The delay to results for the Adult Education Budget (AEB) tender will last until the end of July, the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) has said this afternoon.

Independent learning providers had been told last October that they would need to re-tender for around £110m of the Adult Education Budget for 2017/18.

The tender took place between January and February of this year, with the expectation the results would be shared on the May 19. 

Since then, providers have been desperate to know if they will have any funding from August.

The ESFA finally changed their “in due course” response this afternoon, saying that tender results will now be shared with applicants “at the end of July”, and in the meantime 2016/17 contracts will be extended “for a three-month period, until 31st October 2017.”

The ESFA message to relevant providers said in full:

“Following our earlier messages issued on 9th May and 13th June regarding the impact of the General Election on our planned communications, please note that notifications of contract award will now be made at the end July 2017.

“As a result, the ESFA will now be extending the existing 2016/2017 contracts for Adult Education Budget (AEB) services for a three-month period, until 31st October 2017.

“Details of the existing providers can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sfa-funding-allocations-to-training-providers-2016-to-2017

“This extension reinstates the original time period scheduled to occur between the result notification and contract start date.

“This means that contracts awarded through this AEB procurement exercise will now be for an initial nine-month period only running from 1 November 2017 to 31st July 2018, with possible extensions for up to two 12 month periods, at the ESFA’s discretion.

“We will shortly be writing to existing AEB providers to confirm the details of these arrangements.”

A London college that had been set for a ground-breaking partnership with an adult learning provider has announced plans for an alternative merger.

Kensington and Chelsea College emerged from the central London area review with a recommendation to merge with City Literary Institute, a specialist designated institution.

But today (June 28) the college announced it plans to join forces with Ealing, Hammersmith and West London College instead, with a planned merger date of 2018.

Michelle Sutton, interim principal at KCC, described the college’s new partner as “very strong, well-respected and successful”.

“This announcement is the result of a long and careful process to ensure the best future for students of all ages in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, ensuring good provision in the borough while at the same time drawing on the resources of a larger organisation,” she said.

Garry Phillips, EHWLC principal, said he was “truly excited” about the benefits of the merger for “both students and businesses in the area”.

The opportunities offered by the merged colleges “will prepare students for the very best chance of career success, help secure the future of further education across London and make a significant contribution to the economic development of our region,” he said.

EHWLC, which has around 13,000 learners, bounced back to good from a previous inadequate rating when it was inspected by Ofsted in May.

Meanwhile, KCC, which received a grade three in its most recent inspection in March, has around 2,500 learners.

The proposals will lead to the creation of another London ‘mega college’.

City and Islington College and Westminster Kingsway joined forces in August 2016, creating a combined institution with an estimated 27,000 learners.

Tower Hamlets and Hackney Community colleges also merged in August 2016 to form the 17,000- learner New City College Group, with 3,000-learner Redbridge College joining them in April.

And in May the College of North West London and the City of Westminster College announced that they intended to pair up from August.

The change of plans makes the previously planned merger between KCC and City Lit – news of which came to light in November last year – the 13^th area review-recommended partnership to fall apart.

Had it gone ahead the partnership would have been the first merger between a general FE college and a specialist designated institution in recent years.

SDIs differ from general FE colleges as they are independently constituted charities typically delivering short courses or residential provision for adults.

The report into the central London area review, published in February, said the merged college would “offer a diverse programme with wide appeal to attract a broad demographic, including people who can afford to pay fees and funded learners”.

A spokesperson for City Lit said the colleges had jointly decided to call off the merger in February, following discussions.

“We share very similar values but at this moment in time there just isn’t a compelling enough reason to merge,” she said.

KCC was rocked by scandal earlier this year when it emerged that former principal Mark Brickley had racked up bills of £60,000 in overseas trips.

Those visits had been intended to recruit international students – but it wasn’t clear if any actually signed up as a result.

That news came after Mr Brickley resigned with immediate effect in October last year.

His shock departure was for “personal reasons” a KCC spokesperson said at the time.

The new skills minister has reassured the sector that her motivation in the role is “to make it work” rather than to introduce “new, bright ideas”, after what has been a “frustrating” and “bruising period” for many providers recently.

Her new position would be “a job of delivery”, said Anne Milton as she delivered the keynote speech to a packed hall on day one of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers’ 2017 conference (June 26).

The tone of Ms Milton’s speech was collaborative and open – repeatedly stressing the need to “work together”, and telling the audience she could stay “as long as you want me” to answer their questions.

“As a new minister it’s important for me to hear about your experiences,” she said.

“I’m here to listen and to learn, and I hope also to offer some clarity about the way forward.”

Ms Milton’s speech did provide clarity on a number of points, confirming for example that a new procurement process for non-levy apprenticeship contracts would be launched in July, and the previous procurement cancelled.

Before the recent general election, the government decided to pause the procurement process due to what Ms Milton referred to as “unprecedented demand”.

She explained that the decision had finally been made to scrap this attempt altogether because it was not providing “the diverse market we are looking for” or giving the sector “enough stability”.

My intention is not to come in with any new bright ideas, my intention is to make it work

The new procurement contracts will cover the period from January 2018 to April 2019, she said, and the Register of Apprenticeship Training Providers will not open whilst the procurement is open between end of July and end of August.

She said: “I hope these moves will give you all more certainty in the approach we are taking to apprenticeships and wider adult education funding in the months ahead.

“Nothing is perfect, but from what I’ve heard there has been some excellent work done to put in place the apprenticeship reforms.”

She concluded that it was “now up to me and to you along with our officials to work together” in order deliver “the very best training opportunities and a real choice for employers and apprentices”.

