledged to reinstate the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) to students in the capital.
If elected when Londoners go to the polls in May, Mr Livingstone says that he will “work to restore” a London-wide EMA of up to £30 per week.
The £560 million EMA was scrapped by the government in 2010 and replaced by the £180 million 16-19 bursary scheme.
However, Mr Livingstone says around 85,000 16-19 year olds in London now miss out on the weekly allowance.
The Mayoral candidate says the £80 million needed to fund the scheme – which represents the figure previously spent on the allowance – would be found by bringing together existing funds in colleges, universities, and local authorities.
Although previously outspoken on the government’s decision to scrap the EMA, Boris Johnson, the current Mayor of London, is yet to set a clear policy on the matter in the lead up to the election.
Some MPs don’t understand because they’re from rich upper class areas and don’t understand how much £30 can mean”
Mr Livingstone said: “I want to help young Londoners with their education by easing the squeeze the Tory-led government has imposed on them, and which the Tory Mayor has totally ignored.
“I have been deeply struck by the plight of thousands of students I have met at colleges right across the capital, who have had the lifeline that EMA offered snatched away from them by the Conservative party, whilst the part-time Tory Mayor stood by.”
Although pledging to bring back the EMA in London means it will only help students who study in the capital, Mr Livingstone hopes it will be a springboard to spur on other cities to act – if he can prove his plan is a success.
Speaking to FE Week after revealing his pledge, Mr Livingstone said: “If we demonstrate we can do it, other cities will copy it.”
The news has been met with delight by the National Union of Students (NUS).
Toni Pearce, NUS Vice-President (Further Education), said EMA provided a “vital source of support” for students.
She said: “The government’s decision to scrap it was widely condemned not only by students and their families, but by teachers, think tanks and businesses alike.
“Reintroducing EMA in London would be a huge step towards making sure that all young people in further education receive proper financial support to pay for the bare essentials associated with studying and would set a powerful example to national policy-makers.”
She also added: “Instead of washing their hands of the government’s decision to pull the plug on EMA or protesting their powerlessness, the other mayoral candidates should follow Ken’s lead and commit to reintroducing EMA.”
Mr Livingstone’s announcement was made on Thursday at City of Westminster College, where 17-year-old Brook House Sixth Form College pupil Zakariya Ahmed gave an impassioned speech about how the allowance had impacted his life.
Mr Ahmed said he has been forced to cut down on his hours volunteering with youngsters, in favour of a paid part-time job due to the financial void.
He also said he was called before the education select committee to give evidence on the decision last summer, where he told MPs “it would lead to more young people doing into crime”.
He said: “We need EMA. It’s valuable.
“But some MPs don’t understand because they’re from rich upper class areas and don’t understand how much £30 can mean.”
Steve Reed, leader of Lambeth Council, has thrown his backing behind the plan.
He said: “The government’s cuts to EMA have caused real hardship for young Londoners. Ken’s plan to reverse the cuts to EMA will make a massive difference to lives of thousands of young Londoners, giving them the chance to learn and make the most of their potential.”
James Mills, head of the Save EMA campaign, described Mr Livingstone’s pledge as “great news for tens of thousands of the poorest teenagers” in the capital.
He said: “It means that they can once again take education as far as their ability lets them and not their ability to pay.
“This will not only set down a marker for other mayoral contests across the country, but has shown it is not about money, but about priorities when it comes down to whether teenagers should have EMA payments.”
He added: “This is a big result for the campaign as it shows that through peaceful protest works, as it is possible to reverse decisions by governments if there is a will.
“We plan to continue lobbying politicians so that we can make commitments to reinstate EMA an issue in all coming election and especially the general election.”
FE Week asks learners what EMA meant to them
The London-wide EMA pledge by Mr Livingstone was witnessed by dozens of students at City of Westminster College on Thursday.
After making his announcement, FE Week spoke to five performing arts students at the college on how the EMA has affected their lives.
Chrystal Vidal (17) described Mr Livingstone’s pledge as “really good”, before adding: “I completely agree with it. Most of my friends left college as they don’t get EMA anymore.”
Meanwhile, Dreni Rezari (17) said the loss of the allowance has created added pressures, adding: “If I was able to have the EMA there would be less stress on you as a person.”
Bradley Rockall (18) was able to use the EMA two years ago.
He said: “I have to ask my mum for money normally every day. It put her under pressure because he’s been ill and hasn’t been working.”
Jody Nolan-Greenwood (18) added: “I had EMA previously and as soon as I found out it was to be scrapped, I was shocked.
“I have learning difficulties, so keeping up on work is difficult and with a job it would make it even more difficult.”
Sarah Kefi (17) said: “The EMA was a really good idea. It helped with little things like travel especially if you lived far away from college.
