Latest news from FE Week

LSIPs 2.0: Colleges and universities told to pool intelligence

Further and higher education leaders will be expected to share employer intelligence, research on local skills needs and details about training provision with each other under new local skills improvement plan guidance published by Skills England today.

In devolved areas, the guidance confirms that strategic authorities will be joint owners of the plans, alongside the designated employer representative bodies (ERBs).

£6.3 million has since been dished out so far to 39 employer bodies update local skills improvement plans (LSIPs) by next summer – around £160,000 each.

LSIPs were first pledged in the 2021 FE white paper and require local stakeholders such as employers, training providers and councils to collaboratively identify and resolve skills needs. The first wave of plans were published in 2023, with each area required to publish annual progress reports.

Skills England’s new guidance sets out requirements for the second round of LSIPs. More devolution means there will be stronger roles for strategic authorities to agree to the plans, and there are more expectations on further and higher education providers to identify and help solve local skills shortages.

Here are the main takeaways from today’s guidance for LSIPs 2.0.

Skills England involvement

Today’s guidance clarified that Skills England will have overall responsibility and oversight of the LSIP programme.

Officials will also be able to recommend actions to the Department for Education (DfE) and Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) that would remove any broader national issues that are “blocking progress”.

Though Skills England has overall oversight, the guidance added that its function will not “cut across” the LSIP governance role in overseeing delivery.

“Focus will be on assurance that all LSIPs are on track and have strong processes in place for monitoring progress and managing risks,” it said.

ERBs are also expected to report annual on their progress to “keep the LSIP under regular review”.

Skills England will have the power to decide on funding needed for ERBs who are making “insufficient progress” based on its ability to monitor or drive sustained action.

In extreme cases, Skills England officials can recommend the government removes an ERBs designation.

Officials will also share data insights on national and local skills needs via a “regular two-way flow” of information.

LSIPs need Skills England and minister approval

The guidance reinforced ERBs legal duty to submit the LSIPs to the secretary of state for approval, a draft of which should be filed “via Skills England” by March 31, 2026.

Skills England will then review and provide feedback “as appropriate”, and a final version should be submitted by May 2026.

Subject to minister approval, LSIPs are expected to be published in June.

The publication added that disagreements between the ERB and strategic authority should be referred back through the LSIP governance structure.

But if no resolutions are found, Skills England will attempt to mediate and if that doesn’t work, the secretary of state will use statutory powers to approve the plan, so long as the strategic authority’s priorities are included.

All together now

Last month’s post-16 education and skills white paper pledged “clearer expectations” on higher education providers engage in LSIPs, particularly around technical training at levels 4 to 8.

Today’s guidance requires further and higher education providers to “develop a clear understanding of an area’s technical skill needs up to and including level 8, and the actions needed (at the collective and individual institution level) to address any gaps”.

They should share intelligence based on their own research and engagement with employers, as well as “information about their current skills provision”.

New-style LSIPs should therefore create “a more coherent post-16 education system with better pathways and opportunities to progress from entry up to higher level skills”.

Strategic authorities will be responsible for enforcing “coherent” collaboration between FE and HE organisations in their areas, and avoiding “fragmented provision”.

Measuring impact over three-year cycle

LSIPs should include outcomes they expect to achieve over the three-year cycle and details of how progress will be measured and the metrics that will be used.

“This will enable better measurement and reporting of progress locally, and across LSIPs nationally,” DfE said.

Outcomes should refer to reducing skills gaps, employer engagement, changes in skills provision compared with LSIP priorities, and changes in how funding supports skills priorities.

Regarding metrics, the guidance offered suggestions such measuring numbers of employers “meanfully” engaged, for example, involvement in co-designing provision, offering industry placements or taking up learning provision.

It also suggested measuring changes in the curriculum offer, or information on increased take up of priority provision.

