Uncertain future for 900 learners as Chesterfield provider calls in administrators

A national training provider has called in the administrators – leaving up to 900 learners uncertain about their futures and 54 staff out of work.

Slic Training, which has a head office in Chesterfield but delivers training as a subcontractor nationally to seven main providers, went into administration on March 10.

The provider has subcontracts worth a total of £3.6 million and had delivered land based provision, mainly horticulture apprenticeships, as well as pre-employment training to between 800 and 900 learners.

Chief executive Ian Benison told FE Week the problems with Slic Training resulted from an “unfortunate set of circumstances” that ended in them being unable to pay staff wages on the last day of February.

He said he tried to find a buyer to save the firm but was unsuccessful. As a result he was forced to put the provider into administration and make all staff redundant with immediate effect on March 10.

Mr Benison added: “I don’t want to go blaming certain organisations or people for what has happened, but all I’m happy to say is that this is the result of an unfortunate set of circumstances which were avoidable.

“We had fantastic staff and potential but this unfortunate set of circumstances impacted on our cash flow. We didn’t get supported by the bank who withdraw their support for us and that was the final piece of the jigsaw, they let us down badly.

“I feel really sorry for the employers and learners who we are letting down as a result.”

Slic Training had been on the Skills Funding Agency’s Register of Training Organisations, but not on its new Register of Apprenticeship Training Providers published yesterday.

Mr Benison said he is “led to believe” that the seven main providers who Slic subcontracted for are putting a plan of action together, that may include “offering jobs to some of the SLIC staff to continue training the learners and make minimal disruption for them”.

South Essex College was one of the main providers and had 308 apprentices and a contract worth £1,446,752 with Slic.

Anthony McGarel, deputy principal of South Essex College, said: “Yes we are aware of the situation and SLIC are fully cooperating with us. We’re putting a plan in place with the other providers so that none of these students will be left high and dry, every single one will complete their course.”

Skills Training UK had 17 learners with Slic Training, with a subcontract worth £79,529.

The main provider’s development director Graham Clarke said: “When SLIC Training emailed to alert us to cash flow problems we decided (as a precaution) to start making alternative arrangements for the 17 learners they were managing on our behalf.

“On Monday, March 13, we were emailed to say they had gone into liquidation the previous Friday.

“We then escalated our efforts to complete the new arrangements and are pleased to say that 14 of the 17 learners have already been placed with other Skills Training UK partners in the Black Country. Some are already continuing their programmes with the new providers.”

The five other main providers for Slic were Calderdale College, with a £563,465 contract, Prevista Ltd with a £891,000 contract, Qube Qualifications and Development Ltd with a contract worth £273,894, RNN Group with a £373,927 contract, and Sheffield City Council with a £1,773 contract. All five were unable to comment ahead of publication.

The SFA has been approached for comment, but was unable to do so. The same was the case with administrators Begbies Traynor.

Why is there no appeals process for the Register of Apprenticeship Training Providers?

After her company failed to get a place on the Register of Apprenticeship Training Providers, despite its Ofsted ‘good’ rating, Anne-Marie Morris wrote a letter to Sue Husband expressing her sense of injustice at the lack of an appeals process

Open letter to Sue Husband, Director of the National Apprenticeship Service, Skills Funding Agency

Dear Sue,

I am only a little person within a team, who works for a small training provider on which the SFA have made a decision that I believe is just so wrong. 

I have worked for this company for almost seven years. Previously I worked for social services for almost 20 years and always thought all private companies were just about making money and not quality –  how wrong I was!

I have had learners cry when they achieve their apprenticeship

This company really cares about our learners. We work really hard to ensure learners achieve their qualification, that they develop their skills and knowledge and I can say we do this really well. I have had learners cry when they have achieved their apprenticeship, as some have been out of education for decades and never thought they would ever be able to achieve a qualification of the quality they have.

The company I work for has supported thousands of learners to gain a quality qualification that has really made a difference to their lives. Often the learners have stayed with this company and completed various levels of apprenticeship qualification, resulting in learners receiving promotions, from care or support workers all the way through to becoming managers.

