A 10,000-learner provider on the brink of collapse after it lost 97 per cent of its funding has been “assured” the government is discussing “options” to reverse the cut – but there’s been no change yet.

On Monday, bosses at Somerset Skills & Learning were joined by four Somerset MPs and various county council representatives for a meeting with the Department for Education to “urgently review” the £3.3 million cut to its adult education budget.

The provider’s chief executive Susie Simon-Norris and its director Kathryn Baker told FE Week after that the skills minister Anne Milton had been “supportive”.

Ms Baker said she had been “assured that options will be discussed”, though confessed that “at this point there is no change to our funding situation”.

The community learning provider, which is rated ‘good’ by Ofsted and has around 200 staff, won a new AEB contract during the Education and Skills Funding Agency’s recent tender, but was awarded a mere £111,000 – a shadow of the £3.4 million it had been allocated last year.

Courses have now been put on hold as it faces a catastrophic reduction in provision at 10 centres across the county.

Somerset MPs Marcus Fysh, James Heappey, Rebecca Pow and David Warburton, all members of the Conservative party, first met with Ms Milton last Wednesday to raise concerns and were offered Monday’s meeting with DfE officials.

Ms Pow said she was “pleased” to get the chance to “promptly discuss the issue”.

“We had a full and frank discussion with Ms Milton and the ESFA,” she said. “Officials are considering all options to try and plan a way forward.”

She added that all parties are expecting a “full and detailed response” to the solution by the end of this week.

But even while SS&L had its funding eviscerated, the nation’s biggest FE provider, Learndirect, has been handed an AEB contract worth £45 million – even though it recently received Ofsted’s worst possible grade – something that usually prompts the DfE to terminate a provider’s funding.

The DfE finally admitted last week that Learndirect had at first applied for funds during the recent AEB tender, but that it later withdrew its bid.

As a result, it has been given 75 per cent of the value of its previous contract, after the ESFA significantly changed tender rules at the eleventh hour.

The AEB tender for private providers was itself dogged by delays. Results were supposed to be released on May 19 after it was first launched on January 27, for a sum that originally came to just £110 million. Results were finally published on August 4.

Main image: From left: David Warburton, MP for Somerton and Frome, James Heappey, MP for Wells, Anne Milton, apprenticeships and skills minister, Rebecca Pow, MP for Taunton Deane, and Marcus Fysh, MP for Yeovil

Another college merger has been cast into doubt after one of their chairs made “regrettable” comments on local TV.

At one stage, Barnfield College and Central Bedfordshire College were both “seriously committed” to “exploring the potential” of joining forces, according to the report into the South-East Midlands area review, which ended in March.

But a spokesperson for Barnfield has told FE Week the partnership was taken off the table in April, after comments made on the local ITV news by Central Bedfordshire’s chair Professor James Crabbe in March, which were taken as a power grab.

“We felt very strongly that he criticised Barnfield College and appeared to us to position themselves as the takeover partner,” she said.

And while, she added, Barnfield does “recognise that the learners of Luton and Dunstable would be better served by one college”, the merger won’t move on “until we see genuine moves for equal collaboration.”

Despite this, a spokesperson for 3,500-learner Central Bedfordshire College, rated good at its most recent Ofsted inspection in March 2016, has insisted today it is still “committed” to the merger and the recommendations made in the area review report.

“Central Bedfordshire College believes that the proposals made in the area based review will help to reduce skills gaps and shortages in the region and provide greater opportunities for education and training for local communities and employers,” she said.

This row is the 17^th merger recommended by the area reviews to get into difficulty, out of a total of 52 proposed through the process.

The colleges had been carrying out a feasibility study into the possibility of a merger, and a final decision was to have been made by July 31.

But a statement on the Barnfield College website, dated April 23, said the college had withdrawn from the study due to Professor Crabbe’s comments.

The college, which has 6,500 learners and was rated as ‘requires improvement’ at its most recent Ofsted inspection in April 2016, has had a troubled history.

It was subject to intervention by the FE commissioner, who first visited the college in January 2014 after it was assessed as ‘inadequate’ for financial control by the Skills Funding Agency.

Sir David Collins was back at the college less than a year later, following an ‘inadequate’-overall rating from Ofsted in that November.

But his involvement ended in September 2015, when he decided the college had “fully addressed all the areas of concern” identified in his first visit.

In their April 2016 report, Ofsted inspectors noted that the leadership team had taken “decisive action” to turn the college’s fortunes around.