“This information will help support Skills England’s role in monitoring and overseeing the LSIP programme including assessing how LSIPs collectively are contributing to national skills priorities and identifying any persistent gaps or areas of significant oversupply,” DfE said.

Only in “exceptional” instances where skills needs shift in the three-year cycle should a replacement LSIP be recommended.

Colleges take £20m slice of OfS capital funding

The higher education regulator has announced 134 colleges will receive over £20 million in funding to invest in their buildings, facilities and equipment.

The Office for Students (OfS) has allocated one fifth of a £92 million capital funding package to FE providers, comprising £80.75 million available through a bidding exercise, as well as £7.75 million distributed through a formula.

Seventeen colleges won bids for £16.8 million worth of the project funding where providers were invited to bid for between £150,000 and £2.5 million of capital funding.

Bidders were required to demonstrate how they would address the government’s industrial strategy and priority sectors for growth, meet local needs and demonstrate value for money.

“The project will provide value for money and support environmental sustainability in reducing energy usage,” the OfS criteria said.

Another criterion was to demonstrate how funding would directly support the purchase of equipment or replacing, constructing or expanding teaching/assessment facilities.

The OfS said it received 193 bids requesting a total of £288 million and ultimately signed off on 60 bids equating to £80.75 million.

“Initially we had thought that we would be able to fund 30-40 bids, but we found that many proposals had adopted a proportionate approach to the funding requested and combined with the additional money from government this meant we could fund more bids than we had expected,” the OfS added.

The regulator added that for future bidding rounds, it would improve guidance after it spotted bidders were requesting funding for larger investments and projects that were already underway.

The largest FE winner was Truro and Penwith College, which was allocated over £2 million and will create a specialist computing lab at its Truro campus for cybersecurity and AI provision.

It told the OfS that it will also use the money to purchase up-to-date digital equipment for construction, nursing and psychology courses as well as more interactive classroom technology.

The college added that it aims to increase student numbers by 180 and address regional digital and other skills shortages identified in the LSIP with this work, all to be completed by next March.

Yeovil College was also awarded £2 million, which will be used to revamp the ground floor of its engineering building with specialist technology by March 2026. It also wants to reconfigure teaching spaces for advanced manufacturing, clean energy, and defence engineering courses.

Meanwhile, FE colleges received just under half of the £7.75 million calculated through a formula.

The OfS capped this year’s capital funding allocation to £30,000 to strike an “appropriate balance” that the majority of providers that meet the £10,000 minimum threshold can receive a “meaningful sum”.

117 providers were awarded allocations up to £30,000, but six eligible colleges will not receive any formula allocation because the formula calculated an award under the £10,000 minimum threshold.

The OfS calculated this year’s allocations by taking the funding rate per full-time equivalent student as well as individualised student data from 2023-24 HESA and ILR data.

It added that it will monitor the formulaic funding allocations in April 2026 to understand how the funding has been used and whether there are any underspends to reclaim.

“This was a very competitive funding round, and the projects we are supporting will make a tangible difference to current and future students,” said OfS director of resources and finance Nolan Smith.

“As well as expanding opportunities for students in strategically important subject areas, these projects will offer a boost to local and regional economies and promote national growth.”

Skills minister Jacqui Smith said: “This government is committed to supporting colleges and universities as engines of opportunity and growth up and down the country.

“This cash boost from government ensures young people are using the most up-to-date tech and facilities, helping them to secure a future in the well-paying, highly-skilled jobs that are crucial for our plan for change.”

“It will help build towards the prime minister’s target of two-thirds of young people taking a gold standard apprenticeship or heading to university by the age of 25 – driving prosperity for families in every town and city.”

See the table of formula winners here:

White paper needs a digital united front to deliver reform plans

The launch of the government’s recent post-16 white paper and the accompanying promise of an extra £800 million investment in FE marks a long overdue commitment from policymakers to support post-16 education providers in delivering a skilled workforce that meets changing labour market demands.

