The education and employment charity Red Kite Learning has announced it is closing after 25 years because government policies such as the Work Programme have “squeezed” out small and medium sized organisations.

Brendan Tarring, the chief executive at Red Kite Learning, said the £500,000 minimum contract value meant the organisation had been unable to tender for larger contracts and “the payment-by-results regime” was financially too unstable.

He said: “It is a matter of great regret that our position in the squeezed middle of medium sized charities is not sustainable.”

He added that the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) prime contracting model for the Work Programme lacks “the finesse and flexibility” to support the individual needs of job seekers.

“The Government’s fixation on cuts and awarding contracts on cost rather than quality is destroying the most sophisticated not for profit sector in the world,” Mr Tarring said.

A spokesperson from the DWP told FE Week: “We’ve got more than 400 charities and voluntary organisations involved in delivering the Work Programme, and many are doing very well.

“So far only a small number of organisations have left the supply chain and in most cases there have been performance problems or issues not relating to the Work Programme.

“The Work Programme exists to help those most at need get back into work and it is only fair and right to the taxpayer that we do not waste money on upfront payments with no guarantee of success.”

A third version of the funding rules for 2012/13 have been published by the Skills Funding Agency (SFA).

It updates version two, published in May, and replaces all of the funding requirements documents that currently exist.

Some of the changes affect the evidence which providers need to submit to the SFA in order to prove that delivery and learning is taking place.

“The Agency requires the Provider to evidence that learning is taking place in relation to the learning aims that are reported in the ILR and recorded in the Learner’s Learning Agreement,” it says.

“This would be done through naturally occurring evidence, such as registers, attendance records, reports and reviews.

“Where the Provider states that Learners are still in learning, but no learning can be evidenced as taking place on any of the learning aims and funding continues to be claimed, the Agency has the right to require the Provider to repay such funding.”

In the new funding rules providers must also detail how long an apprenticeship will be or how often a learner will work on the apprenticeship vacancy website, if it’s advertised as being less than 30 hours a week.

The rules also add minor clarifications to the job outcome payments and innovation code sections.

To download the document click here.

The Employer Ownership of Skills pilot will not launch in August as planned, according to the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES).

Applicants were supposed to be contacted by the Commission in June and July, with the delivery of successful bids starting in August.

However, a UKCES spokesperson told FE Week they were still waiting for Ministers to give a final sign off on the projects.

“Following this we will issue the outcome letters to bidders,” the spokesperson said.

“Projects can start as soon as the due diligence and grant letter negotiation is complete.”

The UKCES spokesperson added that they expected the sign off to be given by Ministers “very soon”.

The first round of the pilot, worth £50 million, will pay for projects which deliver skills development and vocational training, such as apprenticeships, from August to the end of July 2014.

Trudi Stevens, owner of Green Lantern Training, told FE Week she knew there was “a good chance” the launch of the pilot would be delayed.

She said: “The greater issue, and one that requires delicate handling, is managing the expectations of the employers who will be involved.

“We have been honest about the potential changes in timings.

“Knowing that the programme would probably slip (and anticipating that even some of the ground rules might change) we have had to be careful about what commitments we make to them, and what commitments we expect from them up front.

“There is enough cynicism and misinformation out there without adding to it by making promises we know we probably can’t keep due to last minute changes.”

An employability course managed by the ‘welfare to work’ firm A4e has been criticised on Twitter by a former NUS Vice President.

Ed Marsh, former VP for Union Development, has been using the social network to expose numerous shortcomings in sessions delivered by 5E Limited, a subcontractor working on behalf of A4e.

The course, which Mr Marsh described as being “patronising” and “soul destroying”, is designed to help people on Job Seekers Allowance (JSA) develop a CV and look for new work.

However, on the first day tutors from 5E Limited were only teaching theory to group because the centre did not have enough computers for them to work on.

Mr Marsh said one tutor refused to look at CVs brought in by four members of the group, and later referred to them all as a “batch of clients”.

