A London college group has chosen to give up on a 17-year appeal against HM Revenue and Customs and will have to cough up more than £3 million.

The payment, listed in Capital City College Group’s recently published 2017/18 accounts, relates to an appeal begun by one of its members, the College of Haringey, Enfield and North East London (CONEL), in 2001.

According to the financial statements, HMRC “raised assessments” against the college “in respect of certain lease and lease-back arrangements”.

“Having taken professional advice” the college appealed against the assessment, but after “years of litigation” its professional advisers “finally concluded any further appeal would have less than a 50 per cent chance of success”.

“The college has therefore withdrawn its appeal.”

The money owed to HMRC, totalling £3,172,000, is listed in the 2017/18 accounts as a payment falling due within one year.

A spokesperson for CCCG said the case related to a decision made by the CONEL board in 1996 “to lease, and then lease-back, one of the buildings at its Tottenham site to a third-party company, to take advantage of favourable VAT arrangements”.

The case had taken so long because the college needed to wait for other appeals to be heard by the tax tribunal, “the outcome of which would have a bearing on the likely success” of its own appeal.

“These cases have now been decided and as a result of legal advice following those judgments, we have decided to withdraw our appeal,” he said.

The decision to abandon the appeal was taken in late 2017, under the leadership of former CCCG boss Andy Wilson.

The appeal cost £65,000 in legal fees, which the spokesperson said were paid by CONEL before it joined CCCG in November 2017.

It had also budgeted in the event that the appeal failed, “and had made a provision in its accounts for many years,” he said.

HMRC declined to comment on the case, as it related to an identifiable taxpayer.

CCCG was formed through the merger of City and Islington College and Westminster Kingsway College in August 2016, with CONEL joining them the following year.

The group, which was led by Mr Wilson until his retirement in the summer, when Roy O’Shaughnessy took over, has a combined income of almost £112 million, which is likely to make it the third-largest college group in the country in terms of turnover.

It also has net assets of just over £300 million – the vast majority of which are its buildings – and long-term debt of £600,000.

But it recorded an operating deficit of over £6 million for the year – an increase of £385,000 on the previous year’s restated deficit of almost £5.7 million.

Despite this, the accounts show the group has retained its ‘outstanding’ financial health rating from the Education and Skills Funding Agency.

In November the group agreed a pay award, described as “landmark” by the University and College Union, which will see staff receive up to a five per cent pay rise.

The union claimed that Mr O’Shaughnessy had waived his right to a bonus as part of the deal, but a group spokesperson said he gave up this right – which would have been worth up to 15 per cent of his £220,000 salary – when he was appointed earlier in the year.

However, FE Week reported that the deal would cost £3 million, and would turn a projected break-even budget for 2018/19 into a £2.3 million deficit.

A spokesperson said at the time that CCCG would look at “ways to develop new sources of income” and at reducing its costs, including the potential for “not replacing certain jobs as they become vacant” in order to make up for the loss.

The Department for Education has been criticised for spending tens of thousands of pounds on apprenticeship advisers, as a government-created careers guidance organisation says its own consultants are not “experts” on the subject. 

A contract worth between £60,000 and £78,000 is on offer from the DfE for a supplier who can provide apprenticeship advisers to attend higher education exhibitions run by UCAS around the country.

The advisers, who will need to “provide expert apprenticeship advice and support to potential apprentices, parents and influencers on apprenticeships and traineeships”, will have to attend a minimum of 35 events, and no more than 50. 

The higher education exhibitions currently listed online begin in Surrey on February 25, and finish almost seven months later in Edinburgh on September 17. According to the UCAS website, the events “help students explore a wide range of academic and career opportunities and discover a future that’s right for them”. 

However, concerns have been raised over why this does not fall under the remit of the Careers and Enterprise Company, which was created in 2015 to “transform the provision and advice for young people and inspire them about the opportunities offered by the world of work”.

Robert Halfon, former skills minister and chair of the Commons education select committee, said it was “not clear why more duplication and expense are necessary”. 

“This decision means that less money will be available on the front line where it is needed most,” he said. 