The white paper recognises the importance of upskilling and supporting staff to harness the benefits of digital technology in teaching and learning. But while it is clear that many staff across FE are already using digital technologies competently, skills gaps do still exist. There is work to be done to improve digital literacy and capability across the sector.

For this reason, the recent memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Jisc and the Association of Colleges (AoC) could not have come at a better time.

It renews our joint commitment to driving forward digital transformation and supports high quality digital leadership across colleges,

Developed in response to the sector’s evolving challenges, this collaborative approach will focus on strengthening cyber resilience, delivering data driven solutions and providing advice, guidance and training for the effective, ethical and secure adoption of AI. The partnership will also serve to provide support to colleges to enhance business efficiencies.

The MoU outlines a shared vision of digital excellence for the FE and skills sector, highlighting the vital role played by leaders to support a culture of innovation and development in areas such as AI, placing the sector firmly at the forefront of ambitions to reform post-16 education.

Jisc’s ‘Leading AI in Colleges’ strategic framework, launched today at this year’s AoC conference, supports this approach and is an essential resource for FE leaders looking to develop responsible AI governance, effectively adopt AI tools and prepare students for an AI-infused future.

Collaboration at the heart

The white paper offers an opportunity for us to unify behind a collective consultative response to deliver on the government’s reform ambition of developing a skilled workforce and to break down barriers to opportunity.

As we move forward, collaboration within and across the wider post-16 landscape will be vital. A recent example of how collective action can drive positive change is the launch of Digital Transformation in FE: A roadmap for action, a project Jisc and AoC have collaborated on with UFI to enhance the use of vocational technology in FE colleges.

The white paper advocates for best practice which can be replicated across institutions, and Jisc’s AI pilot programme is one of many existing examples that can be scaled for use by FE colleges. It is a clear illustration of how partnership between education and industry can drive positive change.

The future of FE

FE is at the forefront of the government’s ambitions for the reform of post-16 education. But when it comes to digital, barriers such as effective digital infrastructure, technical debt and skills gaps for both students and staff can limit the sector’s potential.

A coordinated alliance between government, industry and sector organisations that supports post-16 providers to upskill staff in digital competencies, improve productivity and enhance teaching quality would deliver a sustainable approach to drive forward recommendations outlined within the white paper.

Recent years have truly highlighted FE’s ability to be adaptable, resilient and innovative through change and reform. Now is the time for the sector to showcase the power of its strategic leadership and influence through seizing opportunities to share technological resources, skills and expertise while fostering collaboration across key stakeholders, placing FE at the heart of the future of learning and skills.

Performance Through People bought by chamber of commerce

A Walsall-based training firm has been bought by a local chamber of commerce to expand its reach across the West Midlands.

Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce has added to its training roster with the acquisition of PTP Training, an apprenticeships and skills bootcamps provider, for an undisclosed sum.

The new ownership marks over 50 years since PTP Training, also known as Performance Through People, was first set up by Walsall Chamber of Commerce.

The provider has a 70-strong workforce and has learning centres in Walsall, Millennium Point in Birmingham and in Cannock with around 1,000 students on apprenticeships, skills bootcamps and Path 2 apprenticeship programmes.

PTP Training’s overall apprenticeship achievement rate was 70.1 per cent in 2023-24, according to Department for Education data.

It was also rated ‘good’ by Ofsted at its last full inspection in 2023.

The chamber also runs Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce Training, which offers apprenticeships and commercial business training courses.

PTP Training has changed hands multiple times during its 50-odd-year history.

In the 1990s, PTP became the training division of the East Mercia Chamber of Commerce (EMCCI) until 2003, when it was set up as a trading company – PTP Training Ltd – owned by the chamber trustees, Walsall and Southern Staffordshire Chamber of Commerce.

The trustee’s shareholding was bought out by Walsall Chamber of Commerce six years later.

In May 2020, PTP became part of independent training provider BCTG Group.