One tutor, according to a tweet from Mr Marsh, said: “I’m sorry if you think this course is about finding and getting a job. That’s the title, but it’s actually not that.”

In one session the tutor told the group that anyone with a long name should shorten it, because employers “won’t want to ring someone if they can’t pronounce your name.”

Other advice given, according to Mr Marsh, included searching on Google for ‘writing a good CV’, deleting hobbies such as ‘I like to sleep a lot’, and removing any contact details for references.

Mr Marsh said there were also suggestions that they should lie on their CV.

On Twitter, Mr Marsh said the group was also told to sign a form on the first day declaring that they had received a health and safety document which had not yet been handed out.

A4e later apologised to Mr Marsh and recommended that he contact 5E Limited about any further problems.

However, other Twitter users who follow Mr Marsh questioned whether A4e should be taking responsibility for the work delivered by 5E Limited.

A4e has since confirmed they will be working with the subcontractor to resolve the problem.

Mr Marsh also tweeted that on the second day of the course he was served pasta, rather than chips, with a piece of fish for lunch. He said the meal was also served without a knife.

FE Week has reached out to A4e for comment, but not yet received a response.

You can follow Mr Marsh’s tweets here.

A review into how businesses can be encouraged to hire an apprentice has been delayed by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS).

Social entrepreneur and jeweller Jason Holt has finished his review, but the report and government response will not be published by the end of the month as planned.

“The date slipped, but the government have now agreed the 28th August to publish my report and its response,” Mr Holt told FE Week.

A BIS spokesperson added: “The launch won’t be at the end of July, but possibly on a date in August which is to be confirmed.”

Mr Holt, chief executive of Holts Group of Companies, told FE Week in April that as he gathered evidence there was “a sense of cluelessness” from employers about apprenticeships.

He said he was looking at how the process for recruiting and training new apprentices could be simplified, as well as how schools could be better engaged with the programme.

The review was announced by BIS in February.

A significant number of FE college courses and staff have been cut, Unison has found.

The union’s survey of 190 colleges revealed that 61 per cent have cut courses and 5,737 posts were also lost in the 2010/11 academic year. The figures were obtained by under the Freedom of Information Act.

In a press release, the University and College Union (UCU) said colleges cited the end of student grants and the education maintenance allowance as the main reason for the falling figures.

The union warned that the introduction of the 24+ Advanced Learning Loans was likely to exacerbate the situation.

Sally Hunt, UCU general secretary, said: “If this trend of cutting continues quality will inevitably suffer. The further education sector simply cannot continue to be asked to do more for less.  Investment in our colleges is essential if we are to kick-start growth in the economy.

“With huge levels of unemployment, and at a time when other countries are investing in producing more highly-skilled workers, we simply cannot afford to be sacking staff and slashing opportunities.”

Martin Doel, chief executive at the Association of Colleges (AoC), said the organisation and its members were “concerned” about the impact of changes to funding and the introduction of 24+ Advanced Learning Loans on students.

“Research conducted by AoC last October – and again in January 2012 – tally with Unison’s findings that colleges experienced a drop in enrolment. Although the national picture was complex, our research showed an overall decline of 1.78% in student numbers which could not be solely attributed to demographic dip in this age group (16-18).

“Our member colleges reported that reasons for the drop-off included the abolition of the EMA, increased transport costs for students, and increased local competition. Many (79%) said the introduction of free lunches for college students from disadvantaged backgrounds would help with recruitment and retention, which acknowledges the fact many of our learners are from families who are really feeling the pinch during this double-dip recession.

“Our particular concern is the 6.4% drop in recruitment at entry level and a 6.6% drop in level 1 students; these are the young people most vulnerable to becoming NEET (not in education, employment or training) and the situation may be exacerbated by the loss of the Connexions service. We continue to raise with government the consequences of a rolling programme of regulatory change and funding cuts on this generation of young people.”