Latest news from FE Week | FE Week

ESFA pause will destroy good specialist providers

It was announced during the Easter break that the government’s decision over funding allocations for apprenticeship provision for non-levy-paying employers had been paused, to allow time a careful review. Noel Dunne explains why he thinks this was a bad move.

As the director of an award-winning training provider in charge of four subcontracts with different primes, I had made meticulous plans, and invested time and resources to be ready to deliver a direct contract from May 1. Now the government has pulled the rug from under our feet.

As a specialist provider in creative, digital and marketing apprenticeships, Creative Alliance has been effective at enabling 16- to 18-year-olds to secure apprenticeships – no mean feat for a graduate-rich sector with no history of, and little initial interest in, vocational entry routes into work.

This naturally meant we were particularly hard hit by the reduction in fees for frameworks for 16- to 18-year-olds. Last summer I had to explain to our board that from May 2017 we’d earn 100k less delivering the same frameworks.

Despite this, we soldiered on, budgeting carefully, being reasonable about carry-ins and planning for new starts. We counterbalanced the reduction in funding we’d receive for the qualifications we deliver with the fact that from May 1 we’d be no longer paying 15 per cent in management fees.

Currently we pay our prime contract holders around 15 per cent of everything we earn to ‘manage’ the contract with the ESFA.

I prepared for a variety of scenarios to ensure we can meet the potential obligations with our employers. As a social enterprise, we have done everything that it is apparent the government and ESFA have not.

Last week we had no idea how much contract we were going to have to deliver but at least we knew where it was coming from.

This week we are not only clueless on how much contract value we will have, we also have no idea where it will come from.

And, of course, we already have new starts lined up, because you can’t turn the employer engagement tap on and off when providing a client-facing business service.

No one in their right mind would run a business under these conditions

The ESFA says existing contracts will be extended, but that doesn’t mean subcontractors will get value under those existing contracts: we are being capped NOW.

Our company needs a minimum contract for 2017-18 of £600k. If we do manage to find contract from somewhere, at that volume, then that’s £7,500 per month in management that I hadn’t planned to pay. That’s £60k that we will lose this year alone paying for learners in contract management fees.

At an average of £3,000 per apprenticeship, that’s 20 people unable to start apprenticeship qualifications with us.

The tragedy is that the £60k of public money will be paid for services we don’t need because we’re ready to go. We’ve invested time and resources into ensuring we’re ready. Like many other subcontracting providers, Creative Alliance is ready to start delivery immediately and directly manage contracts from the ESFA; we don’t need to pay a prime to manage contracts on our behalf.

READ MORE: ESFA pause was the right thing to do

So, here’s a simple request to the minister, the IfA and the ESFA. Please amend this decision and immediately issue direct contracts to training providers who:

Have a three-year track record of effective apprenticeship delivery under sub-contracting arrangements.

Have a Qualification Success Rate 5% above national average.

Can assure their ESFA contract managers that they have all the Information management, monitoring and reporting systems for the ESFA in place.

If not then we, and many other specialist providers, will find ourselves in jeopardy.

At a time when we should have been developing business opportunities, we have been focusing on how we going to manage this! No one in their right mind would attempt to run a business under these conditions.

As my last shreds of sanity slip away, it helps to remember that we did all tell the minister and civil servants that their process and timetable would not work.

The first rule of leadership is listening. The government didn’t. Now I, the team, our clients and our learners will see what we can salvage from this fiasco of their making.

Noel Dunne is director of Creative Alliance

Institute for Apprenticeships announces route panel chairs and apprentice panel

The Institute for Apprenticeships has appointed the chairs for 15 route panels, and a panel of apprentices to advise the board.

The route panels are made up of industry experts and will be responsible for setting the standards of knowledge, skills and behaviours needed by employers for every occupation in England.

The chairs will lead their groups in reviewing and recommending apprenticeship standards and assessment plans and advising on funding levels on behalf of the institute.

The panel of apprentices is made up of current or recent apprentices from a wide range of occupations and experiences from up and down the country. Holly Broadhurst and Adam Sharp, two of the winners at the National Apprenticeship Awards 2016, are among those chosen to sit on the panel.

The panel will decide what issues to focus on and ensure the apprentice voice is heard within the decision making structure of the institute.

Chair of the Institute for Apprenticeships Antony Jenkins said: “I’m delighted to be able to formally announce these appointments.

