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Movers and Shakers: Edition 208

Your weekly guide to who’s new and who’s leaving

The principal of York College, Dr Alison Birkinshaw, is to be the new president of the Association of Colleges.

She will take up the role alongside her current position and will take over from Ian Ashman on August 1.

Ms Birkinshaw began her further education career in 1984 and has sworked as assistant principal of Runshaw College, principal of Nelson and Colne College and most recently, principal of York College; all three were rated outstanding by Ofsted.

In 2012 she was awarded an OBE and this year received an honorary doctorate from the University of York for her services to FE.

“This role will allow me to act as ambassador for the sector, and I look forward to drawing the attention of ministers and others in government to the big difference colleges make to the lives of individuals, communities and employers,” she said.

“I hope I can make a difference and live up to the expectations of my fellow principals, although I know that the work of previous presidents will be a hard act to follow.”

Her duties as president – which is a one-year term – will include promoting colleges to government ministers, meeting staff and students, and supporting the AoC’s chief executive, David Hughes.

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Mary Curnock Cook OBE has been named as the next chair of governors at Kensington and Chelsea College.

The college is currently evaluating potential merger partners, with the interim principal, Michelle Sutton CBE, describing Ms Cook’s appointment as “exactly what the college needs at this time”.

Last month, Ms Cook stepped down as chief executive of the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service after seven years at the helm.

Prior to joining UCAS, she held the role of director of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, beginning her career doing secretarial work, working in the biochemical industry and then moving on to food and hospitality.

“One of our priorities in the merger is that we secure quality provision in the borough for both school-leavers and adults, combined with the efficiencies which will come from being part of a larger organisation,” she said.

“The magic of colleges is that they are the part of the education system that likes to say ‘yes’ to people’s aspirations regardless of where they need to start and which study route they need to take to fulfil their ambition.”

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Graham Guest has been announced as the new principal and CEO of Telford College of Arts & Technology and New College Telford.

He will take the helm of TCAT and NCT with immediate effect, having previously been in post as deputy principal at Waltham Forest College.

The two colleges plan to merge and rebrand as Telford College on August 1; TCAT’s interim principal Ian Clinton will remain in post until July 31 to support Mr Guest in the lead up to the merger.

Mr Guest has worked in education for 28 years, beginning his career as a lecturer in building services. He has since gone on to work for six further education colleges, alongside running his own training provider business.

“There have been great strides made this year and I will be looking to keep up the momentum and take the new college to the next level with the support of staff,” he said.

“There is the opportunity to share best practice, knowledge and expertise from both sites and to build a strong and successful college in Telford.”

If you want to let us know of any new faces at the top of your college, training provider or awarding organisation please let us know by emailing news@feweek.co.uk

Allocations shock: ESFA ‘mistake’ sees massive firms listed as small

The allocations “horror show” has got even more alarming, after FE Week found the government has been wrongly categorising giant firms including Santander as non-levy payers.

Other smaller employers have meanwhile been classified as subject to the charge launched last month, despite their payroll being drastically short of the £3 million point from which firms have to shell out.

Providers this week received the detailed calculation of their allocations, for delivering apprenticeships to small employers from the Education and Skills Funding Agency.

Alongside this, the agency sent a letter to providers admitting the non-levy proxy they used is an “approximation using the best available data” and that there are “uncertainties in this data”.

Many providers sent their calculations into FE Week, and we found several examples of huge employers being misclassified, as not having to pay the levy charge.

Banking giant Santander was listed as a non-levy paying employer, despite having UK staff costs of £700 million, according to its most recent set of accounts.

Similarly, Berkeley Group Plc, a large property development firm, has a payroll close to £200 million according to their latest accounts, but was also listed as non-levy paying. And charity Mencap was on the non-levy list even though their accounts show staff costs have hit £131 million.

Only businesses with a total paybill over £3 million have to shell-out for the levy.

But the misclassification has also found small employers labelled as large.

One small provider told FE Week they found themselves classified as a payer, despite their payroll being “nowhere near £3 million”.

