Cash-strapped Cornwall College Group has secured a £30 million government bailout to drive forward its “fresh start” business plan, but questions continue to loom about whether campuses will be sold off.

The group, which has eight sites across the South West, was told it was not financially “viable or resilient” and had “weak solvency” in its post-16 area review report from 2017, but that it should remain a standalone college.

A follow-up review of further education in Cornwall was launched last year at the request of Cornwall Council, which put pressure on the group to work more closely with its rival, Truro & Penwith College, and that a merger may be in learners’ best interests.

The prospect of this mega-merger now appears dead in the water after Cornwall College Group secured a significant handout from the Education and Skills Funding Agency. Truro & Penwith also told FE Week that it has “no plans for merger”.

Cornwall College Group had its initial request for the £30 million bailout rejected by the ESFA in May 2018, after receiving £4.5 million emergency funding in 2016-17 and £3.5 million in 2017-18.

One of the “main concerns” for the agency was around the “viability of maintaining eight sites”, according to the FE Commissioner report published three months ago.

The college was “invited to prepare a ‘deep dive’ contribution model, which would include the ability to look at individual courses delivered at each site”, and had a reworked bid accepted at the end of March 2019.

Details of the new financial plan are not known, but Cornwall College Group’s interim chief executive, Dr Elaine McMahon, has said the “elements of the group’s estate would be restructured”.

A spokesperson for the group said it was unable to comment on its future plans any further when asked if it was preparing to sell off any campuses.

Other big college groups in financial difficulty have downsized in recent times.

In April it was announced that Harrogate College was being offloaded by the Hull College Group as part of its recovery plan.

A month later Birmingham Metropolitan College announced it was to sell off its Stourbridge College site, with learners moving to two other nearby colleges in September.

The last member of the Cornwall College Group to join was Bicton College in March 2015. It is nearly 70 miles away from the main cluster of the group’s other campuses. Its Bristol site is the furthest away – sitting nearly 100 miles away from Bicton.

In return for receiving the £30 million emergency funding, the college group has committed to significantly changing its operating model – a process known as “fresh start”.

Former principal Raoul Humphreys resigned back in November.

An FE commissioner assessment summary of the group, published in July 2017, said the new leadership team was “not responsible for the loss of financial control” experienced by the college under the previous principal Amarjit Basi, who resigned in July 2016 with a £200,000 payout.

McMahon said the group has now “reviewed the entire college curriculum in line with Local Enterprise Partnership priorities, market need, employer requirements and skills needs, and have rigorously tested the quality of each course”.

A “modern and secure IT systems infrastructure” will also be implemented and there will be “investment in exceptional training and learning experiences for students and businesses”.

A spokesperson for Truro & Penwith College said: “The aim of Truro & Penwith College is to support and complement those external interventions which enable the creation of a financially viable, standalone Cornwall College.

“It is offering support through sharing best practice in the areas of quality, planning, and leadership and governance.”

St Helens College has been served a financial health notice to improve by the Education and Skills Funding Agency.

The notice was handed after the college was assessed as having ‘inadequate’ financial health in 2017/18.

St Helens College’s accounts for 2017/18 show it generated a surplus of £8.8 million, with a total income of £43 million, a total expenditure of £34 million, and long-term debts of £10 million.

In December 2017, St Helens College merged with Knowsley College, to form SK College Group and had to shoulder a number of costs, including £3.8 million in loans that needed to be repaid and £1.5 million of staff restructuring costs, according to the accounts.

Before the merger in June 2017, St Helens was rated as ‘requires improvement’ overall by Ofsted, but ‘inadequate’ for apprenticeships.

It was found making ‘reasonable progress’ in a monitoring report published in November 2018.

As a result of the ESFA notice, the college had to prepare a draft financial recovery by 31 May, for review by the agency, and has to submit a final plan to secure the college’s financial position by 30 June.

College leaders will have to attend regular meetings with the ESFA, submit monthly management accounts to the agency, and allow its representatives to sit in on governor meetings.