After Ms Milton’s speech, Mark Dawe, chief executive of AELP, thanked the minister, saying her points were “positive news”.

However he acknowledged there were likely to be “plenty of people in the room” who were “groaning” because of the news that they would have to go through the procurement exercise again, but added that “given where we were, it’s worth doing”.

This feeling was reiterated by Jo Fisher from Dutton Fisher Associates, a small training provider.

She told FE Week: “I really do welcome the fact that they’re going to bring this forward, but now we’ve got to go through the whole procurement thing again.

“I’m concerned that it’s July – we want to know when the start is, when the end is … that’s going to have a big impact for us.”

Despite some frustration around Ms Milton’s announcements, Mr Dawe he was pleased to hear her calls to “work together”.

He said: “We want to be able to feed in, explain our concerns and at least have an understanding – even if we don’t always agree.”

Ms Milton insisted that she would “listen and “take notice” of what the sector had to say, and also highlighted her preference for working quickly and efficiently wherever possible.

“I am somebody who has absolutely no patience at all, I want everything done yesterday and I will only forgive not doing it yesterday if it’s in an attempt to get it right,” she said, answering a question from FE Week deputy editor Paul Offord about the recent fall in apprenticeship starts.

Speaking at the FE Week Festival of Skills last week (June 22), Mr Dawe said apprenticeship starts had fallen to around a quarter of what they were last year, according to feedback from members.

Ms Milton said that she wanted to see this drop in starts “changed quite dramatically and quite quickly”.

She also apologised for the high turnover of ministers FE has seen recently, in response to a question from Alex Ford of CT Skills about how she plans to raise the profile of the sector.

She said: “It is frustrating and it’s actually been quite unusual … for that I can only apologise.

“You must contact me, if you feel you that are being excluded or left behind or not given enough priority then let me know.”

Published in our #AELP2017 supplement – click here to download.

Providers using employers as subcontractors in ways that are “contrary to the spirit” of the apprenticeship reforms will face the consequences, the Education and Skills Funding Agency has warned.

Keith Smith, director of funding and programmes at the agency, told delegates on the first morning of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers’ conference that the practice was “a bit of a theme at the moment” and that the agency was “increasingly concerned” about it.

“Some providers [are] trying to get employers involved as sub-contractors, getting them below the £100,000 radar, and actually trying get money back to the employer for stuff they do already, which is contrary to everything we’re trying to achieve,” he said.

“So as soon as we see a provider or a employer working against the intent of the rules we will intervene – the provider will be removed from register and also potentially other larger consequences as well,” he warned.

Mr Smith’s words prompted confusion from AELP boss Mark Dawe, who asked for “some explanation and clarity around what is good and what is bad there”.

Current funding rules do allow for providers to use employers as subcontractors – although FE Week warned about the potential for this rule to be exploited as a loophole back in March, when the rules were updated.

As soon as we see a provider or a employer working against the intent of the rules we will intervene

“You’re absolutely right, we want employers to have a place in the system where they can be engaged and they can be supported in delivery, that’s what we want,” Mr Smith said.

He continued: “What we don’t want to see is specifically where employers are being brought into the system in essence to recoup costs that they would generally incur themselves anyway.”

Such cases were “presented as a financial inducement”, Mr Smith said.

“It’s being presented as, you did a deal with us, there’s nothing more you need to do, we’ll put you as doing the induction, we’ll say that you’re doing it, we’ll pay you back X per cent or X amount, and therefore you can get this from us and it’s all fine as you can be a subcontractor, and you won’t have to go and worry about going to the ESFA,” he explained.

He added: “It’s not in any way about trying to stop employers owning some of the delivery being part of the delivery – those are all really, really good things”.

Mr Smith also outlined the agency’s plans to reform the audit process for existing providers.

This would involve “moving the end year audit into look at more thematic approaches”, with the aim of “trying to track stages of the apprentices as they go through their journey”.

The agency was looking “very much at the eligibility and initial assessment, and how the 20 per cent off the job is being put together,” at the moment, he said.

“It is a bit too early to say where that is going to go but I think if we take away lessons that this isn’t going to just stop at new providers,” he said.

“Potentially we’ll move away from the kind of looking back angle type view, I want to see audit happening much more regularly much more frequently to get more assurances as we go through the different stages of the programme,” Mr Smith said.

The ESFA had carried out a mystery shop that looked at how providers were responding to the new system, Mr Smith said.

Among the feedback from this mystery shop was the finding that colleges were “more likely [than independent training providers] to explain how they could help the employer in other areas”.

Mr Dawe later told Mr Smith that providers might feel “a little hurt” by some of the findings – although Mr Smith stressed that it wasn’t about “pulling providers up” but was instead about support.

“We really do care that we’re doing enough to support you,” he said.

Mr Dawe also quizzed Mr Smith on the long-awaited adult education budget procurement exercise.

“It’s imminent,” he said.

“I think it’ll be good news for the sector. And I think you’ll see it’s a very sensible way of managing the transition from the current contracts to the new ones,” he added.

Click here to download Keith’s slides.

Published in our #AELP2017 supplement – click here to download.

This morning the Department for Education published additional guidance on the 20 percent off-the-job training rule for apprenticeships.

Click here to download the guidance.

The guidance says: “However the training is delivered, it is important to remember that the apprentice must receive off-the-job training for a minimum of 20% of the time that they are paid to work.” 

The new guidance is intended for “employers that wish to understand the off-the-job training requirements involved in an apprenticeship…and…providers that wish to ensure that they are offering off-the-job training in accordance with the funding rules and policy intent.”