Another provider sent FE Week their employer allocation spreadsheet, in which they identified seven that they claim were incorrectly labelled as levy payers, adding their impact was wrong by “as much as 70 per cent” and that “needless to say we are working on a business case to send to the ESFA.”

After being shown the serious mistakes in employer classifications, Association of Employment and Learning Providers boss Mark Dawe said there was a danger of “irretrievable damage being done to employers, providers and apprentices as well as to the apprenticeship brand unless ministers take immediate action”.

News of the faulty calculations is the latest government-inflicted blow to hit the sector, after lead providers learned in April that their May to December allocations amounted to a fraction of the costs of their current delivery.

Mr Dawe subsequently pleaded with the government for an immediate funding increase to prevent widespread “closures and redundancies”, which was swiftly rejected.

FE Week then revealed last week that this “horror story”, as labelled by Mr Dawe, had claimed its first victim.

A longstanding provider with 18 years’ experience told us it would be forced to close within months, as a result of the massive cuts, while many other providers warned they faced imminent disaster.

After being shown the ESFA letter to providers admitting there was “uncertainties” in the calculations data, FE Week asked the agency to explain how the non-levy proxy was arrived at, but the agency refused to comment.

It would only say the department had communicated to providers that if they believed their allocations had been calculated incorrectly, they should work it through with their ESFA provider manager.

Mr Dawe told FE Week: “We were told there weren’t going to be winners and losers out of this allocation process, because the same calculation formula was being applied to all main providers and colleges.

“But clearly these mistakes over employer classifications have resulted in unfair allocations. This is why AELP is calling for the ESFA to double the allocations now to providers.”

Analysis: How we think they got it wrong

Our analysis suggests that the ESFA’s classification mistakes stem from employer information provided by Blue Sheep, a specialist data company.

The ESFA has a licence for employer data, which is typically used to determine the size of an employer for funding purposes.

The database includes employer IDs as well as staff numbers.

We believe that where the staff number in the Blue Sheep database is below 150, the ESFA has classed them as non-levy-payers – choosing this figure based on the average wage of around £20,000, a sum which when multiplied by 150 equals £3 million.

For example, for Santander the employer ID and staff number shown in the Blue Sheep database is 80 – thus classing it as non-levy-paying.

However, this is inaccurate information for the purposes of estimating total payroll at £3 million, as the database uses multiple employer IDs for one employer where they have multiple sites.

Therefore, a huge employer with lots of sites will have lots of employer IDs, each with a small headcount. Santander appears to have nearly 1,000 different Employer IDs.

The SFA’s most recent expenditure sheet shows that it pays £371,000 per year for the use of Blue Sheep data and services.

Nick Linford editorial ESFA need to fess up to their ‘mistake’

The Education and Skills Funding Agency has dug itself a huge hole. Incredibly, it’s still digging.

As readers will know, it was in the interest of “stability” that it decided to pause the non-levy tender, after demand from over 1,000 providers well outstripped the paltry £440 million that was available.

Instead it is extending pre-May contracts until December, which left some relieved and others – those without direct access to any funding – disappointed.

But the sense of relief and pretence of stability hasn’t lasted long, as the value of the contract extension appears well below expectation, in some cases by as much as 70 per cent.

The ESFA told providers this week how it arrived at these allocation figures, but still refuses to answer key questions about how much was dished out overall.

It has also refused to tell FE Week or providers how global firms have ended up wrongly classified as non-levy, so we’ve had to figure out for ourselves how the ‘mistake’ occurred.

While it’s clearly unfortunate the data isn’t accurate and that there isn’t more funding for small employers, why refuse to fully explain how much and in what way it’s been allocated?

Starving providers of funding is bad, but also keeping them in the dark is appalling.

Campaign launched to protect vulnerable learners from Brexit cuts

A campaign has been launched today to prevent huge Brexit-induced cuts to FE funding, which supports learners who “fall between the gaps” of mainstream provision.

European Social Fund investment, worth £2.4 billion though the 2014 to 2020 allocations round, pays for hundreds of projects geared at boosting skills and helping those out of work find jobs.

But the funding tap will be switched off after Britain leaves the European Union.

