A merger involving a college that previously warned it was dependent upon the move for survival has been delayed by a year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Southampton City College is now set to join Itchen Sixth Form College in August 2021, having scheduled the move for this summer.

It is the second college merger to be delayed because of Covid-19 this month.

As previously reported by FE Week, Southampton City is currently keeping afloat on government bailouts.

It received around £2.5 million in emergency funding last year and the college’s 2018-19 accounts warned that cash would run out by October.

It also stated that if a merger attempt failed, then the college would “require additional financial assistance” to stay open.

Sarah Stannard, principal at Southampton City College, claimed the college’s financial position this academic year is now “secure” and said the Department for Education is providing financial support.

However, she refused to say whether the DfE has stumped up any new bailout funding this year to keep the college running as a standalone until next summer.

Stannard would only say that the college is reassured by the department making it “very clear that colleges are essential community institutions” when looking ahead to 2020-21.

She added: “Covid-19 has had a small negative impact on our income but we can manage this.”

A Department for Education spokesperson would also not say whether it has given the college any new emergency funding but said: “We continue to work closely with City College Southampton and other key stakeholders to achieve a sustainable solution for further education in the city.”

The college’s 2018-19 accounts were signed off on a “non-going concern” basis and stated the “current intention and most likely outcome” would be for a merger on August 1, 2020, whereupon the college would “dissolve after the transfer of trade, assets and liabilities at carrying value to another FE organisation”.

Stannard said that Southampton City and Itchen College are committed to merging but have had to prioritise responding to the outbreak and are likely to have to organise continued changes to the teaching and training of students and apprentices this autumn.

“Both colleges believe it’s appropriate that they focus on delivering the best student experience possible at this difficult time and give themselves time to prepare an effective and high-quality merger in the summer of 2021,” she added.

The move would affect more than 6,000 students and a consultation is due to start at least four months before the merger.

Alex Scott, principal at Itchen College, told FE Week: “Itchen College continues to work with City College in preparing a merger proposal, although the current pandemic has understandably had an impact on timescales as we have switched to supporting our learners remotely.

“We are working towards a provisional date of August 2021, but will move more quickly should the proposal be agreed and circumstances allow.”

Stannard added Richard Taunton Sixth Form, another college in Southampton, could also join the merger at a later date.

The FE Commissioner has been assisting with the merger after conducting a local provision area review last summer.

Southampton City College was re-issued with a financial health notice to improve by the ESFA in February, which it first received in 2016, while its financial health was rated as ‘inadequate’.

The college generated an income of £13 million and a deficit of £1.65 million in 2018- 19 – a significant increase from £585,000 in the previous financial year and £257,000 the year before that.

In addition, it lost an agreed £500,000 overdraft after Santander withdrew the facility in August 2019 when loan covenants were breached.

Southampton City College has had two other merger attempts with different partners fail.

The first proposal, with Southampton Solent University, fell through in 2018, while a plan to join Eastleigh College collapsed at the 11th hour in March 2019 after an application for emergency funding was rejected by the ESFA.

The other college merger to be delayed this month because of coronavirus involved Cheadle and Marple Sixth Form College and Trafford College Group. They had planned to join up by August but have now pushed this date back to October 31.

The transfer to new ownership for the first colleges to be placed by the government into insolvency has been struck by a second delay as concerns heighten over the spiralling costs.

The Education and Skills Funding Agency has failed to agree a financial deal with North Kent College to take over both Hadlow College and West Kent College.

Administrators were originally due to hand over the keys on March 31, which was then pushed back to May 31 and has now been rescheduled for July 31, FE Week can reveal.

Tomorrow (May 22) is exactly a year since Hadlow College’s insolvency process began, with West Kent and Ashford, part of the original Hadlow Group, officially entering education administration three months later.

David Gleed, a qualified chartered accountant, has been principal at North Kent College for over a decade.

It is unclear why the transfer deal remains unsigned and Gleed has denied that the college board are holding out for better terms, which could include transitional protection, or a more immediate financial reward.

A source close to the transaction suggested one of the many “complexities” relates to the substantial land and many properties owned by the two colleges, including residential accommodation.

Kent-based law firm Thomson Snell & Passmore, where the North Kent College chair of the board Alex Lewsley is a partner, is being paid by the college to undertake due diligence on the deal.

FE Week understands the administrators, BDO, have become frustrated by the lack of progress on the deal between North Kent College and the senior ESFA representative, Matt Atkinson.

At the same time, BDO has come under increasing pressure from the ESFA to keep their costs down as they continue to run the college for far longer than had originally been planned.