But BCTG Ltd, PTP’s parent company, was hit with an Ofsted ‘inadequate’ judgment in 2023 and subsequently saw its multi-million-pound apprenticeship, skills bootcamps and advance learner loans contracts terminated.

According to its 2024 accounts, the decision was taken to break up the BCTG Group and its shareholding in PTP was sold for £786,728.

Managing director Rob Colbourne became the sole owner and CEO after BCTG Group management resigned.

Colbourne said: “We’ve got many staff who have been with us for more than five years, some over 20 and 30 years so, when this kind of deal goes through, they want to know that we are all working towards one goal.”

“That is why this deal with Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce was so appealing and will bring benefits to all parties.”

He added: “My message to the team, to the organisations we work with and to our apprentices and learners is that it is very much business as usual. The PTP brand will remain in place and there will be no change to the way we work with our partners.

“Ultimately, however, this means we can work together across the wider region on future projects which is really exciting because our values and purpose are exactly the same.”

Corin Crane, chief executive of Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, said: “This is a real milestone for us as a chamber and our training offer. It brings together two trusted and established providers across Coventry, Warwickshire and the wider West Midlands.

“We have been looking at PTP for some time as a potential partner and I am absolutely thrilled to get this acquisition over the line.”

South Devon job cuts turned college finances to ‘small surplus’

A college in financial intervention has turned its deficit budget into a surplus after a “significant restructure” that resulted in more than 60 job losses, according to the FE Commissioner.

In spring this year, South Devon College (SDC) sought emergency funding from the government after “depleted” cash reserves left it with only three working days of operating cash.

The college has since borrowed £1.5 million from the government and made redundancies equivalent to 61 full-time employees, saving about £2 million per year on staff costs.

This was against a savings target of up to £2.75 million through up to 65 redundancies from its staff body of nearly 700.

A spokesperson for SDC said the college is “on track” to deliver a small surplus this year. It has an overall income of about £36 million.

The FE Commissioner’s assessment – completed in July but only published today – said SDC’s financial reporting suffered from “errors and delays” that exposed an “urgent” need to integrate its internal reporting systems and build “closer working relationships” between teams.

Issues included failing to classify capital grants as “restricted cash”, “erroneous” assumptions about income that had to be written off, and late reporting of a budget shortfall in apprentice numbers.

Its reserves are now “depleted” after repeated use to cover the college’s £1 million per year capital costs.

By the time the college asked the government for emergency funding in spring, reserves were so low that it “could not afford to restructure”.

But the college’s audit committee, which oversees risk management, only raised financial risk levels to ‘red’, the highest rating, in March this year.

The FE Commissioner’s benchmarks suggest a college aims to have more than 40 adjusted cash days in hand.

Before reclassification, SDC would have used its overdraft facility to manage low cash balances and restructuring costs, the commissioner noted.

The organisation has been told to carry out a “full review” of its finance team’s structure and skills mix, which has been overseen by a senior director of finance responsible for both operational and strategic management.

Plans to hire a head of finance were also “shelved” in 2024 due to “budgetary constraints”, the commissioner said.

How did it get here?

Governors told the commissioner’s team that financial pressures “commenced” due to the cost of the college’s £17 million ‘Hi Tech & Digital Centre’ in Paignton, which has had a “slower than planned” return on investment “due to Covid”.

The board has reportedly “reflected” on whether funding capital costs from cash reserves, which “weakened” college finances, “should have stopped” earlier.

Apprentice numbers have also “declined” since 2022, with low retention “partly” due to “issues” affecting learners who need “additional learning support and SEND”.

The college sought the FE Commissioner’s advice on curriculum efficiency and financial sustainability in 2023, which resulted in the use of a new planning tool, but work on planning for apprentice numbers in June each year is still “too late”, the assessment found.

A key “gap” in the SDC’s business planning process was a lack of integration between the financial plan and HR systems.

This was done for the first time when planning 2025-26, helping to identify most of the “curriculum staffing efficiencies” in the restructure.