“For our panel chairs we’ve got individuals of superb calibre – a dynamic mix of experts in their field from a broad range of occupations.

“Their expertise will ensure the panels are run smoothly and that quality will be maintained across the system.”

He added: “Our panel of apprentices is something I am particularly proud of – a deeply impressive group of individuals who will ensure the needs of apprentices are truly reflected in the development of the apprenticeship programme.”

The panel chairs are:

Agriculture, environment and animal care – Richard Self, project manager, Edge Careers and Agricultural Manager, Co-operatives UK
Business and administrative – Andrew Ground, chief executive and co-founder of Tutorfair
Catering and hospitality – Alison Gilbert, human resources and board director, CH&Co
Childcare and education – Sir Nick Weller, executive principal, Dixons City Academy, Bradford
Construction – Tanja Smith, technical director, Gradon Architecture
Creative and design – Iain Smith OBE, film producer, Applecross Productions
Digital – Mark Sherwin, managing director, global digital customer services lead, Accenture
Engineering and manufacturing – Dr Graham Honeyman CBE, chief executive at Sheffield Forgemasters
Hair and beauty – Suki Kalirai, director, GKC Infocus Ltd and Qi Spa (Spa WMC Ltd)
Health and science – Kirk Lower, national lead for apprenticeships, talent for care, widening participation and volunteering, Health Education England
Legal, finance and accounting – Mike Thompson, director, early careers, Barclays
Protective services – Sir Jonathan Murphy, former chief constable Merseyside Police, professor of advanced policing studies, Liverpool John Moores University
Sales, marketing and procurement – Godfrey Moger, station director for free radio, Bauer Media
Social care – Sir Roger Singleton, chair of the Independent Safeguarding Authority and previously chief executive of Barnados
Transport and logistics – Michelle Nolan-McSweeney, head of training strategy, Network Rail

The 11 members of the panel of apprentices are:

Heeran Basi – SevernTrent
Holly Broadhurst – JCB
Lucille Gallaway – Barclays
Adam Gymer – Pfizer UK
Kara Halford – Dawn’s Flower Box
Becky King – National Physical Laboratory
Kam Penglin – CT Skills
Sanna Shabir – Atkins Global
Adam Sharp – Sellafield
Daniel Skinner – BAE Systems
Poppy Wolfarth – Asset Training

What secret grade did you get?

This week we expose the ESFA’s top secret four-level grading system that gets applied to every one of just over 1,000 post-16 providers that they fund.

We learned that funding agency staff use what’s called a ‘profile and assessment tool’ to assign every prime provider one of four ‘intervention status categories’.

On the face of it this seems a well-structured and proportionate approach to intervention, given the ESFA’s responsibilities.

But what’s surprising – and concerning – is that over half (55%) of the providers that it contracts with are of concern, typically based on their finances.

This might be something the Education Select Committee, Public Accounts Committee and the National Audit Office will show an interest in.

And it’s disappointing that the DfE has refused to explain the basis on which a provider is given a grade or any detail on what they are used for.

The AoC and AELP are united in their expectation the agency should come clean.

It is now a case of watching this space…

UPDATE: It has been brought to our attention that there were inaccuracies in the full PAT list previously published, which FE Week downloaded from the DFE website. Whilst we investigate we have removed the link to this data. We apologise for any inconvenience caused. The data was sent to the DfE in advance of publishing for their reference.

Government secretly grading all colleges and training providers

More than half of providers have been secretly rated by the Education and Skills Funding Agency as posing a potential risk, FE Week can exclusively reveal.

They are surreptitiously marked using a four-grade system in the ESFA’s ‘profile and assessment’ software tool, which FE Week has discovered listed 563 (55 per cent) of 1,025 private training providers, colleges and councils with agency contracts as either being watched closely by officials or receiving formal intervention, as of January 2017.

The Department for Education has refused to comment on the scheme, but sector leaders who were shown the list of providers and grades have lambasted the ESFA’s secrecy and are now calling for urgent transparency.

The four categories included in the PAT are ‘formal intervention’ (red), the most severe, ‘active engagement’ (amber), ‘close watching brief’ (light orange), and ‘standard monitoring’ (green).

If a provider is placed in the first three categories, it means the government is concerned about their performance and places them under scrutiny.

FE Week understands that a total of 73 providers were receiving formal interventions in January, with 299 in active engagement with the DfE, and 191 on the close-watching brief.

Just 462 were in the clear in category 4.