The most recent administrator report lodged with Companies House showed that senior BDO staff were charging up to £310 per hour, as agreed with the Department for Education, and the costs to the public purse were already in the millions.

The DfE told FE Week the costs of this project are regularly reviewed with consideration of value for money.

A spokesperson added: “We continue to work closely with North Kent College and the Joint Education Administrators for Hadlow College and West Kent and Ashford College towards a planned transaction date of July 31, 2020.”

A spokesperson for the administrators said “good progress” has been made with the transaction “but Covid -19 has and will continue to impact on the pace of the work that remains to be done”.

“Taking this into consideration, and with the end of the academic year approaching, the completion date has been moved to a target date of July 31. All parties continue to proceed positively towards a successful conclusion,” they added.

A spokesperson for North Kent College added that the transaction “continues to proceed positively and is fully expected to reach a successful conclusion in the summer”.

A successful conclusion to the administration is not alone in being beset with delays as the DfE continues to hold on to an independent report, led by Dame Mary Ney, into their own oversight of college finances following the Hadlow Group scandal.

The Hadlow Group came under investigation by the government once financial irregularities were uncovered, including submitting partial information to the agency which generated a ‘good’ financial health rating.

But the FE Commissioner later found that had the ESFA looked at Hadlow’s published accounts, they would have rated the college as ‘inadequate’ and intervention would have taken place far sooner.

Ney was then commissioned to undertake the review in August and her so far unpublished final report has been with the DfE since December.

While North Kent’s transfer has been delayed, East Kent Colleges Group did take over Ashford College, which was part of West Kent College and a site in Canterbury at the beginning of April as planned.

The break-up of the Hadlow Group got under way on January 1, 2020, when its Mottingham campus was taken over by Capel Manor.

The three-way split was recommended by FE Commissioner Richard Atkins back in July.

Most of the Hadlow Group’s senior leaders and governors resigned once the FE Commissioner stepped in and their role in the demise of the institution remains under active investigation by the insolvency practitioners.

Hadlow went into administration in May with £40 million in debts, and West Kent and Ashford College went into administration in August with debts of over £100 million when capital grants for the construction of K-College are included.

With complexity and costs proving to be far higher than anticipated, the government has not gone down the education administration route with several other colleges that ran out of cash since, choosing instead to provide longterm loans.

A land-based college is set to close next year with the potential loss of 117 jobs following an FE Commissioner review which found the site was no longer financially viable.

Askham Bryan College informed staff at Newton Rigg College in Penrith of the decision this afternoon.

The move to shut in July 2021 has been called a “hammer blow” by union officials, who have pledged to campaign against the decision.

Neil Hudson, the MP for Penrith and The Border, added that this is “hugely disappointing news” and vowed to “do my upmost to secure a viable future for Newton Rigg”.

The proposal is subject to the outcome of a 45-day consultation process with affected staff and trade unions.

The closure would leave the county without any specialist agricultural education.

Askham Bryan College, based 100 miles away in York, took over the running of Newton Rigg from the University of Cumbria in 2011.

The college said the FE Commissioner’s review, which started in March and concluded this month, found that Newton Rigg “lacks a sustainable business model due to declining student numbers and demographics”.

It was also said to have found that the estate would require around £20 million worth of capital investment in order to “keep pace” with land-based sector skills needs.

However, the college added the timing of the proposed closure “gives a window of opportunity for an alternative group or organisation to provide a potential solution” with “high level” of support expressed for Newton Rigg from various Cumbrian organisations and groups – suggesting that they plan to sell the site.

Askham Bryan also stated it would look at the viability of transferring uplands farm at Low Beckside to an “appropriate” body or group on the basis they would continue to preserve it for educational use.

Tim Whitaker, principal of Askham Bryan College, said: “We understand the strength of feeling about Newton Rigg and the fact this will be upsetting news to our staff, students and the local community.

“This has been a very difficult decision. We regret putting staff at risk of redundancy.

“Given the current economic climate, and the fact that no capital or revenue funding is available, we have no other option but to propose closing the facility in July 2021.”

The University and College Union (UCU) has vowed to fight the closure of the Penrith-based college at the end of the next academic year, but did not provide further details of its plans.

UCU regional official Iain Owens said: “This is a hammer blow for the people of Penrith and Cumbria who rely on Newton Rigg to provide education for their young people.

“The closure would leave Cumbria – one of the most agriculturally-dependant counties in the country – without any specialist agricultural education.”

Around 888 learners are currently based at the college including 221 apprentices as well as 667 FE students – the majority of which are enrolled on one-year programmes.