What now?

The FE Commissioner’s team set out eight recommendations for SDC to be implemented in September and October this year, including a three-year financial strategy that “aligns” its vision, ambitions, cashflow, capital expenditure forecasting, and scenario modelling.

Other actions included ensuring “adequate and appropriate” resourcing of the finance team and taking a “whole college approach” to delivering and owning financial sustainability.

Monthly finance updates for governors and senior leaders need “further development” to show spending compared to the original and “reforecast” budget, so issues can be analysed “on a timely basis”.

SDC’s leaders should also agree an internal communications strategy to improve “staff morale”.

A college spokesperson said it has taken “decisive action” to rebuild its cash reserves since the intervention process began.

They added: “Following a recent stocktake visit, the [FE Commissioner] team highlighted visible progress on single improvement plan actions and noted that students expressed confidence in their experience at the college.

“We acknowledge areas for further development, including strengthening finance team capacity, and improving communication of our strategic plans and milestones.

“These priorities are being addressed as part of our ongoing improvement work.

“We remain focused on delivering high-quality education and training, and are confident that our recovery plan will strengthen our position for the future.”

Newbury College considers merger after FE Commissioner intervention

A Berkshire college is exploring merger options after struggling with “serious cashflow pressures” that triggered government intervention this summer.

Newbury College’s long-term sustainability is being tested through a structure and prospects appraisal (SPA), which examines whether to stay as a standalone college or merge with another.

FE Commissioner Shelagh Legrave undertook an assessment of the college in July after the college fell into a “consequential slippage” of repaying funding advances.

The college blamed “complexities” in the planning system leading to delays in receiving receipts of its Mayfield Point site property sale.

Legrave’s report, published today but conducted in July, recommended leaders refresh its property strategy and create “more realistic” estimates for its income after its financial performance worsened from lower-than-planned student numbers and higher-than-expected English and maths resit provision.

The FE Commissioner also told the college to start an SPA process in the autumn term.

Newbury College was advised to explore a Structure and Prospects Appraisal (SPA) in March 2024 by the DfE’s place based team and the FE Commissioner’s office to test merger options “against the viability of a standalone option”.

The corporation initially agreed to the recommendation but paused the process in June 2024.

“The board has since reflected further and now considers undertaking a SPA would be judicious to ensure the college’s future sustainability,” today’s FE Commissioner report said.

The college said it is expected to complete the SPA in spring of next year and is exploring a range of “possible operating models” for the college.

The governing board has set up a SPA steering committee, thereby suspending the strategic development committee after the chair told the FE Commissioner it has “outlived its usefulness”.

The chair assured that the new committee was for “discussion not decision” but Legrave warned that its relationship with the wider board needs “careful thought” to maintain appropriate engagement with the whole board.

Legrave’s report described the college as “one of the smallest general further education colleges in England” with a “broad curriculum and a high cost base”.

“The sustainability of the college given its current size and its weak financial position, merits a need to consider the various strategic options available to the college,” the report said.

Newbury’s position ‘still fragile’

Newbury College is one of only a few FE colleges to operate under a PFI. The contracts, greatly expanded under New Labour in the 1990s, saw private firms build and operated public sector infrastructure and facilities, with above-inflation repayments scheduled over many years.

The college has since been crippled by the “very high” repayments costs of its PFI, due to end in 2027.

Its latest accounts show deficits from PFI payments amounting to about £460,000 each year since 2018-19, including massive deficits from interest payments. It was billed £154,000 in 2018-19 just for the interest.

The college will be free of the deficits once the contract expires and the FE Commissioner advised leaders to develop a transition plan by this December that details a “realistic” cost of procuring services needed once the PFI ends.

Meanwhile, Legrave noted that the college’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) in June 2025 has worsened for the year.

The college budget had assumed it would get extra in-year cash from the Department for Education for a growth in 16-18-year-old students, but they enrolled fewer learners than planned in 2024-25.