“The Careers and Enterprise Company already have millions of pounds of  taxpayers’ money. Why are they not using their existing coordinators to do this work?”

But a spokesperson for the Careers and Enterprise Company, which is thought to have been backed by more than £70 million of government funding, said its 125 enterprise coordinators and 2,000 enterprise advisers were not “experts” on apprenticeships. 

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said it would be “logical” for apprenticeship advice to fall under the remit of the Careers and Enterprise Company.

“It is a concern that additional money is being spent on providing this service at a time when there are such acute funding pressures in the education system,” he said.

“The provision of apprenticeship advice is important and we support any efforts to give young people information and guidance. But it is also important that this provision is delivered in the most cost-effective manner possible.”

The Careers and Enterprise Company spokesperson said enterprise coordinators “are not experts on apprenticeships as they have a wider focus on supporting clusters of 20 schools to achieve Gatsby Benchmarks” which she said leaves them “limited capacity”. 

She added that enterprise advisers are volunteers who are “already delivering a minimum of one day per month to schools”, and said they are “also not experts in apprenticeships specifically”. 

The company’s funding agreement with the DfE says its core objectives are to roll out employer engagement, support best practice and test and evaluate new approaches to careers provision, but does not specifically mention apprenticeships.

The Careers and Enterprise Company, which is led by chief executive Claudia Harris, pictured, has attracted controversy over the past year. In December, Mr Halfon accused it of believing it has a “magic money tree” and being “ludicrously wasteful” after it emerged that the company spent more than £200,000 on two conferences using public money rather than private sponsorship.

In May it was revealed that the company had spent almost £900,000 on research in the three years since it was created. 

The Department for Education was contacted for comment. 

A college in financial difficulty has ended the use of corporate cards for senior staff after its former high-profile principal claimed more than £40,000 in expenses over the last five years.

The “lavish” spending by Dame Asha Khemka at West Nottinghamshire College included numerous visits to fine-dining restaurants, five-star hotels and a private members’ club.

It has been branded as “deeply disappointing” by the University and Colleges Union, especially as this was “at a time when college finances were being squeezed”.

It is encouraging that the college has now tightened its policy on the use of expenses

The college has promised that it is clamping down on expenditure in light of the findings and its financial situation.

“The college has undergone wholesale regime-change both at governing body and senior management level in recent weeks, so this is very much a new era for West Notts,” a spokesperson said.

“In light of the financial challenges we face, the new board of governors and management team have imposed strict controls on all expenditure including expense claims. The college’s expenses policy has been reviewed and strengthened, and senior post-holders do not have use of a corporate credit card.

“We are absolutely committed to ensuring we make the best possible use of public money and to exercising the necessary rigour at all times when making spending decisions.”

Dame Asha stood down as principal of West Notts in October, shortly after FE Week revealed the college had received a £2.1 million emergency government bailout in July, just 48 hours before it would have run out of cash.

An FE Commissioner report, which had been written back in August but was published after her resignation, warned that the leader and the college’s board had “overseen a serious business failure which will impact on the whole college” and called for an “urgent review that ensures that those with ultimate responsibilities are held to account”.

According to documents obtained by FE Week, Dame Asha spent £41,666.96 between 2013/14 and 2017/18 on her corporate card, despite earning an annual pay package which reached £262,000 in 2016/17.

Among the claims was over £11,000 on food and drink, including visits to a Michelin-starred restaurant called Jamavar in Mayfair, London, and numerous sit downs at Anoki, a fine-dining restaurant.

The largest spend was on accommodation, which was largely attributed to frequent visits to India and stays at the “prestigious” Taj Hotel Chandigarh.

The college launched two ventures in the country in 2015, with one involving its subsidiary company bksb, which claims to be the UK’s “most popular eLearning solution for functional skills and GCSE”, moving its headquarters to Chandigarh.

Dame Asha didn’t visit India using her corporate card in 2016/17 or 2017/18, but did use it to stay at the five-star Beaumont Hotel in Mayfair, London.

Other spending included over £500 at a private members’ club called The Arts Club, and a one-off £340 visit to a Boots store.