Mark Dawe, the chief executive of AELP, slammed the ESFA’s secret grading system.

“As a public body there should not be any secretive processes and this should all be transparent to all providers that they fund,” he told FE Week. “This is clearly something the AELP will need to raise with the ESFA on behalf of our members.”

David Hughes, the boss of the AoC, said it was “appropriate” for the ESFA to be assessing the financial and overall health of the providers it funds.

However, he added that it would be “good for the agency to be more transparent about what the triggers are using to move providers into and out of each category”.

He also wants further information to help “understand more how the agency uses these categories for funding decisions”.

Providers rated in category 1 of the PAT are treated like those with a notice of concern or serious breach, and face having their funding contracts terminated if they do not meet the government’s conditions for improvement.

The Department for Education would not provide FE Week with any further details about these categories, or the way they are determined and used.

“We do not comment on leaked documents,” said a spokesperson.

ESFA was right to pause non-levy ITT process

The government’s decision over funding allocations for apprenticeship provision for non-levy-paying employers has been paused, to allow it more time to review this policy area. Anne-marie Morris explains why she thinks this was a good move.

The pause in the non-levy ITT will bring some much needed stability to a sector that is currently in a state of confusion.

While I support the reform in principle, in practice it has been rushed, in particular for non-levy-paying employers. The Education and Skills Funding Agency now has the time to review the process fully and make sure it is implemented properly.

The stance the ESFA has taken is a brave one, and I appreciate the difficulties it has caused for many. However the very fact it has taken this step demonstrates that it has listened to these concerns, and agrees that more consideration is required.

It should be remembered that even for those providers that made it onto the RoATP, there was never any guarantee of contracts for non-levy employers, meaning there was always going to be disappointment for the majority of providers.

READ MORE: Why the pause will destroy good specialist providers

The RoATP process has had its difficulties, and there is still doubt over whether it was needed at all, as its aims could have been achieved through the current ROTO system. The ESFA already holds a wealth of information on primes and subcontractors that it could have used to make informed decisions about providers – more time should have been spent on this.

Ofsted results should have been considered more during the RoATP process. Not utilising their findings was a mistake

Ofsted results should have been considered more during the RoATP process and not utilising their findings in a more considered way was a mistake.
Equally, for subcontractors, the prime provider’s grade would have given the ESFA information on those who work with them, which would surely offer more reassurance of quality than three ambiguous questions.

This approach could have stopped the list filling up with insolvent providers, shell companies and those with grade fours or notices of concern.

I recognise the ESFA wanted to attract more providers to the market, and some existing subcontractors should certainly be prime providers, but not at the price of proven experience.

The government has set a challenging target to hit three million apprenticeships, but surely taxpayers want them to be good? Over the years the ESFA has lost touch with its provider base, and the RoATP process clearly demonstrated its lack of knowledge on what is actually happening on the ground.
I believe the government has put pressure on the ESFA, and I would hope that this pause also demonstrates that it also sees the need to slow down and review what apprentices and employers need.

The RoATP process clearly demonstrated a lack of knowledge

With Brexit, there has never been a more important time to ensure that we are developing an effective workforce for the long term, rather than as a three-year business plan between general elections.

The ESFA needs more time to listen to the many issues and to work in partnership with sector experts to ensure the process is robust, and that providers’ rigorous checks are meaningful.

Employers and apprentices should not have to worry that a provider they choose from the RoATP has no experience, is financially unstable, under notice of serious breach, or has a poor Ofsted grade.

The very purpose of the RoATP was to give employers confidence that providers would be able to deliver the quality needed for their apprenticeships; the pause will enable ESFA to ensure this now happens.

I admire the ESFA for taking this difficult but fundamentally sensible decision to pause the process – let’s hope it continues to apply good sense, and allows us all to get back to the important business of supporting our employers and apprentices.

Anne-marie Morris is an assessor at Acacia Training

BREAKING: Agency writes to apprenticeship providers with further details on non-levy pause

Today the Education and Skills Funding Agency has written to providers regarding non-levy funding for apprenticeship from 1 May (see full ESFA letter below).

After the pause to non-levy allocations, many providers will be relieved that “to maintain stability through the transitional period we will continue to apply current subcontracting rules to the delivery of new starts to non-levy-paying employers through to December 2017.”