While the reduction in income was offset by growth in apprenticeship and higher education numbers, its pay costs were higher than its budget “largely” due to a higher-than-expected demand for GCSE English and maths resit provision.

The report said the college has undertaken a staff restructure, reducing management and teaching staff to “address its cost base”.

The report added: “While forecasts show an improving EBITDA, as a result of staff restructuring and the end of the PFI in July 2027, the position is still fragile, and the ongoing underlying financial position will always be challenging. The cashflow is also dependent on the receipts from the land sales and DfE’s consent to use the proceeds for working capital.”

Leadership changes ‘yet to be proven’

Newbury is currently being led by Lee Probert, contracted as interim principal until August 2026, who took up the post last December when Iain Wolloff retired.

Other recent leadership changes include Lee Jamieson, the new deputy principal, and Julian Tucker, a interim director of finance.

The FE Commissioner report said the “interim nature” of two of the three senior appointments means the strength of leadership at the college “has yet to be proven”.

She added that in light of the SPA process, permanent appointments might be “inappropriate” now and does cause “an element of uncertainty and fragility” to a leadership team that has already been through turbulence.

Regarding the governance of the college, chair of the corporation Sally Osmond told the FE Commissioner that leaders needed to provide more detail and data to the board after finding some reports “lacked focus” or were “too wooly”.

Lee Probert, principal of Newbury College, said: “We are pleased to receive the support of the DfE and FE Commissioner to undertake the review and evaluate future options for Newbury College to ensure that its long history is sustainable into the future.

“We continue to be focused on excellence for our students, embedding the key requirements for quality learning and developing skills for our communities providing ‘careers, not courses’.”

“Newbury College has been central to the development of thousands of students over the last 76 years and fundamental to the provision of key skills for businesses in the area.”

Letter to the editor: Protecting British values in education

Dear editor

As educators and leaders within the further education sector, we are deeply concerned about growing threats to the fundamental British values that underpin our education system. Those of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs.

Together, the further education sector serves over 1.6 million learners annually. We are now certain that the future of each and every one of these learners and, indeed, the very fabric of our wider society, is under threat.

In recent weeks, each of us has witnessed attempts to sow fear and division in our communities, particularly the targeting of migrants and minority groups. We therefore feel compelled to speak out against ugly racist attacks, reminiscent of the 1970s and 1980s.

As algorithms amplify outrage and the loudest voices push narratives of division, flag-waving, immigrant-hating, and fear, it feels more important than ever that we work together.

Silence is not an option if we want to cultivate hope among our students.

We, and all other anchor further education institutions, are shaping the citizens of tomorrow. It is our duty to ensure that our staff and students feel safe to learn and grow in an environment rooted in fairness, compassion, inclusion, freedom, and hope.

When we achieve this, our students, staff and wider community thrive and accomplish incredible things. For example, a student from West Suffolk College, originally from Zimbabwe, founded Better Youth UK to give teenagers with limited opportunities the chance to make money legally, and steer them away from crime, drugs and gang violence.

As the Prime Minister has affirmed, we will not surrender our flag. Nor will we surrender our future to those who thrive on fear and division.

To overcome this threat, and to counter those who are using our flag as a symbol to divide rather than to bring people together, we must create safe and supportive spaces, stand tall against the narrative of the far-right, and ensure true democracy prevails.

Our message to our staff, students and communities is simple: we are more connected, more compassionate and more capable of unity than any algorithm would allow us to believe.

There has been a menacing silence surrounding the flags raised across our country, but we must not be afraid to speak out, check in on our neighbours, stand up, remain vigilant and help to protect our educational integrity. We must continue to nurture the responsible, compassionate and caring citizens of the future; their voices matter, especially as they are about to cast their first votes in democratic elections.