The company also really values us as staff. They ensure we keep our own knowledge, skills and understanding up to date, we are thoroughly supported in all areas of our own jobs as assessor tutors – as you can appreciate, our roles have changed significantly since the old days of NVQs.

Through this support we have great confidence, we are highly motivated and skilled in delivery, ensuring learners’ individual learning styles are met. We are experts in embedding ‘British values’, Prevent, functional skills, equality, diversity, employability skills, personal development, well-being and safeguarding. We have our practices observed every month to ensure our teaching, learning and assessment process meets the required standards; these observations are graded and detailed support plans are produced, which identify areas of development to ensure quality is maintained.

We were all over the moon with our Ofsted grade

Last year we gained an Ofsted ‘good’, which we had worked really hard for as a team. We were all over the moon with this grade as we knew we deserved it. Since then we have gone from strength to strength, as our confidence has grown preparing extremely well for the new Trailblazer to start. We have even been invited to seminars to explain this process to other providers, as we are so well prepared. We know how important it is to share best practice, as this helps all learners to achieve and benefit from their apprenticeships.

Ninety-nine per cent of our business is the delivery of apprenticeships, which we do extremely well. Yet we were told yesterday by our director that the SFA have not agreed our tender to be on the Register of Apprenticeship Training Providers. This means from 1 May 2017 we will be unable to enrol new learners on apprenticeships, despite having met all the requirements and being graded as Ofsted ‘good’.

How can this decision be correct, given there are other providers on the register that are graded as ‘inadequate’? We have been told there is no opportunity for feedback or to appeal the decision.

This will have a devastating impact on all our lives

As you can imagine everyone in the company is devastated as all the hard work and commitment we make towards supporting learners to achieve their apprenticeships to such a high standard appears to not have been considered at all.

I personally would really like to understand how this can happen and why we as a company cannot appeal the decision.

I, along with my colleagues, will surely lose the jobs we have been so proud of and the future of such a professional, caring company is now in doubt. We are only a small training provider with 70 staff members but this will have a devastating impact on all of our lives.

Yours,

Anne-Marie Morris

Team Leader/Assessor at Acacia Training

Colleges delivering hundreds of apprenticeships ‘surprised’ to be left off new provider register

A number of major apprenticeship delivering colleges are “stunned”, “disappointed” and “frustrated” at not being on the new Register of Apprenticeship Training Providers.

As reported by FE Week, the Skills Funding Agency yesterday published the full list of providers that will be eligible to deliver apprenticeships from May.

Among the colleges with significant current apprenticeship allocations that did not make it onto the list are Bournemouth and Poole College, Hartlepool College, Birmingham Metropolitan College and Northbrook College.

The news has prompted concern from David Hughes, chief executive of the Association of Colleges, who has vowed to raise the issue with the SFA and Department for Education as a “matter of urgency”.

Diane Grannell, Bournemouth and Poole College principal, said: “We are extremely disappointed and frustrated that we were not one of the initial organisations included on the register and we are doing everything we can to urgently rectify this situation.”

The college, which retained its grade two rating following a short inspection in February 2016, has a 2016/17 apprenticeships allocation of £5.6m, with the report stressing: “Students and apprentices continue to experience good education and training.”

Following the bad news on RoATP, Ms Grannell added: “Our failure was only due to a lack of clarity in one answer of our 2,000 word submission and at no point did the SFA ask the college to clarify any information.”

A spokesperson for Hartlepool College, which has a current apprenticeship allocation of almost £2.9 million, was “genuinely stunned” not to be on the register.

She said the college, which received a grade two overall and for its apprenticeship provision at its most recent inspection in 2014 that praised the high achievement rates for its apprentices, said it had missed out on a place on the register “due to an unexpected and frankly inexplicable ‘fail’ on a rather straightforward quality assurance question (QA10)”.

She continued: “We have provided a robust response to the question as part of our online submission that we would argue covers all the required criteria – hence we are attempting to engage with the RoATP team to try to resolve.

“We hasten to add that this is not an appeal or an attempt to add new information; we genuinely believe that there could be an administrative error”.

