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But a statement on the Barnfield College website, dated April 23, said the college had withdrawn from the study due to Professor Crabbe’s comments.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

A university’s controversial plans to take a college over by the back door have been delayed, FE Week can reveal.

Lambeth College consulted in June on proposed changes to its governance structure, which would have handed significant control over how it is run to London South Bank University, ahead of a formal merger.

The changes had been due to take effect from mid-June – but the college has confirmed that they are yet to be implemented.

Monica Box, Lambeth’s interim principal, told FE Week that the college’s board had “considered the responses to the consultation on changes to governance” and had “reaffirmed its commitment to make changes to the governance profile” but admitted that “the timescale has been altered”.

This is to allow the board to take into consideration “feedback from the college application for the designation criteria pilot” which is expected “early in the autumn term”.

The changes would see the college’s principal stripped of many of her responsibilities, while at least half of the college’s governors would be appointed by LSBU.

Amendments would be made under the college’s instruments and articles of governance, which don’t need to be signed off by the government.

Among the powers that Ms Box would therefore pass over to the university include annual budgets, staffing arrangements and the college’s “strategic direction”, according to the consultation document on Lambeth’s website.

“Up to five” governors would be chosen from among LSBU governors and senior staff, sitting alongside the university’s vice-chancellor “unless he or she chooses not to be a governor”.

The college would be represented by an employee and a learner, along with two or three independents, who would be selected from among its current governors.

“All other governors of Lambeth College will resign,” the document explains.

These proposals came months ahead of a consultation on a potential merger between the college and university.

This amalgamation was one of three options proposed for the college, which was rated as ‘requires improvement’ at its most recent Ofsted inspection in December, in the central London area review.

A report published by the former FE commissioner Sir David Collins in March, based on a visit to the college in September 2016, concluded that it was “no longer sustainable” unless it merged.

His visit had been precipitated by a “significant deterioration” in the college’s finances, caused by poor financial management.

The college was bailed out by Education and Skills Funding Agency last year after its projected deficit for 2015/16 ballooned from £500,000 to more than £5 million.

An apprenticeship provider exposed in June by FE Week offering inducements to an employer has called in the administrators.

After around 100 staff were made redundant on 17 August, Talent Training’s chairman David Harper informed them that he had “reluctantly chosen to agree to appoint administrators today for the company” in an email sent last night.

The decision was apparently made after he failed to reach a deal to transfer the South Tyneside-based firms’ contracts to another provider.

Mr Harper said he had had “detailed discussions” with other providers, “one of which had been in discussions with the ESFA to ensure a smooth transition as far as possible”.

But despite being “reasonably optimistic” that this would lead to a “quick agreement” he had been told that no deal could be reached until “the end of September at the earliest”.

“Having spoken to my advisors, it was obvious to me that the company could not continue in limbo under this timetable,” he said.

Earlier this week, FE Week asked Mr Harper to comment on reports that Talent had made most of its staff redundant without pay in August.

In a response sent just hours before the all-staff email, he told us it had been “necessary to make ALL staff redundant without exception” – but made no comment on whether they had been paid.

However, in his email to staff, Mr Harper said that the administrators, David Rubin and Partners, would be “in touch with you to assist with your unpaid wages claim”.

A spokesperson for Gateshead College recently revealed that Talent had been in talks to sell it its remaining learners, in order to “ensure their learners can complete their training”.

Mr Harper said he had “spent the last two weeks speaking to several organisations with a view to safeguarding as many jobs and learners’ programmes as possible and am unable to comment further in this regard at this stage to ensure I do not prejudice any sensitive arrangements”.

A spokesperson for the Department for Education confirmed that it was “continuing to work closely with Talent Training to ensure the continuity of training for learners and minimise any disruption to employers”.

She added: “Where a provider is looking to remove itself from the market place or where the Education and Skills Funding Agency takes action to remove a provider from the market place, it is the responsibility of the ESFA, or the employer, to determine where learners are transferred to in order to complete their learning.”

FE Week also asked the department to confirm whether Talent had its adult funding budget, loan funding and pre-May apprenticeship funding contracts terminated, not only for apprenticeships funded from May via the levy, but are yet to receive a response.

We understand that Talent intends to apply for a judicial review against the ESFA’s decision to pull its contracts.

This saga follows an undercover investigation FE Week carried out in June, in which we exposed a Talent employee offering as much as 20 per cent of its government funding per apprenticeship to a firm that was considering its training services.

Talent at the time insisted that no inducement payments had actually been paid to any employers.

The ESFA initially said it would terminate its “levy agreement” with the provider, but not its non-levy apprenticeships contract.

Nevertheless, the ESFA appears to have stopped making payments – although this was never confirmed.