Recognising the severity of the growing far-right threat, the Association of Colleges (AoC) is coordinating sector-wide guidance to support staff and students, while maintaining safe, inclusive learning spaces. What we need now is a strong government response and support, and we have written to the government and our MPs urging them to take action and address the issue with focus and collective resolve.

In the meantime, as members of the further education sector, we must unite and refuse to surrender our future to those who thrive on generating fear and division.

Please stand with us in protecting our educational environments where future leaders are shaped and democracy is strengthened through informed, critical thinking.

If you think you can support us with this important mission, please do reach out and get others on board too.

Only by bringing society together will we be able to create a better future for our students and communities.

Nikos Savvas, Chief Executive, Eastern Education Group

Palvinder Singh, Principal and CEO, Kirklees College

DWP promises careers service merger plan ‘by April’

The government has promised to publish a “detailed transition plan” for transferring up to 1,000 subcontracted careers advisers and staff into the Department for Work and Pensions by April next year.

Ministers have responded today to a report from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) select committee that called out an “absence of information” about the planned merger of the National Careers Service (NCS) and Jobcentres.

They have promised to work with NCS employers, contractors and unions on a “detailed transition plan” which will be published “within the next six months”.

But ministers have rejected the committee’s call for a cross-government national strategy for adult careers guidance, arguing this would “risk” its work on transforming Jobcentres into an “integrated Jobs and Careers Service”.

The department also said that while careers advice will be available for anyone “who wants to look for work, increase their earnings, or change their career”, those who are not on benefits will be “served digitally, through a self-service option”.

The DWP is currently designing the new Jobs and Careers Service after announcing a merger of Jobcentres and the £55 million per year NCS last July.

Last month, the department told contractors it will be “in-sourcing” around careers advisers working for NCS contractors, estimated to number about 1,000, by October next year.

But MPs on the work and pensions committee have criticised an “absence of information” about the merger, with the first test site for the new service launching in June this year, almost a year after the first announcement.

Shortly after McFadden was appointed work and pensions secretary, the work and pensions committee published its report warning the merger risked being “little more than a rebranding exercise”.

Performance measures

In today’s response, the government accepted the committee’s recommendations to review the “incentives model” of the outsourced careers service, promising “robust performance measures” that will “align with the government’s wider employment goals”.

However, it rejected the suggestion of a national strategy for adult careers guidance which balances universal support with a focus on those who “need the most support”.

Pointing out that careers, adult skills and employment support are now “in one place” at the DWP, the response argued careers now needs to be “considered as part of this larger whole”.

It added: “Writing a separate careers guidance strategy therefore could risk our integrated Jobs and Careers Service vision.”

In response to a call for clarity around who will be eligible for careers advice, the department said: “We recognise that people are individuals with different support needs, and we want everyone who wants it to be able to access tailored support.

“For the majority of those not claiming benefits and who are seeking employment support or careers advice, this will best be served digitally, through a self-service option.

However, we recognise this will not be appropriate for everyone and other channels of support will be available.”

‘Crack on’

Addressing concerns about the relationship between careers advisers and Jobcentre work coaches, the department said it is designing the new service “to retain the strength of both roles”.

The new service will also “retain” the level 4 minimum qualification of careers advisers and officials will “explore” developing a dedicated training pathway within jobcentres.

The response added: “As the design of the service progresses, we will provide further detail on how this training pathway will be implemented and how careers advisers will be supported and developed within the new service.”

Committee chair Debbie Abrahams welcomed the government’s promise to reform performance measures for careers advice, but urged the government to “crack on” with detailed plans for in-sourcing careers staff.

She added: “Giving the DWP sole responsibility over the adult skills brief, instead of sharing with the Department for Education, should help to reduce the incoherent patchwork of services that are available.

“And bringing the careers service in house, rather than outsourcing, will in time provide clearer lines of accountability, and greater efficiency.”

Milburn must ‘join the dots’ to help NEETs

An independent review into the growing number of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET) is “long overdue” and must finally join up piecemeal government initiatives, experts have said.