Courses provided include agriculture, animal and equine management, uniformed public services, hairdressing and beauty therapy and health and social care.

Learning and apprenticeships planned for the next academic year will continue as intended. 

Student recruitment and enrolment will also continue and in the event of campus closure, the college said it work in partnership with other FE colleges to map progression routes beyond 2021 and seek to identify an alternative location for ‘off the job’ training provision in Cumbria.

At the start of the month, a cross-party group of local MPs led by Hudson came together in a failed attempt to save the provider.

Among others he was joined by former Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron and former education select committee member Trudy Harrison.

Hudson said the college, which is over a century old, had a “tremendous” heritage and is “unique” in the county for specialising in land-based sectors.

Newton Rigg is one of a number of colleges that have announced plans to close campuses and been met with MP opposition.

Other cases have include the RNN Group, Cornwall College Group, BMet and Warrington & Vale Royal College.

 

A university technical college in Hull has been dubbed a “guiding light in the education sector” after being rated ‘outstanding’ in its first ever Ofsted inspection.

Ron Dearing UTC, which opened in September 2017, received grade ones across the board in a report published today that did not include one line of criticism. It becomes one of only three of the 48 institutions rated ‘outstanding’.

Inspectors said learners received an “exceptional” quality of education and heaped praise on their 100 per cent positive progression that has come about as a result of the college’s “considerable” links to industry.

According to the UTC’s 2018/19 accounts, of their 117 year 11 students in that year, 94 progressed onto its sixth form, 14 onto an FE college, eight onto an apprenticeship, and one onto employment.

And of the 86 year 13 learners on roll last year, 28 started university, 22 went into employment with one of the UTC’s partners, 29 into an apprenticeship, and seven into other employment.

Ron Dearing, which had 506 students at the time of the inspection in March against a capacity for 600, is the first UTC to be given a grade one under Ofsted’s new inspection framework that was rolled out in September 2019.

Principal of the 14 to 19 technical college, Sarah Pashley, said: “Ofsted raised the bar when it introduced its new Education Inspection Framework, which made it even more difficult to achieve an Outstanding rating. This makes the achievement even sweeter.”

Ofsted’s report said Ron Dearing UTC has the “hallmarks of a school that could be viewed as a guiding light in the educational sector”.

Inspectors reported that the curriculum is “superbly” designed with teachers demonstrating passion for their subjects and ensuring they know the strengths and weaknesses of every pupil.

Students’ A-level results in 2019 placed the UTC in the top one per cent of schools nationally.

In addition, rates of attendance were found to be “much” higher than the national average while there have been no students permanently excluded from the college since it opened almost three years ago.

The principal, vice-principals and other senior and curriculum leaders were praised as being “astute, enthusiastic and entirely committed” to the school, staff and pupils. Governance was also called “outstanding”.

Pashley said the provider had been supported by the University of Hull and employers in the region, who were involved in developing a “highly-ambitious vision” for the college.

“We’re also acutely aware that our students and their parents and carers put their faith in us by moving to a brand new school which hadn’t been tried and tested,” she continued. 

The UTC’s patron, former education secretary Alan Johnson, said: “There was never any doubt in my mind that Ron Dearing UTC would be a success. The business community in Hull were totally supportive, as was Hull City Council Chief Executive Matt Jukes and his colleagues.

“However, even I didn’t contemplate success of this magnitude so quickly. Hull now has one of the best schools – and the best UTC – in the country and these results are a magnificent tribute to Sarah Pashley and her team.”

The only two other UTCs currently rated outstanding by Ofsted: Reading and Energy Coast.

Unions have fired off a Covid-19 “liability” warning shot to school and college leaders – quoting the health and safety laws “you are exposing yourself to by following the current deeply flawed guidance”.

A joint letter, seen by FE Week, from the National Education Union, Unite, Unison and GMB was sent last night to headteachers and principals of college groups with schools to make clear that the Department for Education has placed the wider reopening from June “on the shoulder of the employer and on you”.

It reminds them that the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, as well as four other pieces of legislation, “places a duty on employers to ensure the health, safety and welfare” of their staff and students before stating the unions will be advising members of their “legal rights should any member contract Covid-19 upon returning to school”.

“We believe it is important you fully understand the potential liability you are exposing yourself to by following the current deeply flawed guidance,” the letter added.

Multiple education unions have warned against the government’s plans for schools and colleges to start their wider reopening from 1 June, citing safety as their biggest concern.

The joint letter claims that the scientific evidence is “yet to be released that establishes that the measures contained within the DfE guidance are capable of ensuring the risk to pupils, staff and the wider community is reduced to an acceptable level”.