The notice also means St Helens will come into scope for intervention by the FE Commissioner, and it has already been subject to a diagnostic assessment in January and March.

The terms of the notice to improve could be varied, depending on what the commissioner’s report says.

The ESFA will lift the notice when the college’s financial health grade has improved from ‘inadequate’ in 2017/18 to a sustained position assessed as being ‘requires improvement’.

A spokesperson for SK College Group said: “SK College Group, like many other further education colleges across the country, is facing continued financial challenges.

“This has never been more so than following our recent merger.”

They explained the merger process was “complex and lengthy”, which impacted upon its completion timescale.

This delay had made planned adjustments “more difficult to achieve”, the spokesperson said.

The government will spend up to £20 million supplying free sanitary products to schools and colleges across England, it has emerged.

The chancellor Philip Hammond announced in his spring statement that all secondary pupils and college students would get access to free sanitary products from September this year in a bid to fight period poverty. Details of the funding available were not revealed at the time.

Ministers have since admitted the full implementation will be delayed to early next year.

Tender documents published by the Department for Education show the government is prepared to spend between £10 million and £20 million on the scheme between September this year and the end of 2020. The DfE will then decide whether to extend the contract by 12 or 18 months.

If the full £20 million is allocated, it will work out at a spend of £11.76 for each of the 1.7 million pupils and students eligible.

According to the documents, the DfE is looking for a “single national supplier” to source an “appropriate range of period products”, to design and implement “user interfaces and support services” and to plan and executive a national delivery service.

“We have estimated the value of this opportunity to be in the region of £10 million to £20 million based on an anticipated level of take-up across the 1.7 million eligible learners,” the tender states.

“The funding for this opportunity is contingent on user need, alongside the delivery and distribution methods used by any successful bidder.”

It is not yet known how the government arrived at the 1.7 million figure. There were 3.26 million pupils in state-funded secondary schools as of January this year, and 2.2 million students at the country’s further education colleges.

Despite the anticipated delay to the start of the scheme, the contract is due to begin this September and end in December 2020.

The DfE also confirmed today that the successful bidder “will be required to offer environmentally-friendly sanitary pads as a minimum, and are encouraged to provide further environmentally-friendly options (such as menstrual cups or eco-friendly tampons)”.

It follows concerns raised by the environmental charity City to Sea that the government won’t specifically require all the products offered to be plastic-free.

Nadhim Zahawi, the children’s minister, said the government was “determined that no one should be held back from reaching their potential, which is why we are making free period products available to all schools and colleges from early next year.

“In designing this scheme we have carefully considered our impact on the environment – encouraging eco-friendly products to be offered where possible – while making sure the programme remains cost-effective and sustainable.

“I encourage all bidders to think carefully about how they could reduce their environmental impact, while at the same time ensuring their products meet the needs of all who use the scheme, so that no young person misses out on education.”

Never mind the race to become prime minister, the race to elect the next president of the Association of Colleges is where the real drama is happening.

Trafford College Group principal Lesley Davies has challenged incumbent leader Steve Frampton.

Frampton, the former principal of Portsmouth College, is reapplying for the role after having completed one year of his two-year term, under rules introduced after Ian Ashman served the previous maximum one-year term in 2017.

Alison Birkinshaw replaced Ashman, before retiring after one year in office; then Frampton was elected unopposed in May 2018. He is now facing off against Davies in the first test of the new rules.

According to the AoC, the president “acts as ambassador for the organisation and the sector” and helps drive policy formation and maintains the profile of further education with ministers and external partners.

Every college which is an AoC member will get one vote in the election; which will close next Wednesday. The result is expected to be announced on Thursday 20 June.

Both candidates provided a 200 word manifesto on why they should be elected.

In Davies’, she wrote her commitment to the education sector has “never been stronger”, adding: “The challenges we face cannot be underestimated and, although our funding is of major concern, it is not just about our finances.