Birmingham Metropolitan College has an allocation of more than £4.6 million for apprenticeships in 2016/17, according to the latest Skills Funding Agency figures.

But the college does not appear on the new register published yesterday.

Andrew Cleaves, BMet principal, told FE Week: “Following the recent publication of the register, we are very surprised and disappointed by the outcome,” he said.

He said that the college had “put forward a solid proposal to the SFA” and had “grown significantly this past year”.

The college’s most recently published Ofsted report in 2015 gave BMet a grade three overall, with a grade three for apprenticeship provision.

But Mr Cleaves said the college was reinspected in February and rated ‘good’ for apprenticeships, with the report due to be published “imminently”.

“We are now working with the SFA to see how we can address things and are confident that this will reach a positive conclusion over the coming weeks, for BMet and our many satisfied employers and apprentices,” he said.

FE Week has also learned of another college that is “seeking clarification” from the SFA after not making it onto the RoATP. 

A spokesperson for Northbrook College, which has a current apprenticeship allocation of just over £3 million, said that the college had “expected to be included” on the list.

As reported by FE Week, the new RoATP was published yesterday by the SFA.

A total of 1,708 providers are on the list, with 1,303 of those being listed as ‘main providers’, who will be the only providers able to deliver training directly to levy-paying employers from May.

FE Week is also investigating a number of other providers with significant apprenticeship contracts that have not made it onto the new register. More to follow.

Breaking: SFA delays announcement of allocations for non-levy funding

Allocation worth up to £440m for delivering apprenticeship training to non-levy employers have been delayed by the Skills Funding Agency, FE Week can reveal.

It is understood that everyone who applied for the non-levy funding has been sent a notification on the government’s Bravo e-tendering portal – seen by FE Week – confirming the delay.

It will cause huge sector frustration – as the delay, with no alternative date supplied, comes shortly before the apprenticeship levy is due to go live next month.

The SFA message stated: “We are notifying you that we have amended the timetable for communication of results to applicants that was published in the specification document for ITT 30190.

“As soon as we are able, we will advise you of the amended timetable through this e-tendering portal (Bravo). If you have any questions, please ask them through this message board. Thank you.”

Mark Dawe, chief executive at AELP said: “It is disappointing that the statement on Bravo doesn’t offer any timetable on when providers can now expect to be notified and the ‘early March’ deadline looks like it has been missed.

“Providers really need to know their allocations so they can properly plan their provision and confirm with their existing employers whether or not their partnerships can continue, many of which have been in place for many years.

“More uncertainty is not in the interests of apprentices either who want to be confident that they can complete their programmes without unnecessary disruption.”

FE Week reported on March 8 that a key meeting that the SFA was supposed to hold that day, to reach final decisions on which providers will be allocated a non-levy employer funding allocation, had been cancelled.

We also learned that no date had been set, for when this would be rescheduled.

The SFA had been due to hold the meeting, where amounts that providers would receive was supposed to be agreed.

FE Week has asked the Department for Education this evening for more information on what is happening with the delay, but they declined to comment.

It comes as the list of those who have made it onto the Register of Apprenticeship Training Providers was published today.

Initial applications to join the RoATP, which providers have to be on if they want to deliver apprenticeship starts from May 1, closed on November 25.

FE Week analysis showed a week later that 1,753 providers applied to the register, to be able to deliver training directly or as a sub-contractor to large, levy-paying employers.

Of these, just 1,310 – or 75 per cent – also applied to deliver training to smaller, non-levy paying employers.

This meant that 25 per cent of providers turned down the opportunity to receive an allocation to deliver apprenticeships to companies that won’t be subject to the levy.

The SFA then announced on February 8 that it “will reopen the register for new applicants and/or those who were unsuccessful in their initial application.

“The re-opening will be soon after the first planned publication, probably in March,” a spokesperson added.

FE Week asked the department that evening if this was a panic measure to bring in more providers, and if the results of this second window would now be published before May 1.

The DfE took two weeks to respond, eventually saying on February 22 that this wasn’t a sign of panic.

The levy, first announced by the government in July, is set at 0.5 per cent of an employer’s paybill.