Andrew Banks, a partner and health and safety expert at law firm Stone King, told FE Week that it is “difficult to see” how prosecution would follow in the event of someone associated with the school or college contracting coronavirus if they “ensure that their [health and safety] guidance is followed and their risk assessments are suitable and sufficient”.

But if a school or college has not followed the guidance or there are “other shortcomings” it is more likely that the Health and Safety Executive would “engage to ensure they tighten their processes rather than move straight towards an investigation with a view to prosecution,” he said.

“It is important to emphasise that the priority and primary purpose in all of this is the safety of all children and staff.”

Banks added: “In spite of the recent rider added to the government guidance, on balance our view remains that by following the guidance they will have undertaken all that is reasonably practicable and, in legal terms, covered themselves in terms of their liability.”

Education unions’ resistance to the current plan for the wider reopening of schools and colleges has been questioned. Speaking in parliament last week, Gavin Williamson, the education secretary, accused them of “scaremongering”.

The unions used last night’s letter so say that they “trust” schools and colleges will “understand that we are not acting without good reason, but from the position that we all share responsibility for ensuring there is no second spike of Covid-19 in the UK”.

“We recommend that you remain alert to these duties when you are assessing whether your school is safe to be opened more widely,” it states.

“We appreciate that a decision of this magnitude, with its serious implications, is not an easy one to make.”

The unions said their reps are “there to assist and support you in making that decision” and they believe that schools and colleges should seek support from their local authority, “although any decision does ultimately rest with an individual school”.

“We are clear the current situation is not the fault of the school, or its leadership, and that the school has to plan for all eventualities,” the letter added.

FE Week has asked the unions if a letter similar to this is being worked on for colleges specifically.

You can read the letter in full here.

 

The government has today launched a Covid-19 supplier relief scheme for training providers with European Social Fund (ESF) contracts.

There are 50 eligible providers, according to the Education and Skills Funding Agency, which will have just over one week to bid for the extra financial support as a closing date has been set for 28 May.

The ESFA said the scheme will provide payments to ESF contractors in the form of “repayable advances ahead of actual delivery to support the cash flow of providers with a demonstrated financial need”.

Decisions on applications are planned to be released by 4 June.

According to the ESFA’s guidance, providers will only be eligible if they hold an ESF contract with the agency that was procured as a service under the Public Contract Regulations 2015 and commenced on or after the 1 April 2019.

Providers must have also delivered under their ESF contract during the “six-month period ending 31 March 2020 and submitted individualised learner record or supplementary data in respect of this delivery”.

Another requirement is that they plan to deliver education, training, and support under the contract in April, May and June 2020 – which is when the supplier relief is currently scheduled to end.

If an ESF contractor has furloughed staff to deliver the contract, they must unfurlough them to receive the supplier relief to prevent “double funding”.

Providers’ “contract for services” with the ESFA must not be under “notice of termination” and where the contractor uses subcontractors to deliver, “you must agree to continue to pay them in line with your subcontractor agreement”.

ESF contractors should only apply where they have a “demonstrated need” for advance funding to “maintain capacity within their contract to support learners and/or employers and respond to the economic recovery”.

The supplier relief is in line with the Cabinet Office Procurement Policy Note 02/20 (PPN 02/20) and follows a similar ESFA scheme for apprenticeship and adult education budget funding.

A Department for Education spokesperson said: “We are pleased to announce the launch of the ESFA European Social Fund provider relief scheme in response to the COVID-19 outbreak.

“The scheme will ensure these providers are able to continue to support learners and employers and aid our economic recovery.”

Explaining how the supplier relief will be calculated for successful ESF provider applicants, the agency said: “We will calculate a total relief cap for each ESF contract where support is requested from the scheme. Where ESF contractors hold more than one ESF contract, the relief cap will be calculated and applied to each contract supported.

“The relief cap will be determined at contract level based on the lower of the following: your monthly average earnings based on actual earnings data from October 2019 to March 2020, multiplied by three; or the contract level costs ESF contractors submit as part of stage two in the application process. This is the known as the total relief cap.  The monthly relief cap payment will be the total relief cap divided by three.”

The agency added that payments under this scheme cannot total more than 25 per cent of a provider’s annualised contract value over the three-month period.

In addition, a cap of 90 per cent of the current total contract value will be applied, “taking account of actual reported delivery on the contract and relief payments being sought”.

“This is due to the contracts running until 2021, and an expectation that new starts will continue until December 2020,” the ESFA added.