On top of this, West Notts spent £15,000 on a reception at a lavish London hotel in 2014, just hours after Dame Asha (pictured) was awarded her damehood, which was reported by Chad, a local newspaper covering Mansfield and Ashfield, at the time.

We are absolutely committed to ensuring we make the best possible use of public money

The college, however, defended itself and said it was simply a stakeholder event which was already pencilled into its budget.

West Notts College told FE Week that none of the expenses in question were paid back to the college.

A spokesperson added: “The individual to whom these expenses relate to is no longer an employee of the college and, as such, it would not be appropriate to comment further on the detail.”

There is nothing to suggest Dame Asha’s expenses were not in line with the college’s policies or that they were wrongly claimed.

University and College Union regional official, Sue Davis, said: “It is deeply disappointing to see how the former principal was lavishing corporate funds at a time when college finances were being squeezed and staff pay held down.

“It is important that all senior spending is fully accountable, so it is encouraging that the college has now tightened its policy on the use of expenses.”

FE Week revealed in November that Dame Asha resigned from her post without accepting any financial payout, walking away from at least £130,000.

Dame Asha declined to comment.

Ofsted will launch its consultation on the new education inspection framework at the Sixth Form Colleges’ Association winter conference next week.

Amanda Spielman, the education watchdog’s chief inspector, will use her speech at the event in London on Wednesday to open the consultation on the new framework, which will be introduced from September.

She previously outlined the changes providers can expect to see in inspections and reports during her speech at the Association of Colleges annual conference in November.

These included scrapping outcomes as a standalone judgement, introducing a new quality of education judgement to cover curriculum alongside teaching, learning and assessment, and a reduction in the number of types of provision from six to three.

SFCA chief executive Bill Watkin said he was “delighted” that Ofsted had chosen to launch the consultation at its winter conference.

“Ofsted’s recent annual report showed that 81 per cent of sixth form colleges and over three quarters of 16-19 academies are rated by Ofsted as good or outstanding.

“There is a lot of interest in the sector about the new framework and our members are looking forward to hearing the chief inspector’s plans in more detail.” 

The skills minister Anne Milton will also address the winter conference, which is being held at Friends House in Euston, London from 9am on Wednesday, January 16.

The City and Guilds Group has added its voice to the growing clamour demanding more transparency from the government on apprenticeship levy spending.

The education giant called for more openness about the amount that has already been spent and how much will be taken out in April in a new report looking at the response of employers to the levy, published today.

City and Guilds’ demand for transparency follows months of wrangling with the Department for Education over how much information it is prepared to release about the levy pot.

In December, the Institute for Apprenticeships warned the apprenticeships budget was set to be overspent by £500 million this year, rising to £1.5 billion during 2021/22.

The government has strongly refuted this claim, made by the IFA’s chief operating officer Robert Nitsch during a presentation to employers at Exeter College. Skills minister Anne Milton insisted to FE Week on Wednesday the budget would be “alright” for the rest of the year.

Shadow skills minister Gordon Marsden wrote to IFA boss Sir Gerry Berragan at the end of last year asking to see Mr Nitsch’s presentation and was told the institute was “considering” releasing it. However, Mr Marsden told FE Week he is yet to receive the IFA’s final decision.

The top recommendation of the City and Guilds’ ‘Flex for success’ report is for the government to “provide more clarity about the amount of levy that has been spent and the amount that will be taken out in April 2019 so that everyone involved in delivering apprenticeships and benefiting from them is able to plan effectively”.

Kirstie Donnelly (pictured), managing director of the City and Guilds Group, said businesses need “more flexibility” in how they use the apprenticeship levy but warned “flexibility alone isn’t enough.

“The government must provide greater clarity on apprenticeship data in order to equip the industry with the holistic view it needs and enable employers to understand its wider impact.”

In the foreword to the report, Ms Donnelly warned that without “transparent reporting” of apprenticeship spend, “training providers and employers are left in the dark about the true extent to which employers have taken up apprenticeships, and where any leftover money will end up”.