“I would work on your behalf to ensure that government puts the long-term sustainability of colleges at the heart of its policymaking; offering constructive challenge and representing your views to better inform policy development.”

She concluded: “I hope you will consider me a fitting candidate and it would be a privilege to serve as your president.”

Davies has been principal of Trafford College since 2016, during which time it merged with Stockport College, to form the Trafford College Group (TCG) in April 2018.

She confirmed she would stay on as college principal if elected AoC president.

Before becoming principal, Davies was a lecturer, before serving as the AoC’s deputy chief executive and working at Pearson, in roles such as vice president of quality, standards and research, and senior vice president of BTEC and apprenticeships.

She was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s 2015 Birthday Honours, for her services to education.

She wrote about this “extensive experience” in her manifesto, which also referenced the “productive partnerships” Davies had developed with people in the government.

In his manifesto, Frampton wrote that being the AoC president was a “great privilege” and he was “excited for the task ahead”, working to ensure colleges were in the strongest possible position for the Comprehensive Spending Review this year.

He said that, during his year in the role, the association had helped shape the new Ofsted inspection framework, worked with the DfE on teacher recruitment and retention strategies, and launched the #LoveOurColleges campaign.

“Together we’ve achieved two parliamentary debates, had questions raised to the PM, DfE and Treasury, encouraged 70,000 people to sign a student led petition, achieved 500+ pieces of national and regional press, and had hundreds of MPs writing to ministers,” he added.

“However, until we get that much need financial boost, the fight continues.”

Hampton wrapped up his manifesto by stating: “I am your president and I am passionate about supporting you and the work you do.

“I am proud to represent you, but even prouder to work side-by-side with you, and I hope to continue the work we have started together.”

Conservative leadership favourite Boris Johnson has said he would “do more to fund our amazing FE colleges” if he won the race to be the country’s next prime minister.

In a speech launching his bid to be PM on Wednesday, he reiterated his pledge to “end the injustice of the education funding gap in primary and secondary schools”.

Johnson then declared: “Giving young people everywhere the same access, and the same freedoms and the same confidence to succeed, and do more to fund our amazing FE colleges that have been too often overlooked.

“Because it should be our fundamental purpose as a government to bridge not just the wealth gap, not just the productivity gap, but the opportunities gap between one part of the country and another.”

It was the first time the Conservative leadership frontrunner has mentioned plans for greater investment in FE.

His words were welcomed by the chief executive of the Association of Colleges, David Hughes, who tweeted: “I worked with him when he was Mayor of London and chaired the London Skills & Employment Board. After a shaky start he did learn about why colleges are important and genuinely I think he does #LoveOurColleges. We’ll remind him if needs be.”

I worked with him when he was Mayor of London and chaired the London Skills & Employment Board. After a shaky start he did learn about why colleges are important & genuinely I think he does #LoveOurColleges We’ll remind him if needs be https://t.co/5TAahMvhXK

— David Hughes (@AoCDavidH) June 12, 2019

But not everyone was convinced that Johnson would back up his words with actions.

“Where’s he getting the money from? It isn’t from income tax and we’ll have a big bill to pay if we leave the EU ASAP as he is intent on doing. I’m not sure investment in anything is possible in conjunction with his other “policies”. Nice sentiment, though. Yours, a cynic,” tweeted Zac Aldridge, vice principal at Derwentside College.

Meanwhile, Tim Buchanan, apprenticeship vendor manager at GlaxoSmithKline, said: “It’s Boris, it’s a lie.”

Johnson’s commitment comes after the high-profile post-18 education report by Dr Philip Augar said that poor funding in FE “has to be addressed”.

The report’s recommendations included an increase in the funding base rate for 16-to-19-year-olds and a £1 billion capital investment in colleges.

The base rate funding per 16-to-18-year-old students has been stuck at £4,000 per year for the past five years. Campaigns, including Raise the Rate, which is led by the Sixth Form Colleges Association, are calling for this to be increased to £4,760.