ESF provider can apply for the scheme via the email address: queries.esf@education.gov.uk. Full guidance can be found here.

Fed up of lockdown? Fancy getting that brain back into gear? Want to nerd out with some other FE folk?

We’re excited to announce that the first ever FE Week Big FE & Skills Quiz will take place next month  (Wed June 10 19:00-20:30).

Hosted by FE Week’s publisher Shane Mann, the quiz is all about bringing the sector together for a bit of a laugh, and to raise money for charity.

Quizmaster Shane Mann will be joined by a line-up of special guests on the night, to help read a round of questions. Guests include apprenticeships and skills minister, Gillian Keegan, Ofsted Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman, FE Commissioner Richard Atkins and education select committee chairman, Robert Halfon.

Not only that, the winner will get a fancy Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 (worth £1,000!), thanks to our event partner Pearson.

There’s no entry fee, we simply request all participants make a donation to our chosen fundraiser, FE Foodbank Friday Campaign (suggested donation £5). Only those that have donated will be eligible for prizes.

Can we play in teams?

You can enter as a solo entry or organise a team of great minds!

On the night you will be able to let us know your team name. You will need to arrange your own team and method of communication for the evening and select one person from your team to submit answers.

We suggest you create a WhatsApp group or Zoom chat or similar. Please note that each member of your team will need to register to view the broadcast on the night.

We suggest that teams should be four people max (there will be countdowns on answering the questions so communicating in larger teams will be difficult).

Places are limited, so you’ll need to sign up here to take part.

And here’s our Just Giving page where you can donate.

The Association of Colleges has warned that reducing interaction and mixing in colleges is “going to be a real challenge” should they choose to begin their wider reopening from June, following a government scientific briefing.

Colleges have been advised to form “small consistent grouping or ‘bubbles’” – a task that the AoC admits will prove “very difficult”.

Eddie Playfair, the association’s senior policy manager, blogged about the issues today after he attended a government scientific briefing last Friday. It was held to address concerns about the government’s aim to have young people start returning to face-to-face education from 1 June.

The AoC, along with other education unions, heard from Chris Whitty, the government’s chief medical officer, Sir Patrick Vallance, the chief scientific adviser, and Russell Viner, the president of the Royal College of Pediatrics & Child Health.

Playfair said they explained that in the UK, the number of new Covid-19 cases, hospital admissions and deaths are all on a “downward trajectory” and while there is currently a 0.27 per cent prevalence of the disease in the population, there should be “half as many cases” in two weeks’ time.

Children and young people are the “least clinically affected” but it is not fully understood how infectious they can be.

Playfair relayed the scientists’ message that the current “very low” level of attendance in schools and colleges “hasn’t had a significant impact on the R (Reproduction factor) value, but there isn’t yet enough modelling of the impact of larger numbers returning”.

There is a “suggestion” that the return of younger children might have “less impact” than the return of older children.

He said more interaction and mixing between people “clearly increases the risk of transmission” and “reducing interaction and mixing in college settings is going to be a real challenge and the creation of small consistent grouping or ‘bubbles’ is very difficult”.

He continued: “In colleges, students generally need to move between different groupings and spaces. They also exercise more discretion in their use of time outside timetabled sessions, with significant use of social and independent learning spaces. Colleges also often include adult students as well as young people.

“As they plan for any increased attendance on site, whether before or after the summer break, colleges will want to prioritise the safety of their students and staff, as well as that of their wider communities. The guidance gives colleges the flexibility they need to find the right balance between on-line and on-site learning and to establish new arrangements to be able to operate safely. All of this will need to be communicated clearly to students, staff, and parents/carers in a way which builds confidence and trust at a time of uncertainty and fear.”

Playfair said colleges will need to understand the “various levels” of risk of different settings and activities before reopening their campuses to more students.

“Even with adequate social distancing, are there issues associated with large numbers of people sharing spaces such as canteens, libraries, learning centres, gyms, changing rooms, circulation and social spaces, entrances, buses and bus stops? Are there issues associated with spending extended periods of time with the same people in one classroom or exam room and how do these compare to moving between spaces shared with different combinations of people?”

He concluded: “Looking ahead, colleges will also need to know what kind of testing regime would ensure that a college campus can continue to be safe for all those who attend on site.

“Given the incremental way our understanding grows, there is unlikely to be a single breakthrough moment when everything becomes clear. So, it’s important to have a continuing dialogue on these key questions with the experts and with students and staff as this will help to inform college decisions over the next weeks and months.”

Earlier this week during an FE Week webcast, skills minister Gillian Keegan urged colleges to take the “opportunity” to reopen from June.