“The £30-a-week is good – it would really help.”
Cleaning up rubbish has never been so pleasant for students at K College after a new talking bin was installed at the Brook Street campus.
When litter is placed into the bin, voices like Britain’s Got Talent judge Amanda Holden, former England cricketer Phil Tufnell or opera singer Katherine Jenkins speak – or sing – their thanks.
Some of the messages include ‘I just love rubbish’, ‘I love it when you feed me’ and a kiss.
Musical theatre students were among the first to use the talking bin – which is the South East’s first of its kind.
Lucy Leech said: “It’s fun and it’s a great way to get people to put their rubbish in the bin instead of just leaving it on the floor.”
Lilli Connelly said: “It’s amazing, I wanted to put more in – we were all trying to chuck lots in. I really like the singing response.”
Hollie Rainbow said: “We’ve just run out to try it after we heard it was here, so it shows it really works. We really need more bins like this.”
Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council, who paid for the bin, is an Ambassador Authority for the Love Where You Live campaign and chose the K College Tonbridge campus because of the college’s ongoing commitment to keeping litter at bay.
K College principal Bill Fearon said: “As K College is very committed to keeping its campuses tidy, we are pleased that Tonbridge & Malling Borough Council has chosen our campus in Brook Street as the site for the first talking bin in the South East.
“I’m sure the students will find it an effective reminder to do the right thing with their litter and it will be very interesting to hear what it has to say and who it sounds like.”
Tonbridge & Malling Borough Council’s cabinet member for environmental services, councillor Howard Rogers said: “We are thrilled to have the opportunity to place a talking bin in the Borough.
“The talking bins have proved that making litter bins fun things can encourage people to be responsible and to love where they live.
“They have helped to raise awareness about litter with people of all backgrounds and ages and, as a result, they have helped to reduce litter.”
The skills minister John Hayes has told partliament that the review into short duration apprenticeships is due to be finalised by April.
A total of 87 providers have so far been reviewed by the Skills Funding Agency and National Apprenticeship Service (NAS) for running programmes which last six months or less.
However, 29 have been brought to a “satisfactory conclusion” and the review has identified 10 primary contractors and three subcontractors where the Agency and NAS have unresolved concerns. At least one case has been referred to the Agency’s Special Investigations Unit.
However, the Agency said: “We are working with providers to review and adapt programmes as necessary and whilst this is ongoing it would not be appropriate to release in detail.”
The Agency also said three frameworks are under review, adding: “We are working with the relevant Sector Skills Councils to ensure these will meet the criteria that apprenticeships for 16-18 year olds should have a minimum duration of 12 months. The wider next steps and ongoing review will continue to be done in consultation with providers, sector and issuing authorities.”
The news came as part of Mr Hayes’ statement to parliament on progress to drive up quality, as well as introducing new measures for the coming months. Among those is a new ‘enquiry panel’ which has been set up to “manage contractual and quality failure” as soon as it is identified.
The panel, made up of representatives from the Agency and the NAS, has met once and will report to the minister.
Mr Hayes said: “The majority of apprenticeships are the gold standard in vocational training.
“We must be relentless in our drive to ensure all apprenticeships are as good as the best, to identify and root out any instances of poor quality provision, and to raise the bar on standards.
“I am determined to build on this momentum and go further so as more people than ever have the opportunity to undertake an apprenticeship, every one will receive the high quality training they deserve.”
Another new measure will be a requirement for sub-contractors with an aggregate contract value of more than £500,000 to pass a due diligence test.
An Agency spokesperson said the move has been made to “strengthen our oversight and management of the wider training provider organisation network”.
The spokesperson added: “This does not remove or reduce the responsibilities or due diligence processes exercised by prime training organisations when selecting or managing their subcontractors.
“If a subcontractor fails to pass the Due Diligence Assurance Gateway, we will review and alert prime contractors. Prime contractors may continue with the subcontractor, but such failure would signal the need for additional checks and a higher level of diligence, monitoring and review on the part of the prime contractor.”
The Gateway process is made up of two parts; an online questionnaire and an assessment of financial health based on latest accounts.
However, the spokesperson added: “The Agency is currently working with the sector in considering all subcontractors completing the Due Diligence Assurance Gateway of the Register regardless of size of contract.
“All subcontracting must meet the same delivery, quality and value for money as the rest of our provision. The Agency is working with the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills to review its policy on sub-contracting and will set out its intentions to the sector once a formal position is agreed.”
Simon Waugh, chief executive of the National Apprenticeship Service, said “sound progress” is being made.
He said: “Historically, growth in apprenticeships has been excellent but hasn’t always been matched by quality.
“The actions we are taking now are to clearly state expected standards, strengthen the processes of monitoring and assuring these standards and address any areas that fall short.”