The Association of Colleges has meanwhile said the rate should be upped to £5,000.

Britain’s new prime minister will be elected in the week starting Monday, July 22.

Results from the first ballot of Conservative MPs, released on Thursday, showed Johnson well in the lead with 114 votes, followed by Jeremy Hunt in second place with 43 votes, and Michael Gove in third with 37 votes.

Andrea Leadsom, Mark Harper and Esther McVey were eliminated from the race after scoring fewer than 17 votes.

At the time of going to press, Johnson was favourite to become the next prime minister at odds of 1/5, according to betting company William Hill. Second favourite was Jeremy Hunt at 13/2, while Rory Stewart was third at 14/1.

 

The Office for Students can’t say how it will assess level 6 and 7 apprenticeships delivered at non-registered HE providers, even though it’s meant to start the work imminently.

As revealed by FE Week on Friday, the government has opted to give the job to the higher education regulator despite the Augar Review recommending it should be Ofsted.

In a letter published on Monday, education secretary Damian Hinds said he was “pleased” the OfS has “developed an approach to the quality assessment of level 6+ apprenticeships delivered by non-registered providers and that this will be implemented during this academic year”.

“This should result in a robust regime that measures high quality on and off-the-job training and tackles poor performance,” he added.

We will review the success of this approach later in the year

“You should work closely with Ofsted on this approach given their responsibilities for assurance of other apprenticeship provision and their experience in this area.”

FE Week asked the OfS for details of the assessment “approach” it has developed, such as whether it would be similar to Ofsted inspections, but it could not provide details.

A spokesperson could only say: “This only affects a small number of providers that offer higher-level apprenticeships that don’t contain either a full bachelor’s or master’s degree.

“We have committed to starting the first reviews over the summer and will focus on the largest providers first, ensuring that the maximum number of apprentices are captured. We will continue to work closely with Ofsted to benefit from their expertise in inspecting apprenticeship provision.”

Hinds’ letter said the outcomes of the OfS’ quality assessment reviews should be “transparent” and enable apprentices, employers and the DfE to identify where providers are not delivering high quality training.

“This will allow the department to take appropriate action where poor quality training is being delivered,” he added.

The DfE and OfS will review the approach later in the year to “make sure it is effective”.

FE Week was first to reveal in November that firms offering higher level apprenticeships without a prescribed HE qualification, such as a degree, had nobody checking their quality of delivery if they weren’t on the OfS’ register of higher education providers. Ofsted’s remit only extends to level 5.

Ofsted chief inspector Amanda Spielman expressed her deep concern at the issue during an interview with FE Week in March, where she said: “I very much hope people will see the logic in us doing it.”

The OfS’ approach to regulating apprenticeship quality at providers on its register is very different to Ofsted’s.

The higher education watchdog employs a “risk-based approach to quality assurance defined by a high-quality threshold for entry and regulates all provision at all providers on the OfS Register,” a spokesperson previously told FE Week.

“Providers who are accepted on to the register will have met a high threshold for quality and standards and will be monitored on an ongoing basis to ensure that quality is maintained.”

The Quality Assurance Agency then conducts external annual provider reviews of HE institutions for the OfS, including those that deliver apprenticeships.

But these are not official inspections of the type Ofsted conducts. They do not result in, for example, inspection reports with grades.

The new University and College Union boss has backed herself to successfully lead the organisation despite never having run an organisation before, saying “there is more than one way to be a general secretary”.

Dr Jo Grady, a former student at Wakefield College, was announced as the new leader of the UCU last month, having been elected with 64 per cent of the vote on a record turnout of 20 per cent.

She defeated the UCU head of policy and campaigns Matt Waddup and the president of the University of Liverpool UCU branch Jo McNeil to the job, which came with a salary of £107,448 in 2018.

Grady will be taking a leave of absence from her role as a senior lecturer in employment relations at the University of Sheffield once she becomes general secretary in the
summer.