Mark Dawe, chief executive at the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, told FE Week: “AELP has pressed really hard and constantly for the existing subcontracting rules to remain in place until the end of December because we need stability in the relationships between the main providers and the subcontractors. The Agency’s decision to respond positively to our call is very sensible; otherwise we could have seen massive shifts in relationships unless agreed by both parties.

“However while this element of today’s communication is very helpful, providers will only learn by 25 April what their allocations will be for the remainder of 2017. This is good news, but it only leaves 6 days until 1 May. The notification is vital because providers really need to know what funding they will have available for starts and carry-over learners.”

Full story to follow.

Dear colleague,

Re: Extension of existing apprenticeship contracts for delivery to non-levy employers

We recently published news about the procurement exercise for apprenticeship training provision. I am writing to provide you with further details on the actions we will take to extend existing contracts held by eligible providers. A summary of actions is included at the end of the letter.

Funding Allocations

By 25 April we will confirm your allocations for funding starts to non-levy-paying employers through to December 2017. Your allocation will be for the full 8 months and you will have flexibility to use it over this period. We will issue separate allocations for 16-18 and adult apprenticeships. We will continue our simple approach to calculating your allocations, based on your delivery track record. All existing apprenticeship contract holders will be informed of their allocation so that once they enter RoATP they are able to deliver.

We will also confirm the value of Apprenticeship Grant for Employers (AGE) available to you through to the end of July 2017. These will be calculated using our previous allocation method.

Contract Variations

Before 28 April we will vary your existing contract to include funding for new starts from 01 May. These starts will be funded in line with the Apprenticeship Funding and Performance Management Rules 2017 to 2018 and Apprenticeship Technical Funding Guide for starts from May 2017. This means that the rules on co-investment will apply and funding will be calculated using the new funding bands.

To maintain stability through the transitional period we will continue to apply current subcontracting rules to the delivery of new starts to non-levy-paying employers through to December 2017. This is an extension of the existing subcontracting rules with the exception that all subcontractors must have entered the Register of Apprenticeship Training Providers (RoATP) to deliver during this period where they are delivering in excess of £100,000 of apprenticeship delivery.

We will send variations to those providers who have entered the RoATP and have an existing apprenticeship contract. We are currently assessing applications to RoATP following the recent re-opening. Results will be notified and published as early as possible in May 2017. As soon as existing providers enter RoATP they will be able to deliver to non-levy paying employers and will receive a contract variation.

We will vary contracts again in June to extend the contract duration into the 2017 to 2018 funding year and fund new starts until the end of December 2017. This variation will be issued as part of our annual contract cycle.

Performance Management

We will update our Apprenticeship Funding and Performance Management Rules 2017 to 2018 to reflect these transitional arrangements to contract extensions. Our performance management approach will focus on ensuring stability over this period. The rules will set out that we will continue to reduce contracts where performance is below our expectation.

We will continue to update you over the coming weeks. If you have any questions, please refer to your Provider Manager.Your training provision for existing learners that start before 01 May is not affected by this.

Yours sincerely,

Agency boss writes warning letter to all college principals

The outgoing boss of the Education and Skills Funding Agency has fired a warning shot across the bows to all colleges on the importance of reliable financial and data management.

Peter Lauener (pictured above) reminded college principals– or “accounting officers” – of their responsibilities in this area and the consequences of failing to meet them, in a strongly-worded letter [click to read letter] dated April 13 and seen by FE Week.

“Your responsibilities for the regularity, propriety and value for money of your college’s spending decisions underpin the annual assurance given to Parliament about the public money invested in colleges,” he wrote.

“Often our interventions into colleges result because those accountable have not fully understood their personal responsibilities,” he warned.

The ESFA’s recent review of college financial statements indicated that issues with “weak governance, poor leadership by the principal, or ineffective self-assessment” often “contribute to instances of weak financial management”, the letter said.

Mr Lauener highlighted colleges’ ILR returns as an “area where data could be improved” as “rates of error have been higher than in previous years”.

It was “critical” for colleges to “set their budget accurately” and that “this process is subject to appropriate scrutiny by governors”, he said.

The ESFA’s review showed “more colleges under-forecast than over-forecast their current liabilities”.

Mr Lauener wrote: “Robust and accurate profiling of both long and short-term debt is key to institutions’ ability to deliver a sustainable offer to their students, and achieve the best value for money.”

Those colleges rated ‘inadequate’ for financial health “were the least accurate at predicting their final outcome”, he noted.

He urged the accounting officers to discuss the issues in the letter with their board, and set out a number of steps the colleges should take.