As outlined in the new guidance, all employers will receive a £15,000 allowance to offset against the levy. This means only businesses with a paybill of more than £3m will pay. 

That money raised will be ring-fenced, so it can only be spent on training apprentices and all levy-paying companies will receive a 10 per cent top up on monthly levy contributions. But the government will still allocate funding for apprenticeships with non-levy payers.

Company shuts down just days before SFA gives them green light for apprenticeship delivery

Update, November 1, 2017: The company has now confirmed to FE Week that it is continuing to operate, following a change of ownership.

 

A private training provider is on the new Register of Apprenticeship Training Provider despite having ‘ceased trading’.

Hertfordshire-based Apple Training Academy is listed as a main provider on the list published by the Skills Funding Agency, but is understood to have gone out of business this month.

FE Week has been unable to contact Apple Training Academy directly, as the provider’s phone is longer working and our emails have not been answered.

However, a spokesperson for the provider’s accountants, Lawrence and Company, confirmed it had ceased trading and was currently going through insolvency.

Apple Training Academy is not listed on the SFA’s current Register of Training Organisations, nor does it appear on the SFA’s subcontractor list.

It also hasn’t been inspected by Ofsted.

According to its website, which is still up and running, the provider offered a range qualifications in health and social care, child care, business and management, and training.

These are all offered at full-cost, with finance options available.

However, a news story dated February 27 indicated that Apple Training Academy would be offering apprenticeships from May (pictured).

“New apprenticeship funding is available from 1st May. Don’t miss out!” it said.

The story went to say that Apple Training Academy was “really excited to be able to offer” apprenticeships in a number of areas, including child care, adult care and management, from levels two to five.

The provider’s Facebook page is full of comments from angry customers who have lost money, having paid for training but not received it.

One such comment said: “Myself and my company are out of pocket to the sum of nearly £3000 in course fees – I have tried to contact our allocated account manager as well as the person responsible for the finances but to no avail. Come on Apple Training Academy….you must do your duty and return ALL course fees to those like us who paid our fees, in good faith but have not received any call backs whatsoever.”

According to Companies House, Apple Training Academy was set up 2011, and has two directors listed – Julie and Adrian Cook.

Julie Cook’s LinkedIn page said she was director of learning at the provider from January 2010 until March 2017.

She is also a councillor for Amersham Town Council.

Breaking: Full Register of Apprenticeship Training Providers finally published

Almost 75 per cent of applicants to the Register of Apprenticeship Training Providers were successful, the Skills Funding Agency has revealed.

The full list of providers on the new register has finally been published by the agency (click to download full list), almost 24 hours after providers began to learn their fate via the SFA’s e-tendering portal.

A total of 1,708 providers made the grade, out of 2,327 applications.

 

Table: a breakdown detailing number of applicants by provider type to RoATP.

The news will come as a relief to those on the register, as it means they now have the green light to deliver apprenticeships to levy-paying employers from May.

But providers that submitted an ITT to deliver apprenticeships to non-levy paying employers still have to wait to learn if they’ve been successful.

The results of that procurement exercise, which were also expected today, are now due to be “made available to applicants as soon as possible after the publication of the Register”,  the DfE said today in a statement.

Apprenticeships and skills minister Robert Halfon said: “Giving employers control over their apprenticeships needs and funding is an essential feature of our plan to create an apprenticeships and skills nation. 

“Our new register of apprenticeship providers will mean that only organisations that have passed our quality assurance can deliver apprenticeships.

 “We are giving employers the confidence to do business with high quality training providers, and making sure that individuals can benefit from gold-standard routes as they climb the ladder of opportunity.”

As previously reported by FE Week, there were 2,327 applications to the register – 1,753 via the main route, together with 336 via the supporting route and 238 via the employer provider route.

The main route is for providers to be able to deliver training directly to levy paying employers, while the supporting route is for providers who only want to act as a subcontractor for providers on the main route.

Providers started to post on twitter this afternoon that their organisation had been successful.

Employers that want to be able to deliver apprenticeships to their own staff could apply via the employer provider route.

Employer providers can only deliver training to their own employees, while providers on the supporting route cannot approach levy-paying employers directly. 