Implementation of a new streamlined and simplified funding system for adult skills that had already been delayed until 2013/14 has suffered a further setback, following a rethink on how apprenticeships might be funded.
A newly formed Skills Funding Agency advisory group has been meeting monthly since December, and has said plans to fund apprenticeship provision based on individual frameworks, rather than component learning aim level, requires further testing.
Chris McLean, vice principal of North Hertfordshire College and member of the Funding External Technical Advisory Group told FE Week: “Only two areas related to basic skills and apprenticeship rates have more work to be done and on both counts it’s the work and scrutiny of the group that is asking for extra detailed modelling to be undertaken to satisfy ourselves that the new system will work at the organisation level as well as for the sector as a whole.”
A document published this week by the SFA, entitled ‘A New Streamlined Funding System for Adult Skills’, says “following advice from the Funding External Technical Advisory Group we are reviewing this [apprenticeship funding]. We are continuing to consult and develop our approach to simplify apprenticeships funding and align it to the principles across the rest of the Adult Skills Budget.
“As a result we now expect to be able to publish the principals and rates for funding Apprenticeships no later than May 2012.”
The first version of the funding reform document was published in October 2011 and included a plan for ten apprenticeship framework funding rates within the ‘learning aim rates matrix’ of 30 rates.
This updated version now excludes apprenticeships, and the remaining provision has doubled to 40 rates.
Mick Fletcher, a visiting Research Fellow at the Institute of Education and consultant, says the document shows that the government is struggling to streamline or simplify the funding system for adults.
“Once again simplification proves not to be as easy as the Department thought,” Mr Fletcher said.
“They are still struggling to accommodate basic skills, and can’t yet work out how apprenticeships fit; and they didn’t even try to cover safeguarded learning.
“The reason for the difficulties just might be that it’s not really about simplification at all, but about imposing a centrally determined, price based funding system instead of one that carefully reflects colleges’ costs.”
David Hughes, chief executive of NIACE and until recently the Director of Provider Services at the Skills Funding Agency, said: “We want to work closely with the government and the SFA to try and get a system which has the right sort of incentives for people who it should support and help them not only get into learning, but to succeed as well.
“We want to make sure that any changes do not disadvantage certain types of learners and that those changes recognise the very diverse needs of different learners in different situations.”
The SFA proposals also appear to scrap well trailed plans for Outcome Incentive Payments, and replace them with the piloting of a payment to the provider of half the 20 per cent of achievement funding where eligible unemployed learners prematurely leave their course to get a job.
The document reads: “Job outcome funding will be piloted in 2012/13 using the existing funding models, with 10 per cent job outcome funding where a learner leaves and enters work without achievement of the learning aim.
“This is straightforward in workplace learning, however, in classroom learning the funding will be factored into the year-end reconciliation.”
Plans are also outlined for introducing a funding cap for apprenticeship learners. The report states: “An annual funding cap of £4,400 (applied to the unweighted rate) per learner will be piloted during 2012/13 shadow working.
“The level of an annual funding cap for Apprenticeships is still being considered as part of the work set out above.”
Colleges will be coming to terms with their new found freedoms after being released from government control.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS), reclassified general further education colleges as part of central government, and sixth form colleges as local government entities, for the purposes of national accounts in October 2010.
But that changed last week when the ONS revealed that colleges would be reclassified to the private sector from April 2012.
It follows the Education Act 2011, which was given Royal Assent in November, through which the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), and Department for Education (DfE) removed a range of restrictions and controls on FE and sixth form college corporations.
While the move has been welcomed, some have warned caution. Financial consultant Bob Deed, who works in the FE sector, said: “The ruling is good news; insofar as it means colleges are likely to be spared the additional red tape, which would have been inevitable if they were classified as an arm of central government.”
However, he added: “The de-regulation agenda may have downsides. It is likely banks will ‘re-price’ the risk associated with lending to colleges – that will mean higher borrowing costs on new loans.
“Freedoms do raise the stakes. Colleges will have to think for themselves. When things go wrong, they will not be able to blame anyone else.”
Julian Gravatt, assistant chief executive for the Assocation of Colleges (AoC), said the reclassification could save colleges “tens of millions of pounds” in compliance costs in finance departments. He added: “So we’ve had a near miss at a time when college budgets are being cutback.”
Mr Gravatt also said colleges may not notice many differences, as some of the controls have “never been used” and because the effect of the changes would not be revealed until they are actually used.
One example, Mr Gravatt explains, is the Skills Funding Agency has used its legal power to appoint governors several times in the past decade, but has never formally used its power to ask a governing body to dismiss a principal.
Mr Gravatt said: “Allowing colleges to maintain their own affairs is not only beneficial to the institutions themselves, it also brings more clarity to the way public money is spent.”