A campaign, launched today by the Learning and Work Institute, with backing from the Association of Colleges, HoLEX and the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, is calling on the next government to invest “at least the same value” in locally-driven ESF successor programmes.

Stephen Evans, LWI chief executive [pictured above], said: “Too many people in our country feel left behind, and as we leave the EU, it will become more and more pressing to grow our own skills. We simply can’t afford to lose investment of [up to] £500 million per year.”

ESF funding for this country is administered through the Education and Skills Funding Agency, Department for Work and Pensions, and the Big Lottery Fund, which provide match funding.

Many projects with the ESFA, which are being delivered with the involvement of local enterprise partnerships, focus on young people not in education, employment or training.

Around 80 providers – a mix of colleges and independent training providers – have current ESF contracts through ESFA, worth a total of £440 million,

One of these is Calderdale College, which currently has £35 million ESF funding for workforce development, in support of 13,000 employers and around 24,000 learners across seven local enterprise partnership areas.

Ebrahim Dockrat, director of external funding at the college, said withdrawal of ESF cash would “have a huge impact on the economy, employers, learners and ultimately some of the core programmes that we all deliver as FE institutions”.

“It supports the very learners that fall between the gaps of mainstream provision, and provides access to the mainstream for many low-skilled, low-wage people,” he said.

David Hughes, Association of Colleges chief executive, said ESF helped people “in the most economically disadvantaged parts of the country”. Any spending reduction would “widen existing social and economic divisions”.

Dr Sue Pember, director of policy and external relations at HoLEX, added ESF had helped “provide a safeguard” against adult education funding cuts.

“If we lose the equivalent ESF funding, then Britain’s problems of poor productivity will continue,” she said.

EU funding expert John Bell, senior partner at consultants Curved Thinking, told FE Week one of the strengths of the ESF programme was that it allowed local areas to focus on the issues affecting them – which it had done “very effectively”.

“If it’s not replaced, the problem will be that everywhere in the country will effectively get one size fits all approach to it from Jobcentre Plus, from the apprenticeship programme, so there’ll be very little opportunity to respond appropriately to local need,” he warned.

When asked to respond to the campaign call, a Conservative party spokesperson said the government had “moved swiftly to offer guarantees” of ESF projects signed before the UK leaves the EU, following last year’s referendum. Any future spending decisions would be “taken by our parliament and our government”.

A Labour spokesperson said: “We recognise the vital role the ESF plays in Britain, and we will ensure there will be no funding shortfall as a result of Brexit.”

Other bodies that have signed up to the campaign include the Employment Related Services Association, National Enterprise Network, Careers England, Campaign for Learning, and the National Council for Voluntary Organisations.

Labour pledge to stop adult learner fees would mean scrapping FE loans

A pledge to stop fees on courses for adult learners, which FE Week has learned would involve scrapping advanced learner loans, has been made by Labour before the official launch tomorrow of its education election plans.

Shadow education secretary Angela Rayner (pictured) and party leader Jeremy Corbyn will outline the proposals, during speeches set to be delivered at Leeds City College from 10am.

The key announcement for FE is the plan to “scrap fees on courses for adult learners looking to retrain or upskill”.

A spokesperson stated they would “increase the adult skills budget to £1.5 billion by the end of the parliament, in order to abolish upfront fees and increase course funding by an average of 10 per cent year on year”.

When asked for more information about how this would work by FE Week, including with relation to FE loans, a spokesperson said tonight: “Labour will scrap advanced learner loans and make education and training in FE colleges free at the point of use.”

Mr Corbyn complained ahead of tomorrow’s speech the country was being held back by FE funding cuts.

“The Conservatives have cut support for students and forced colleges to increase fees,” he said. “It’s created a downward spiral that is bad for the people being held back and bad for the economy.”

Former top skills civil servant Sue Pember, who is now director of policy at adult learning provider membership body Holex, told FE Week: “We welcome Labour’s commitment to lifelong learning.

“It will interesting to see the policy in full and how it will fit within a devolved skills landscape.”

David Hughes, chief executive of the Association of Colleges and former provider services director at the Skills Funding Agency, said: “In its education pledges, the Labour Party has recognised the vital role of colleges in delivering education and training to people of all ages, reaching out to those who have not been in learning for many years and helping people progress to higher skills levels.

