The Government is to fund a new professional body for further education and put on hold plans to scrap the requirement for lecturers to be qualified teachers, official documents revealed this week.

Ministers yesterday invited bids from outside organisations to run the Further Education Guild which could be up and running by next spring, following up on proposals which were exclusively revealed two weeks ago by FE Week.

Simultaneously, the further education minister John Hayes said that “existing requirements for minimum qualifications [for further education lecturers] are being retained for the time being”, following concerns about the effect scrapping them would have on the “reputation of the sector”. The Institute for Learning said that 80 per cent of its members who responded to consultation on the issue thought scrapping the requirement would deprofessionalise the sector.

I’m immensely excited by the prospect of the creation of this guild”.

The new guild’s functions are likely to include, says the Government, setting professional standards and codes of behaviour for members; developing qualifications for those working in the sector; supporting training; and strategic planning.

The guild, which ministers say will be an “employer-led partnership”, is being designed to act as a focal point for Government efforts to promote professionalism in the sector. Bidders for start-up costs to run the guild could include sectoral bodies and unions.

The move is set out in a prospectus, called “Developing a Guild for Further Education”, which has been sent to leading sector stakeholder bodies by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

It begins with a foreword by John Hayes, the FE minister, in which he says he is “immensely excited by the prospect of the creation of this guild”.

The prospectus then sets out proposals which, in relation to the guild, are identical to that in a leaked document presented to the Government’s Further Education and Skills Ministerial Advisory Panel (FESMAP) last month and revealed by FE Week on July 18^th.

The Guild would offer institutional and individual membership, the latest paper confirms, both of which would be on a voluntary basis.

FE providers would be encouraged to take out corporate membership of the guild, which would signal a commitment to professional development, says the paper, while for the individual lecturer, training courses provided by the guild would be linked to higher level qualifications.

The guild would also seek “to enhance the reputation and status of the sector as a whole through providing a single, collective focus for raising standards of professionalism and being a custodian of excellence”.

It is understood that organisations who would be eligible to bid to run the guild include the Association of Colleges, the 157 Group, the Association of Learning Providers and unions, although BIS is keen not to be prescriptive in its approach as to who should apply, with any employer led body who has a commitment to professional development in the sector encouraged to come forward.

Ministers are offering funding for unspecified start-up costs, similar from to that offered to other sectors through the Government’s £34 million Growth and Innovation Fund, with some further Government funding after this a possibility.

The Hospitality Guild, which was set up last year for the hotel and catering sector, is being seen as a model for the FE version. It is run by People 1^st, the sector skills council for the hospitality sector, in collaboration with 15 organisations.

The FE Guild is being set up quickly, with organisations expected to put in outline bids by September 14^th, with a “preferred bidder” then working up detailed proposals by the end of October. The organisation itself could be up and running by next April, though BIS says it wants to be guided by bidding organisations as to a final timescale.

This is a sector-led initiative. If the sector is not enthusiastic about it, we probably won’t be doing it.”

In his foreword, Mr Hayes appears to acknowledge that the move has come following concerns about Government proposals, published earlier this year, for FE staff no longer to be required to be qualified teachers.

He writes: “I have noted in particular the concerns for the reputation of the sector if government regulations requiring minimum qualifications are removed at this time, without first establishing a firmer basis on which the sector can regulate itself and promote ever-higher aspirations. I share those concerns and take them very seriously.”

The establishment of the guild would be, then, one of two responses to this concern. The other, set out in the document, is that the sector’s current requirements for “minimum qualifications” are “retained for the time being”.

The length of this stay-of-execution for the qualified teacher requirement is not being specified. But the stance would appear to put Mr Hayes at odds with that controversially adopted last week by Michael Gove, the education secretary, who is now allowing academies in the schools sector to take on unqualified teachers.

Dr Susan Pember, director of further education and skills investment and performance at BIS, told FE Week that the guild proposals would only be taken forward with support from the sector.

She said: “This is a sector-led initiative. If the sector is not enthusiastic about it, we probably won’t be doing it.”

There was little dissent from stakeholders when the plans were put forward at the FESMAP meeting last month, and Ms Pember said she expected it to be welcomed.

She said: “This is a really exciting endeavour. It’s a chance to bring together FE in a way that’s not happened before. We want to make sure that this is employer-led, working with the employee voice in a really intelligent way.”

Lynne Sedgmore, executive director of the 157 Group, said:  “The government’s proposal for a sector-led guild builds on the freedoms and flexibilities that have been created over the past two years, and the 157 Group is keen to work in partnership with other sector bodies as the sector takes charge of its own future.

“This offers an excellent opportunity for us to help reshape the FE landscape and raise the profile of vocational education. John Hayes’s vision of a vocational craft guild that meets the needs of the economy and society in the 21st century recognises that vocational education should be held in the highest esteem.”

However, not all within the sector are keen. One source who was at the FESMAP meeting said the plans raised many questions, including how a guild would co-exist with existing organisations.

The move to put on hold the scrapping of the requirement for qualified teacher status in FE was welcomed by the Institute for Learning.

Dr Jean Kelly, director of professional development at IfL, said: “IfL has made a strong case for initial teacher education and for a qualified teaching and training workforce, and it is right that the government has taken note of our members’ views.

“More than 5,300 IfL members responded to IfL’s consultation earlier this year, and 87 per cent of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that teaching qualifications should be mandatory on a national basis.

“Around 80 per cent thought that removing the national requirement for teaching qualifications would deprofessionalise the sector.”

The move to put on hold the scrapping of the requirement for qualified teacher status in FE was welcomed by the Institute for Learning.”

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.”