These included improving self-assessment, as “our work with colleges in financial difficulty often finds that weak, un-evidenced self-assessment has contributed to delays in spotting potential failures in financial management”.

Mr Lauener’s letter comes as 54 colleges currently have a notice of concern from the ESFA, according to the most recent list published April 13.

Hull College Group chief executive stepped down in March after a report by the FE Commissioner in February exposed a £10 million deficit over four years.

And leaders at City of Liverpool College were heavily criticised for incurring a £15 million deficit, in a letter from skills and apprenticeship minister Robert Halfon in February.

In the same month the Department for Education closed a number of loopholes in the ESFA’s qualification achievement rates calculation, which it said “artificially” boosted the scores for around a tenth of all providers.

Ones to watch at AoC Sport National Championships 2017

With just one day to go until this year’s AoC Sport National Championships kick off in Nottingham, FE Week profiles three of the regional teams tipped to feature prominently in the battle for college sporting supremacy, and what individual stars to keep an eye on.

[You can read full details of the national championships here]

South West

After finishing in top spot at the last two national championships, the south west look set to be strong contenders for the coveted Wilkinson Sword trophy, for the region that collates the most points overall, once again.

The reigning champion’s star team is tipped to be in Volleyball. Both the men’s and women’s sides come from Petroc, a college in Devon.

The women heading to Nottingham are the defending champions after winning the sport in 2016, and the men will look to improve on their bronze medal from last year’s competition in Tyne and Wear.

One to watch for the south west will be Richard Huish College’s men’s rugby team, who have taken the baton from Exeter College for the first time in a number of years.

Exeter brought a bronze medal back from the national championships last year so Richard Huish, in Taunton, know they have big boots to fill, but with pace and power from the likes of Jack Churchill and Vinny Gordon, the team hopes they can take a few teams by surprise.

“This is a great achievement for the players and coaching staff, we have no expectations on them and only ask that they learn and develop through the whole experience to make themselves better players,” said the college’s sports development manager, Matt Nolan.

“It has been a huge achievement reaching the champs for the first time in the college’s history (for men’s rugby), so we are happy to be there, although sneaking a medal would top it off.”

North West

The region was agonisingly close to a podium place at last year’s event but ended up in 4th place.

But they have reason to believe they can go even better this year with a strong line up ready to challenge for honours.

Their star athlete is Olivia Peet from Holy Cross College, who is the favourite for gold in the tennis competition.

At just 16 years old, the student has a hugely impressive background in the sport. She is currently ranked among the top 20 in the country at Under-18 level, and is the number one for her age group in Lancashire, and number two in the county’s women’s rankings.

Added to that, in December she won the Under-18 National Winter tour, and is currently competing in the women’s 15k tour events – the first step to playing on the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) tour.

Sharing the tennis court will be George Hutchings, from St Mary’s College Blackburn, who is hoping to replicate his brother Charlie’s success of winning gold at last year’s event.

The 16-year-old has represented Great Britain at every age group since Under-10, and is currently ranked number one in Lancashire for U18s, having been crowned the county’s junior champion an impressive seven times. He was also ranked number one nationally at both U12 and U14.

George is confident and believes the experiences passed on from big brother Charlie could serve him well.

“I was really pleased for Charlie to win it last year and it would be great to do the same this year,” he said.

“Charlie has given me some background info to how event is staged, and I have had lots of experience of playing on the Nottingham courts so I am confident of feeling at home when I play.”

Returning to the national championships for the north west will be cross country runner Jessica Rogers from Blackpool and thy Fylde College.

The 17-year-old is currently the number one ranked U20 in Blackpool in both 1500m and 3000m, alongside many other accolades. She has been named her region’s team captain and is hoping to bring home a medal this year after just missing out in 2016.

“Last year’s event was a great opportunity to meet and then compete with the top college runners from across the country and I’m hoping having experienced the event before will stand me in good stead for this year’s race,” she said.

East

Coming off the back of a fifth-placed finish last year, the region will be hopeful of getting among the medals this time out.

Their star athlete, Thomas Pudney from South Essex College, will be among the favourites, along with the north west’s George Hutchings, for the men’s singles tennis title.

The 19-year-old is no stranger to the national championships stage, having reached the semi-finals last year in Newcastle, narrowly missing out on a podium place – and that was while carrying an injury which meant he was originally only due to play one match.