“To achieve all of that, the next government will need to invest more, so it is good to see Labour pledge to put more funding in for young people and adults.”

FE Week also asked Labour why apprenticeships were not mentioned in the education commitments, and to clarify what it meant with pledging to “increase the adult skills budget to £1.5 billion by the end of the parliament”, when it already stands at around that level.

Shadow skills minister Gordon Marsden told FE Week: “This doesn’t mean we won’t be saying anything about apprenticeships in the manifesto. It will feature.”

He also looked ahead to more explanation being provided ahead of the election on the AEB spending plans.

The other key FE-related pledge is to restore the education maintenance allowance for college students, as previously reported by FE Week.

A spokesperson explained: “Assuming the same proportion of 16-18 year olds qualify for EMA as previously the cost would be £582 million a year.”

The FE announcements are part of wider Labour plans that will be expanded upon in the morning, to invest in a National Education Service “to ensure no one is held back and create a more skilled workforce and productive economy”.

It is to be funded from the £20 billion that Labour says would be raised by “reversing the Conservative Party’s cuts to corporation tax”.

Labour spells out plans to drive apprenticeships quality to FE Week

Labour has exclusively spelled out its plans to drive up the quality of apprenticeships to FE Week.

It comes after the party pledged last night to stop fees on courses for adult learners, which FE Week also learned exclusively would involve scrapping advanced learner loans.

We asked yesterday why apprenticeships had not got a mention in the initial raft of pre-general election education announcements this was part of – which shadow education secretary Angela Rayner and leader Jeremy Corbyn are outlining in speeches this morning at Leeds City College.

They have now explained that Labour would maintain the new apprenticeship levy, launched last month, but “introduce new measures to drive up quality”.

A spokesperson explained they would require the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education to report “on an annual basis to the Secretary of State on quality outcomes of completed apprenticeships to ensure they deliver skilled workers for employers and real jobs for apprentices at the end of their training”.

It would also “shift emphasis from quantity to quality”, by measuring completion rather than apprenticeship starts, and through “focusing on higher NVQ level apprenticeships, committing to double the number of completed apprenticeships at level three by the end of the parliament (94,000 in 2015/16 to 200,000 by the end of the Parliament)”.

Shadow skills minister Gordon Marsden (pictured) also told FE Week: “We will also protect the £440 million funding for non-levy payers on small and medium sized businesses, and see what more can be done in that area.

“We will also concentrate on recognising the needs of independent training providers, as well as general FE colleges.”

Ms Rayner echoed this in her speech this morning, saying Labour will ringfence £440 million from the apprenticeship levy for small and medium sized businesses, as well as increasing capital investment to help colleges deliver planned new T-levels.

Mr Marsden also told FE Week: “We will also put an equal amount of emphasis on growing service sector apprenticeships as manufacturing. It’s about parity of esteem.”

Association of Employment and Learning Providers’ boss Mark Dawe said: “As was set out in AELP’s own manifesto [which called for 4 million starts in the next parliament], we don’t think an increase in apprenticeships has to be at the expense of quality. Numbers and quality can grow together. Therefore Labour’s focus on quality is welcome.

“We have to be a little careful however about using completions as a target measure, because this might lead to employers and providers only taking the applicants most likely to succeed and we must never lose sight that one of the best attributes of apprenticeships is them acting as a driver of social inclusion for young people.”

FE Week also asked Labour to clarify what it meant through last night’s announcement by the plan to “increase the adult skills budget to £1.5 billion by the end of the parliament”, when it already stands at around that level.

A spokesperson confirmed this morning that this was misleading, and the plan is actually far more ambitious.

He said the ASB, the same thing as the adult education budget, would actually be “increased by £1.5 billion”.

Mr Marsden also told FE Week this morning: “We will increase the ASB by £1.5 billion (not “to” £1.5 billion), so it will go up to £3 billion per year by 2021/22, the end of the next parliament.

“It will include extra funding for ESOL (English speakers of other languages) courses.