The publication of the full register today comes after the SFA shared the register results with applicants via the Bravo eTendering portal on Monday (March 13).

Social media posts by successful applicants showed their relief at finally knowing they had made it onto the register.

“We did it!!!! @LetMePlayUK made it onto the REGISTER OF APPRENTICESHIP TRAINING PROVIDERS #RoATP – we are so happy right now!!!!”

Initial applications to join the RoATP, which providers have to be on if they want to deliver apprenticeship starts from May 1, closed on November 25.

Of the 1,753 providers that applied via the main route just 1,310 – or 75 per cent – also applied to deliver training to smaller, non-levy paying employers.

This meant that 25 per cent of providers turned down the opportunity to receive an allocation to deliver apprenticeships to companies that won’t be subject to the levy.

The register will open for applications on a quarterly basis, with the next window being later in March, the DfE said.

 

 

Why I want other apprentices to enter skills competitions

Ashley Terron tells how he nearly didn’t become an apprentice, then went on to win gold for bricklaying at WorldSkills

When I was at school, all the kids wanted to be the best at something – the best footballer, the best dancer. For me, building was the family trade so it felt right to go into bricklaying, but never did I think for one moment that I would be named the best apprentice in the UK, let alone in the world.

Receiving my Gold Medal at WorldSkills Leipzig 2013 in front of an audience of apprentices, industry representatives and government officials from all over the world, I made a promise to myself. I wanted to make sure that other apprentices got the same opportunities that entering WorldSkills UK Competitions had given me.

I nearly didn’t become an apprentice

This was made all the more important to me, as I nearly didn’t become an apprentice. At school, my teachers encouraged me to go to university, apprenticeships was a dirty word. I was fortunate that my dad employed apprentices so I could see the benefits of training on the job. I secured an apprenticeship with his company and I also attended Warrington Collegiate.

Having completed my apprenticeship in 2011, I went on to complete a degree in Construction Project Management at the University of Salford. I now manage a team of apprentices at Redrow and it has given me the opportunity to see what is missing from the current training set up. For me, it is criteria that stretch the apprentice, make them ambitious in the pursuit of skills and the opportunity to develop transferable skills.

Skills competitions deliver on all of these points.

For me, a competition element should form part of any apprenticeship assessment. Yes, you could say I am biased. But would I be where I am now without my competition experience?  No, I wouldn’t.

I have seen first-hand the huge benefits of entering competitions

I have seen first-hand the huge benefits that entering competitions can offer apprentices. Not only does the activity develop their technical skills but also helps shape wider attributes including effective teamwork, communication skills and working to tight deadlines, all of which are as important as high level technical skills on site.

At the end of March I am taking a group of apprentices from Redrow to watch the UK’s top bricklayers compete at Stockport College to secure the one place in the team to represent the UK in bricklaying at WorldSkills Abu Dhabi 2017. After achieving its best ever result at WorldSkills Sâo Paulo 2015, the UK is currently in the top ten in both the WorldSkills and WorldSkills Europe rankings. This means the apprentices are learning from among the best in the world but it also shows them what they can realistically achieve in their own apprenticeship. You can see them becoming more motivated on site.

For me the visit will bring back a mix of emotions, but what I wouldn’t give for the chance to represent the UK and our apprenticeships on the world stage again.

FE Week is a media partner for the WorldSkills 2017 competition. Registration is open until 7 April.

Ashley Terron, an apprentice with Redrow Homes, was Gold Medallist in Bricklaying, WorldSkills Leipzig 2013

Breaking: Halfon sets out priorities for 2017-18 in skills funding letter

Spending priorities for 2017-18 have been set out by minister Robert Halfon in the annual Skills Funding letter.

The letter from the skills and apprenticeships minister to Skills Funding Agency boss Peter Lauener has just been uploaded onto gov.uk.

There are no surprises in terms of spending plan, with the £1.5bn commitment to support participation in adult FE through the adult education budget the same as last year.

But Mr Halfon signed-off with an intriguing final paragraph, looking ahead towards further change.

He said: “We are committed to investing in and strengthening the FE sector and are in the process of exploring opportunities to further build upon the important reforms already in train.