Last week, the government announced former social mobility tsar Alan Milburn will lead an “uncompromising” investigation into the causes of the NEET rate that has risen to almost one million.

While the appointment has been widely welcomed, sector leaders have urged Milburn to ensure the review breaks down long-standing “policy silos”.

Writing for FE Week (click here), Lee Elliot Major, professor of social mobility at the University of Exeter, said the review could succeed where others have failed – by connecting education, employment and health policy.

“The review can do something governments rarely manage: breaking down the policy silos,” he said.

“For too long, we’ve treated education, employment and health as separate domains when they are deeply connected. The danger now is ‘initiativitis’: a flurry of disconnected reforms – the curriculum review, the youth guarantee, the white working-class review – without a unifying vision.”

Former education secretary Lord Blunkett said he was “incredibly supportive” of Milburn’s appointment, praising his past work in Barnsley on social mobility and youth opportunity.

“Yes, I think it is long overdue and we need to join up the dots so that the variety of initiatives can be scaled up rapidly,” Blunkett told FE Week.

‘Initiativitis’ fears

Over the past 16 months, the government has announced £25 million to double the number of youth hubs, £90 million for youth guarantee trailblazers, launched foundation apprenticeships, conducted an independent review of curriculum, assessment and qualifications in England, and created a “job guarantee” for young people on long-term benefits.

Last month’s post-16 education and skills white paper also contained a range of measures to combat rising young NEET numbers, including auto-enrolling school-leavers on post-16 courses and tracking attendance of 16 to 19-year-olds.

Experts cautioned that the sector had seen a plethora of “reviews” over past decades without achieving meaningful change.

They added, however, that new reviews are necessary when times and causes of NEETs have changed.

For example, the rise in the number of young people who are economically inactive due to health conditions and disabilities has worsoned since the pandemic.

The government announced earlier this year that it plans to slash health and disability benefits for young people in a bid to push them into employment or training, as part of efforts to cut the country’s “ballooning” benefits bill.

Milburn’s review, to be assisted by a panel of expert advisers, has been tasked with “understanding the drivers of the increase in the number of young people who are NEET and claiming health and disability benefits, including childhood experience” and will “investigate the root causes of this rise in economic inactivity among disabled young people and those with health conditions”.

Milburn said the review will be “uncompromising in exposing failures in employment support, education, skills, health and welfare, and will produce far-reaching recommendations for change to enhance opportunities for young people to learn and earn”.

One system fits all

Laura-Jane Rawlings, chief executive of Youth Employment UK, told FE Week: “We currently have lots of pieces of the puzzle, but nobody has looked at these pieces holistically to really see where the gaps are.

“Over the last couple of decades, we’ve seen loads of reviews, reports and millions in investment, yet youth unemployment levels remain stubbornly high. So it’s fair to ask: what’s really going to be different this time?”

Rawlings urged Milburn to focus on the key “transition points” where young people fall through the cracks, from failing GCSEs in English and maths to struggling to access careers advice or opportunities locally.

“Government has funded a lot of good work, from the What Works Centre to Talent Match and the Youth Guarantee Trailblazers, but it’s all been piecemeal. No one has brought it together to understand how it fits as one system,” she added.

“If this review genuinely joins up the dots between skills, health, welfare and employment, and reflects today’s labour market, then it could make a real difference. But it must avoid becoming just another exercise in cost-cutting or another ‘test and learn’ that never gets to the learning.”

Stephen Evans, chief executive of the Learning and Work Institute, added that while reviews can play a role, the government already has a wealth of evidence on the issue.

“The urgency of this challenge, given the negative impact of being out of work and education when young, means we need to focus on rapid delivery of the government’s youth guarantee,” he said.

“Doing so requires proper resourcing and joining up work, skills and health support.”

Milburn will submit an interim report to the Department for Work and Pensions next spring, followed by a final report in the summer.