“The whole thing will be in order to fund the specific FE expansion ledges as part of our lifelong learning drive”.

Speaking to journalists after her speech, Ms Rayner said more about FE:

“I’ve been deliberately trying not to talk about higher education today. I came here today to a further education establishment, an amazing establishment here in Leeds, and I’ve talked about my personal story because many politicians have talked about parity of esteem, but they’ve not touched FE.

“They’ve never felt the transformative effect that FE has. When I was a mum at 16, I was made to feel that ‘that’s it, there’s nothing left of me’. I had failed at secondary school and there was no option for me to go back and to be good at anything, whereas FE gave me the opportunity to get a vocational qualification in care, so I was able to go back into the workforce on a part time basis and then full time.

“For the first time, I fell in love with learning. Before that, I never felt good enough. That’s what FE does. That’s the transformative effect. So forgive me that I’m not talking about higher education today, but it’s because I genuinely believe in parity of esteem and if I talk about higher education everybody talks about that and leaves FE behind, and that frustrates me.

“If Labour are in power on June 9, I will be the education secretary, I will say that parity of esteem for FE and apprenticeships means something to me. It genuinely means something to me, because I am that working-class kid from a council house that was written off at 16, that was told you’ll never be good at anything, and I want all of those children up and down the country to know they are amazing, they are what makes Britain great, and with me as their secretary of state for education.

“I will ensure that they reach their full potential and if that’s through an FE, higher education, or through an apprenticeship route. I will make sure that option is open to them.

“And for the mums and dads that are my age that feel like that’s it for them, that they’re in a job, they’re not going to be able to afford to go back to adult learning, under Labour you will. If you at nine were saying ‘I want to be a nurse, I want to be a teacher’ and you have had those dreams snatched away from you, under Labour, those dreams can become a reality. It doesn’t stop at age 16 or 20.”

Breaking: AoC manifesto calls for employer levy funding restrictions

The Association of Colleges’ manifesto has called for new levy funding restrictions on employers.

The document was unveiled this afternoon by the AoC, led by chief executive David Hughes (pictured).

Of key interest is the commitment to “reduce the proportion of the levy available to employers to 75 per cent”.

It added the “available resources” freed-up by this, should tackle challenges, such as improving quality, incentivising progression and addressing regional disparities.

The document also highlighted the need to “move away from a numerical target for apprenticeship starts”.

This comes after the drive to create 3 million apprenticeships starts, following the Conservative Party’s 2015 manifesto commitment, sparked criticism that quality was being sacrificed in the push to get as many learners on board as possible.

The AoC has called for the new focus to be on job and career outcomes for apprentices, and improvements in productivity and retention for employers.

This is in contrast to the Association of Employment and Learning Providers’ manifesto, unveiled earlier this month, which called on the next government to commit to 4 million quality apprenticeships over the life of the next parliament.

The AoC also wants the new government to encourage employers and incentivise colleges to “support more apprenticeships at level three as a minimum end point and ensure they commit to 20 per cent off-the-job training for apprentices”.

The manifesto added the government should “ring-fence 16 to 18 education funding at £7 billion in 2017, rising to £7.5 billion in 2022”, and “engage employers, public authorities and colleges locally in skills devolution”.

There is also a call to establish a new system of personal learning accounts, which “give individuals a single budget at age 18 with flexibility over courses, levels, modes (including part-time and distance learning) and length of learning, with more choice about the qualifications they can achieve”.

AoC would like the government to work with the Student Loans Company scheme to develop a new account into which people can make payments, separate from loan repayments, and which employers can invest into as well.

Immigration also features, with the opening section stating: “For all of us in education, Brexit poses challenges but also offers great opportunities.

“Many companies and organisations have relied for too long on recruiting people from the EU (and beyond) rather than training and developing the current workforce.

“That reliance has to end. As a country, we need to be outward looking and welcoming to people from all backgrounds, but we must do this from a position of strength where we are self-sufficient in skills.

“A post-Brexit UK needs a new culture of lifelong learning to become the norm in all communities, for all people.”

The manifesto further calls on the government to establish a “sensible approach to immigration” to ensure that the thousands of EU teachers in colleges are able to continue to work here.