“I will write to update you of the government priorities for the sector once this work is complete.”

The minister stressed that the government remained committed to priorities set out in the 2016-17 skills funding letter.

He said: “We are retaining our commitment to maintaining funding for the adult education budget.”

“For 2017-18, we are investing £1.9 billion to fund participation in apprenticeship training for all ages; £1.5 billion to support participation in adult further education through the adult education budget, and £325 million available for provision at levels three to six through advanced learner loans,” he added.

Mr Halfon said he would leave it to Mr Lauener and his team to continue the implementation “of our high level priorities”.

“Please continue to work with the Department [for Education], in developing government funding policies and to make arrangements for monitoring progress and resolving any issues as they arise,” he said.

“I would like to thank you and your team for all that you have done over the past year and look forward to our continued progress going forward.”

This is likely to be the last skills funding letter to Mr Lauener.

FE Week reported on March 3 that the Education and Skills Funding Agencies are preparing for an imminent merger that will clear the way for him to retire. Mr Lauener held the role of EFA chief executive before he took on the top job at the SFA in November 2014.

How Toyota uses skills competitions to develop its workforce

Pete Spence explains how Toyota has used skills competitions as a benchmarking exercise to boost standards and develop its workforce

Our business ethos is one of premium quality and premium skill.

It is fairly obvious how we might go about proving the former: by making premium quality vehicles. But how do you demonstrate premium skill?

The answer is that you pitch yourself against the best in the UK, Europe and the world – which is exactly what we have done through our involvement in WorldSkills UK Competitions.

Competition activity is now fully embedded in our apprenticeship programmes

Toyota has a strong association with WorldSkills Competitions, with many of our manufacturing plants across the world entering apprentices into the competition. I am proud to say that the Motor Manufacturing apprentices were the only Toyota UK representation to make it to WorldSkills Sâo Paulo 2015, where they were awarded a medallion of excellence, to recognise them reaching the world class standard in mechatronics. We then had further success at EuroSkills Gothenburg 2016, where our apprentices were awarded the bronze medal in mechatronics. I’m also extremely proud that our involvement in these competitions helped the UK achieve its best ever result, with the UK currently ranked in the top ten in both the WorldSkills and WorldSkills Europe rankings.

This is fantastic recognition for the talent in this country but we still have a fair way to go to close the skills gap.

In 2013, we started a benchmarking exercise to gauge the skills of our current workforce. I attended WorldSkills UK Competitions as this is a great way to compare the skills of apprentices throughout the UK. Following this, we introduced development plans to close the skills gaps in our company using elements of competition to address key areas including work accuracy, speed improvement in tasks, and error control in our apprentices’ work.

The training of apprentices continues and competition activity is now fully embedded in our apprenticeship programmes. Competitions enhance standards in apprenticeships by setting extra challenges. This mirrors what UK businesses need to do in order to thrive in a global economy. Everything our apprentices do in competition is required by them in the workplace. Competition activity is driven by and for the business.

The senior management have really bought into skills competitions

Last year, our apprenticeship placements grew to 48. I feel that this is, in part, due to the success of our apprentices Robyn Clarke and Andy Smith in the mechatronics competition at WorldSkills Sâo Paulo 2015. They are great ambassadors to young people thinking about a career in engineering. Their success shows potential apprentices the opportunities that exist in our company both in the UK and internationally.  

The senior management have really bought into skills competitions as a mechanism for developing our workforce, with our managing director travelling to Sâo Paulo to cheer on Robyn and Andy at the WorldSkills Competition. This created a real buzz throughout the company.

We have recently introduced the new Mechatronics Maintenance Technician apprenticeship which strongly features elements of skills competitions to ensure standards are continually being raised. At the end of March, our apprentices will once again focus on an international competition as they compete for the place to represent the UK in Mechatronics at WorldSkills Abu Dhabi 2017. I can proudly say the whole of Toyota Manufacturing UK will be behind them.

Registration for WorldSkills, for which FE Week is a media partner, is open until 7 April

Pete Spence is Senior Specialist in Technical Development at Toyota Motor Manufacturing (UK) Ltd