In rugby the Seevic’s men’s team include eight players who took part in last year’s championships where they won silver so will be well versed for the competition this time round.

This year the team has made it to the AoC Sport Premier League play-off final as well as reaching the final of the Essex Cup.

Craig Davidson, head of learning for sport at Seevic, said: “Preparations have been hectic to say the least, but I know head coach Danny Cleare has had the boys in over Easter to start our preparations for the tournament.”

Winger George Griffiths is pipped as Seevic’s main danger man.

“George has electric speed and is returning for a second year having been an important part of the squad that won the silver medal last year,” Mr Davidson said.

The finals

Around 1,650 student athletes will compete in the national finals, described as the “pinnacle of the college sporting calendar”.

In total, there will be 10 regions competing for the Wilkinson Sword, the others being East Midlands, West Midlands, London, South East, Wales, North East, and Yorkshire and Humber.

Competitions in 13 sports will run from April 21 to 23.

FE Week will once again be there for the full weekend, as media partner, reporting on all of the developments.

£1.6 billion bids for ‘markedly oversubscribed’ non-levy procurement

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, FE Week has learned.

The Education and Skills Funding Agency announced on April 12, that the decision over funding allocations relating to this procurement had been be paused, to allow more time for the situation to be reviewed.

Providers had been bidding for a share of a funding pot worth up to £440 million. But FE Week has now 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.

The ESFA said, when it announced the pause, that “this procurement was markedly oversubscribed, a sign of the significant level of interest from the training provider market in the apprenticeship reforms.”

“In response, ESFA intends to pause the current competition. This will allow us to review our approach to ensure that we achieve the right balance between stability of supply, and promoting competition and choice for employers.”

The ESFA confirmed at the time that it would extend existing contracts held by current providers, to help minimise resulting disruption.

It said: “In order to maintain stability in the system through the start of the next academic year, in the interim period we will extend existing contracts held by all current providers until the end of December 2017.

“To maintain our quality standards, current providers with extended contracts will be able to undertake new starts on those contracts provided they are on the new Register of Apprenticeship Training Providers.”

The government also announced at the time that it would notify providers of “specific arrangements shortly”, so that amended contracts are in place ahead of May 1.

FE Week asked the Department for Education and ESFA this morning, for clarification on when it would be providing the sector with any new guidance.

But a spokesperson said it could not at this time give a specific date, only that it would be published “shortly”.

The DfE, which had previously been due to release the non-levy paying procurement results on March 14, would also not confirm or deny the accuracy of the £1.6 billion figure.

A key area of extra guidance expected would relate to whether the EFSA will be delaying its planned rule changes towards subcontracting, and how the system will work in the interim.

The procurement pause left many of those who were applying for a contract for the first time frustrated, as reported in FE Week, with them claiming they now found themselves facing an uncertain future until further announcements are made.

FE Week estimates that as it stands over 400 main providers on RoATP (a third of the 1,303) will now not be able to directly deliver to over 98 per cent of the non-levy employers from May.

All main providers on RoATP without existing contracts, will be able to continue to subcontract with a lead provider to access the non-levy funding.

However, there has been no indication yet that the tighter subcontracting rules from May, whereby the lead provider must deliver some training for the employer, are being paused or delayed.

Reflecting wider concerns, when the announcement was made on April 12, FE Week reader Lee Morris also commented: “Does anyone know if non-levy employers will still have to make the 10 per cent contribution?”

This concern was reflected today by Mark Dawe, who warned this morning: “We need confirmation as soon as possible for the providers on the register that the co-investment rules will apply from May 1.”

The government announced last August that nearly all employers will only have to contribute 10 per cent to the cost of an apprenticeship from April 2017.

This meant the government would pay 90 per cent of the costs for 98 per cent of employers, those with annual wage bills below £3 million and thus not paying the levy.

Mr Dawe added today: “We believe that a pause in introducing the new subcontracting rules alongside the pause in the non-levy apprenticeship procurement does not involve a change in government policy and the ESFA can implement this by informing providers during the [general election] purdah period. Now is not the time to destabilize the provider supply base and good existing relationships between employers and providers.”

He spoke out amid sector concern that key apprenticeship reform announcements and other reforms could be disrupted and delayed, following the imposition of civil service purdah which FE Week understand will come into play from Friday.

This came after Prime Minister Theresa May announced today that she will call a snap election on June 8 this year, with resulting purdah limiting how the civil service announces politically sensitive matters until after the public ballot.