Reflecting on the manifesto, Mr Hughes said: “Colleges are vital for delivering the education and training needed for people of all ages.

“They boost productivity, strengthen the economy and they are eager to deliver more in Brexit Britain.

“After years of under-investment the next government needs to support colleges to develop a culture of lifelong learning in which every young person and adult has opportunities to learn throughout their lives.”

Paying training bills by Direct Debit could be key to apprenticeship levy success

Taking on apprentices has long been off-putting for businesses because many believe that trainees’ courses are expensive and the entire process is time-consuming.

But the new government levy, introduced in April 2017, addresses the first of these issues, offering many employers considerable financial help with training costs. Having an efficient and automated way of paying for courses, such as Direct Debit, should also serve to reassure companies they can afford to support apprenticeships, since payments can be spread out over time, making them more manageable.

For course providers, using Direct Debit via the GoCardless payment system is fast and easy to set up. Training providers can see when money is in their account, which is vital to ensure the continued smooth running of the system. GoCardless provides automatic notifications and updates when payments are received, making it simple to manage submissions to the Individualised Learner Record, the compulsory data collection that the government requires of those providing training in the further education field. This approach to handling payments also avoids credit card issues of cancellation, expiry and high fees, and gives customers the comfort of the Direct Debit Guarantee.

Fast, automated solutions

The problem of time – or the lack of it – is a persistent one for SMEs, in particular. One in four smaller employers told the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) that not having time to devote to apprenticeships was the reason they decided against taking on a new beginner.

Again, the way training is paid for can be a persuasive counter argument to this assumption. GoCardless’s own research has found that users of Direct Debit say the simplicity of setting up the payment system – providing the necessary details at the outset with no need for subsequent updates – is a major bonus. The entire procedure can be completed online in minutes, helping educational bodies get the required admin up and running in good time.

Educators as advisors

So, education providers should act now – if they haven’t already done so – to make paying for courses as flexible and painless as possible for employers, both those already hiring apprentices, and those with plans to do so. Almost half of the companies the FSB surveyed about apprenticeships sought information and guidance from the education provider itself prior to taking on an apprentice, so training bodies should recognise their role as a trusted advisor, as well as purveyors of knowledge and skills.

The best courses offered at the right price, then paid for in a manner that makes employers’ lives easy. That is the core message apprenticeship trainers should be getting across to businesses in light of the newly introduced levy. It’s a formula that – if executed properly – should prove a great success for employers, apprentices, education providers, and the UK economy overall.

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Lib Dems commit to defending 16 to 19 funding

A “real-terms” commitment to protect 16 to 19 FE funding per pupil has been announced by the Liberal Democrats.

The party announced today that over the course of the parliament, it will protect FE per pupil funding “in real terms” at £660 million, and “invest in continuous professional development for teachers” through a £165 million cash commitment.

The party’s shadow education spokesperson Sarah Olney (pitcured) told FE Week: “Students are being left behind as our educational system is cut to the bone.

“This extra £660 million to protect FE will ensure that students are not taken for granted.”

FE Week checked that this was just referring to 16 to 19-year-old learners, and what in that case did that mean for older FE learners.

A spokesperson said: “The figure is for pupils up to the age 19. But we will be setting out other commitments to support adult learners in our manifesto, which will be out in due course.”

David Hughes, chief executive of the Association of Colleges, told FE Week the pledge was “a great first step”, but “if we are to be more self-sufficient in skills, a post-Brexit UK will need increased investment to engage more adults”.

It comes after the Liberal Democrats pledged before the 2015 general election to “protect sixth form and college budgets”.

James Kewin, deputy chief executive of the Sixth Form Colleges Association said: “We are pleased that the Liberal Democrats have restated their commitment to protect 16-19 education funding. As sixth form funding is already 21 per cent lower than funding for 11 to 16 year olds, any further cuts would be disastrous for students and the economy. We hope that the Liberal Democrats will also back SFCA’s Support Our Sixth-formers campaign and pledge to boost sixth form funding by £200 per student ahead of a more comprehensive review of funding.