Tim Eyton-Jones, Barnfield’s principal, told FE Week at the time that his ambition was for the college to be rated ‘outstanding’ within two years.

Other college mergers to fall through recently include one between North Shropshire College and Reaseheath College, which collapsed last month amid accusations that the government was unwilling to provide the necessary funding, either through the ESFA or the Transactions Unit, which processes requests for cash from the restructuring facility.

Somerset MPs held an emergency meeting on Wednesday with the skills minister to reverse the massive £3.3 million funding cut imposed on a 10,000-learner community-based provider.

Four of the county’s five Conservative MPs, Marcus Fysh, James Heappey, Rebecca Pow and David Warburton, met with Anne Milton to “urgently review” the 97 per cent cut to Somerset Skills & Learning’s adult education budget.

And in a move that will be watched closely by other training providers facing cuts, the MPs have been promised a return meeting on Monday which, with other interested parties, will include representatives from the funding agency.

The adult community learning provider, which is rated ‘good’ by Ofsted and has around 200 staff, won a new AEB contract during the ESFA’s recent tender, but was awarded a mere £111,000 – a shadow of the £3.4 million it was allocated last year.

Courses have now been put on hold at the provider, which has run in various forms for over 100 years, as it faces a catastrophic reduction in provision at 10 centres across the county.

Ms Milton said that due to the “urgency” of the situation, the MPs will meet her and Department for Education representatives on Monday, “to see what steps can be taken to safeguard the needs of local people”.

Even while SS&L saw its funding slashed, the nation’s biggest FE provider, Learndirect, has been handed an AEB contract worth £45 million – even though it recently received Ofsted’s worst possible grade – something that usually prompts the DfE to terminate a provider’s funding.

It’s imperative that the government immediately reviews this drastic reduction

The DfE finally admitted this week that Learndirect had at first applied for funds during the recent AEB tender, but later withdrew its bid.

As a result, it has been given 75 per cent of the value of its previous contract, after the ESFA changed tender rules at the eleventh hour.

Originally funded through Somerset county council, in 2015 SS&L was encouraged by the government to transition to a private provider. Had SS&L stayed part of the council, it would not have been forced to take part in this bidding round, as local authorities are outside the public procurement regulations.

“Literally hundreds of thousands of people have gained essential skills and qualifications through SS&L, benefiting from the huge range of educational opportunities they offer,” said Mr Warburton, the MP for Somerton and Frome.

“It’s imperative that the government immediately reviews this drastic reduction. My Somerset MP colleagues and I have been in touch directly with Susie Simon-Norris, SS&L’s chief executive, and Councillor David Fothergill, leader of Somerset County Council,” he continued.

“We have written to the ESFA to express our outrage at this hugely damaging withdrawal of funding, which will have catastrophic consequences for both the people of Somerset and our local economy.”

Yeovil MP Mr Fysh added: “The apparent short notice of the funding change is also causing problems for people signed up for courses, so our thanks go to the minister for such a prompt response.”

Ms Pow, MP for Taunton Deane, said it was “vital” that the group finds a “solution to support the services provided by SS&L”, adding: “My colleagues and I have been making the strongest possible case to the minister”.

Wells MP Mr Heappey added: “To lose the services of SS&L would be a huge blow to our plans for Somerset’s economy. I’m glad the minister has engaged so promptly and hope this can be resolved as quickly as possible.”

At an initial meeting on Wednesday, the MPs impress upon Ms Milton the “vital significance” of SS&L.

The next meeting is scheduled for Monday, and will be attended by Ms Milton, the four MPs, and representatives of SS&L, Somerset county council and the DfE.

Ian Liddell-Grainger, the MP for Bridgwater and West Somerset, was the only Somerset MP not to participate in Wednesday’s meeting.

Mr Liddell-Grainger told FE Week that despite being in Parliament at the time he had not been invited to the meeting, an oversight from his colleagues, which he described several times as “utter incompetence”.

He went on to say that the way SS&L was being treated was “blatantly unfair, wrong and the DfE need to come up with the money”.  

“I’ve know Anne Milton for years. She is practical and will want to find solutions. I will also be writing to her,” he added.

Photo caption: From left: David Warburton, MP for Somerton and Frome, James Heappey, MP for Wells, Anne Milton, apprenticeships and skills minister, Rebecca Pow, MP for Taunton Deane, and Marcus Fysh, MP for Yeovil