Her background sets her apart from the previous UCU leader, Sally Hunt, who retired due to ill health in February after having served as a general secretary since 2002, firstly of the Association of University Teaching, then of its successor organisation, the UCU.

Grady, meanwhile, has a less prominent track record, having served on the union’s national disputes committee for the universities pension scheme, and as a co-branch secretary for Leicester UCU and as pensions officer for the Sheffield branch.

However, she insisted she is not disconcerted by becoming general secretary of the union that has around 200 staff and 120,000 members, saying: “Yes, it’s a responsibility and a privilege to become general secretary, but I’m not daunted because I think I have been elected with a big mandate and increased turnout by members who are eager for change.”

On what qualifies her for the role, Grady said she had been on the frontline of delivering education, and to reach her current position she had to gain experience of managing budgets and people, and negotiating changing structures.

All of this has helped her develop the skills of diplomacy, organisation and communication that are “essential” for a general secretary.

“The general secretary is more than just a manager of a large organisation, they are the head of the union and I think that’s an important and serious political role,” she said.

Grady, 35, who has been described as the grassroots candidate, said she was “comfortable” working with the community of politicians and government departments, as well as university and college management.

Asked how her leadership approach would differ from Hunt’s, Grady said she wanted to break down silos and bring in a more “inclusive” way of doing things.

The general secretary is an important and serious political role

A lot of members had felt “dislocated” from the decisions the UCU had made, she said, and it had been “really difficult to feed into what the union is doing”.

When she successfully ran for the national committee, members had thanked her for explaining what the national committee does for them.

Until you become a general secretary, you do not have the experience of being a general secretary,” but “there is more than one way to do that job, and ways to make sure you do see your membership a lot and speak for your membership a lot.”

She wants to bring in the experiences of “sidelined” members, such as those who work as casual staff, by making the union more inclusive and transparent, through publishing
minutes from the national executive committee and setting up task groups on issues such as the hostile environment and migrant members.

Her specific priorities for the further education sector include trying to get more funding to spend on classroom teaching, rather than on new buildings, and tackling everyday racism in colleges. She said the latter could be seen in the case of Dave Muritu, who was suspended as a lecturer at Sandwell College after writing the word “Racist” on a poster  or the Prevent strategy.

Grady said if he had been dismissed after apologising for defacing the poster it was difficult to see the college’s decision as anything other than “victimisation of a trade union officer”.

She is hoping to meet Muritu at a demonstration outside the college this week, after members threatened to strike if he was not reinstated.

Tapping into that belief in solidarity among union members was something Grady said was part of the secret of her success.

“When you directly campaign with and to people, when you are honest about what you are asking them to do… that involves raising expectations of what we can achieve and not just accepting the managed decline of our sector, people respond to that.

“It’s a really exciting time for the union and there’s no reason to be daunted. I think this election really shows everyone is pulling together,” she concluded.

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What Jo Grady’s manifesto promised to do for FE

• Subscription reform – Grady wants to introduce special rates for workers who do not have a fixed monthly income and consider ways to make membership more affordable for people who work in further education, to rebuild its membership in that area.
• Capping her own salary increases – Grady has promised to ensure her salary does not increase any higher than the most recent national pay offer in further education.
• Fighting fund – Grady has promised to donate a portion of her salary to the fighting fund, which is used to support members through strike pay, for example. She will also publish the amount she has donated.
• Hostile environment – Grady has pledged to set up a dedicated task group to look into surveillance and security issues at colleges and universities; this is in response to initiatives such as the “right to work” checks on non-EU staff and students.
• Grady will appoint national “branch coordination” officers for anti-casualisation, to tackle insecure employment.
• She also wants to weight pay claims more progressively, in favour of the lowest-paid staff.
• Grady wants to create positions for specialist, full-time equality casework officials.
• She believes the national bargaining frameworks should be expanded to include issues such as sexual harassment and transgender rights, and maternity and paternity rights.