“We are pleased that the Liberal Democrats have restated their commitment to protect 16-19 education funding. As sixth form funding is already 21% lower than funding for 11 to 16 year olds, any further cuts would be disastrous for students and the economy. We hope that the Liberal Democrats will also back SFCA’s Support Our Sixth-formers campaign and pledge to boost sixth form funding by £200 per student ahead of a more comprehensive review of funding.

Today’s statement did not refer to apprenticeships, but FE Week asked them if they supported the Association of Employment and Learning Providers’ call, made on May 3, for the next government to commit to 4 million quality apprenticeships over the life of the next parliament.

This would be up from the conservatives’ pledge before the 2015 general election to create 3 million by 2020.

A Liberal Democrats spokesperson said in response: “We welcome this ambitious target to grow the number of high quality apprenticeships in the next parliament, and will be setting out our own plans to for an increase in apprentice numbers when we publish our manifesto.

“In the coalition government, Liberal Democrats championed apprenticeships and were proud that more than2 million apprenticeships started over that time. We believe that high quality apprenticeships are an essential part of building the UK skills base.”

Former business secretary Sir Vince Cable told Liberal Democrats’ conference delegates three years ago that he was responsible for blocking moves in 2010 to enforce drastic funding cuts for “post-school” training.

We reported last November that Dr Cable, who lost his seat in 2015 but is standing again for parliament this time around, was taking charge of the new project with current NUS vice-president for FE Shakira Martin, who is now president-elect, looking into how major reforms coming for the sector should be tailored for learners.

Labour also announced late last night that it would “scrap fees on courses for adult learners looking to retrain or upskill”.

Party leader Jeremy Corbyn and shadow education secretary Angela Rayner will outline the proposals, during speeches set to be delivered at Leeds City College from 10am.

Exclusive: Election delay for results of first adult education budget procurement

The announcement of results of the first ever procurement process for the adult education budget has been delayed until after the general election, FE Week can reveal.

An email seen by FE Week was sent to providers earlier today via FASST, the online services hub for organisations working with the Education and Skills Funding Agency, confirming that the Department for Education had “paused” the announcement until after the general election on June 8.

This comes after we revealed in late April that it was likely to be delayed until after the public vote.

It was signed-off by the “DfE sourcing team” and said: “In the run up to a general election, the ESFA, along with all government departments, has to comply with a series of restrictions imposed on communication activities.

“The timetable for announcing procurement results for the AEB has been paused in accordance with these restrictions. We will provide an update after the general election.”

Providers that didn’t have to tender for AEB funding will have already received their allocations, but those relying on the process for their financial support will be frustrated by the news.

It follows controversy caused by the government’s decision to also pause the massively over-subscribed non-levy apprenticeship procurement process.

Mark Dawe, chief of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, called for a long-term pause relating to the AEB procurement on April 25.

He said at the time: “The ESFA have just set a precedent for placing a pause on the non-levy apprenticeship procurement, so why not set aside the AEB invitation to tender for a year and give ITPs an allocation for the year 2017/18 essentially based on what they had before?”

It is thought around 500 training providers will have applied for a share of the AEB, which totals around £1.5 billion.

But only around £250 million of the budget was actually up for grabs through the tendering process, because colleges, local authorities and universities – which contract with the ESFA through a grant funding agreement – were not affected by recent changes and therefore did not have to tender.

The former Skills Funding Agency first wrote to independent training providers last autumn and told them that their current AEB contracts would come to an end in July, rather than having them automatically renewed as before.

FE Week then reported in January that the resulting procurement process for such contracts for ITPs had finally been launched by the SFA.

The ESFA announced on April 12 that the decision over non-levy apprenticeship funding allocations had been be paused to allow more time for the situation to be reviewed.

FE Week subsequently revealed that the total value of bids lodged through the now-paused procurement for apprenticeship provision allocations for non-levy-paying employers was around £1.6 billion, almost four times more than the sum available.

Providers had been bidding for a share of a funding pot worth up to £440 million. But FE Week learned that interest in this funding stream appeared to be much higher than the government had anticipated, with actual bids amounting to around £1.6 billion.