Lynne Sedgmore CBE, executive director of the 157 Group, said: “Clearly the voice of colleges and our business communities have been listened to, and responded to, on this critical matter to good effect.”
When announcing the news, skills minister John Hayes said: “I am delighted at this very positive news which we have been working hard to achieve over the last year.”
The itinerary for the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee’s visit to Sheffield next week has been revealed.
As part of their major inquiry into apprenticeships, the cross-party committee will visit Sheffield on Monday, March 5 and Tuesday, March 6.
During the visit, committee members will visit Forgemasters and the University of Sheffield’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (ARMC).
They will also be holding a formal session on March 6 at the ARMC.
The chairman of the Committee, Adrian Bailey MP, said: “Dr Adam Posen of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee today made clear that he feels the biggest failure in the UK labour market at the moment is in the area of youth unemployment.
“Apprenticeships are a vital tool if we are to address this shortcoming.
“Apprenticeships can help equip young people throughout the UK with the skills necessary to drive forward broad and sustained economic growth, spread across a range of sectors and across the entire country.
“If the Committee’s inquiry is to have the desired effect, we need to look at what is working and where the current structure is falling short, not only for companies running apprenticeship schemes but for apprentices themselves.
“Sheffield is home to a number of significant organisations and employers offering innovative and meaningful apprenticeship schemes.
“This visit will allow the Committee to gain first-hand experience of how these schemes are operating in practice and takes evidence from a wide range of interested parties.”
The news comes ahead of the Committee’s first formal evidence session, which takes place tomorrow from 11am at The Grimond Room, Portcullis House.
Witnesses include Denis Hird, chief executive of JTL Training, Alex Jackman, a senior policy officer for the Forum of Private Business, and Graham Hoyle, the chief executive of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP).
Subcontractors with a total allocation of more than £1 million are being offered a direct contract by the Skills Funding Agency (SFA).
Businesses were sent a letter by the SFA in mid-January encouraging them to bid for a contract worth at least £500,000 as part of a one-off funding pilot by the agency.
The letter says successful bidders will receive funding for 16 months to deliver full apprenticeship frameworks aimed at learners of all ages, provided they can begin the delivery from April and enroll a quarter of predicted learners by August.
The SFA says the pilot is designed to “test the appetite” of large subcontractors which have the capacity to move to a direct contractual relationship with the agency.
A spokesperson for the SFA told FE Week: “This is intended as a pilot to inform the potential introduction of a structured long term process to introduce new entrants to the education and training market, providing the Agency with access to additional capacity to deliver high quality learning opportunities to communities and businesses across the country.”
The pilot, which the SFA says will help develop the funding requirements for 2012/13, will test how organisations can be funded directly when it is not possible to reallocate provision from under-performing providers.
The Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP) say they are supportive of the pilot and agree that large subcontractors should be offered a direct contract by the SFA.
An AELP spokesperson said: “It is right and welcome that that the SFA should look at ways of encouraging new entrants into direct contracts, providing quality remains the watchword for the process.
“In fact, AELP has pressed for a long time for the agency to offer direct contracts to those relatively large sub-contractors who want them, although we feel that it shouldn’t be a mandatory development.”
The letter says subcontractors were invited to take part in the funding pilot only if they featured on the list of organisations which passed the ACTOR pre-qualification questionnaire and expressed an interest in delivering apprenticeships through the Single Adult Skills Budget (SASB) invitation to tender (ITT) last July.
Deep Blue Sound Limited, which delivers courses in sound engineering, music production and music performance, among others, has a subcontracting allocation of £1.2 million with City College Plymouth, but did not receive the letter.
Nigel Burt, director of Deep Blue Sound, told FE Week: “Were I to receive such a letter I would have to think very carefully about how to react.
“We have a good relationship with partners and I would be cautious about doing anything that threatened that without there being a good deal of security in it for us.
“With the almost whimsical way the education landscape seems to be changed at the moment but policy makers, this obviously wouldn’t help to give me that security.”
He added: “There is little opportunity to plan anything long term as one just doesn’t know what ‘funders’ have in store for us year on year.”
The SFA say they are currently reviewing all of the bids submitted for the pilot.
“We are not able to comment on who has applied until the process is complete,” an SFA spokesperson added.
The Skills Funding Agency today publish an updated version of A New Streamlined Funding System for Adult Skills.
The document contains a number of significant announcements, changes, clarifications and areas still under development. It states the document “sets out the features and arrangements for testing a new simplified funding system to be implemented in 2013/14. It is published following consultation with the Association of Colleges and the Association of Employment and Learning Providers.”
This week the FE Week newspaper will include a detailed anaylsis of the plans in it’s technical pages. If you do not already subscribe, you can do so here.
Overall timetable of the proposed changes (page 13)