Her warning follows concerns raised by the Association of Colleges at the start of last month that “we don’t know the full story about apprenticeship spending because the whole area is shrouded in secrecy”.

City and Guilds surveyed 765 businesses who pay into the apprenticeship levy to understand how it is used and what barriers they face.

The research found that 93 per cent of levy-paying firms cited some kind of block to investing in apprenticeships, including a lack of suitable apprentices in the area, not being able to find appropriate providers or concerns over 20 per cent off the job training. 

Although the government announced last year that the level of levy funds which can be transferred to other businesses in a supply chain would rise from 10 per cent to 25 per cent in April, the survey found levy-employers would be more comfortable with an average of 35 per cent.

The report makes 12 recommendations to the government in all, including calling for organisations who invest in apprenticeships to be rewarded with the option to spend levy funds on other qualifications, a commitment that a proportion of any surplus levy is invested centrally to support recruitment and promote opportunities, and for the IFA to introduce or approve end point assessments for all live apprenticeships “as a matter of urgency”.

A spokesperson for the DfE said the government was working with employers to “build awareness of how businesses can use their apprenticeship levy fund” and working with businesses to “make sure they make the best use of the levy transfer and their own levy funds.”

Leading universities and educational charities have joined forces to create a new commission into the adult education challenges faced by the country.

The Centenary Commission will consider what education is required in the face of longer lives, changing work needs and global challenges including the growth of technology, and address the role of adult education in globalisation, civic engagement and democracy, social mobility and communities.

The commission has been formed as part of the ‘Adult Education 100’ campaign, to mark 100 years since the Ministry of Reconstruction – created towards the end of the First World War – published its ‘Report on Adult Education’ and argued lifelong education was vital for the future of the country.

The Centenary Commission, formed by the Universities of Nottingham and Oxford as well as the Workers Educational Association, the Co-operative College and the Raymond Williams Foundation, will publish its report in November.

Dame Helen Ghosh, chair of the commission and master of Balliol College, Oxford, said: “There are eerie parallels between the problems of 1919 and those of 2019, making a powerful case for new commission to look at the challenges.”

Sir Alan Tuckett, who was honoured with a knighthood last year after leading the National Institute for Adult Continuing Education for 23 years and became known as FE’s “campaigner-in-chief” for lifelong learning, is the commission’s vice chair.

“There seems to be a complete absence of coherent thinking nationally about lifelong learning. I’m hoping the commission will find a fresh way to help decision makers see that this isn’t an extra, it isn’t an option and it can’t simply be left to the market,” Mr Tuckett, who is now a Professor of Education at the University of Wolverhampton, told FE Week.

“I hope it brings back into the public domain the kind of confidence we had as a country 100 years ago to think we could imagine a better way to do things. We can’t, as a country, only talk about Brexit forever.”

Andy Haldane, chief economist at the Bank of England and a patron of the Adult Education 100 campaign, said universities are not meeting the needs of life-long learning or doing enough to offer a “broad-based”, multi-disciplined education.

“The future university may need to be a very different creature than in the past. It may need to cater for multiple entry points along the age distribution, rather than focusing on the young.”

The commission will meet for the first time today (Thursday) at Balliol College, pictured.

Several commissions into adult education have been launched in recent years.

In March, Vince Cable announced the creation of an independent lifelong learning commission to investigate the best ways to ensure adults can access learning and retraining, as part of plans for the National Retraining Scheme.

The Labour party’s 2017 election manifesto also promised the formation of a commission for lifelong learning as part of the National Education Service, and said it would be “tasked with integrating further and higher education”.

It was announced in June that education company Pearson would launch an independent commission on sustainable learning for life, work and a changing economy, chaired by former education select committee chair Neil Carmichael.

Other members of the Centenary Commission include campaigner Melissa Benn, Lord Karan Bilimoria, chancellor of the University of Birmingham and co-founder of Cobra Beer, and Holex director Sue Pember.

As well as launching the commission, the Adult Education 100 campaign will work to bid for funding for research on the history and contribution of adult education, hold exhibitions on the story of adult education, work to protect and digitalise archives about the early days of adult education and engage with communities about the impact of lifelong learning.