Only 1% of fraud or financial irregularity probes are published 

Just two out of nearly 200 government investigation reports on FE providers have been published over the past seven years, FE Week can reveal.

Figures obtained under the freedom of information act show that between 2017 and 2024, the Education and Skills Funding Agency recovered £49 million in public funding from colleges and training providers following 193 investigations into financial fraud or irregularities.

Experts have condemned the lack of transparency from the ESFA’s counter fraud and investigations team, which deals with allegations of financial misconduct and errors with education funding. 

The agency’s policy over this period stated it would publish these reports “in all but the most exceptional circumstances” because it is in the “public interest”, but it has since been watered down.

Little is known about investigations that the team carries out into FE providers beyond headline figures published in the ESFA’s annual accounts.

Since 2017, the agency has only published only two investigation reports detailing the findings and outcomes – for the College of West Anglia in 2018 and Bournville College in 2019.

Paul Bridge, head of further education at the University and College Union, told FE Week that failing to publish investigation reports means the ESFA is “essentially providing anonymity” to at-fault colleges and training providers.

“There are far too many examples of dodgy financial behaviour from further education bosses, which puts staff and students at risk, and the ESFA now needs to publish the outcomes of its investigations so these bosses can be held to account.”

‘Fair and transparent’

For at least ten years, the ESFA – an arm of the Department for Education set to close in March – has had a policy promising to be “fair and transparent” by publishing reports detailing findings of financial investigations “where it is appropriate to do so”.

But reports from several high-profile investigations are yet to see the light of day, including those into Weston, Brooklands and Strode colleges, as well as independent training providers such as 3aaa and four companies owned by Angela Middleton.

The most recently published report was into issues at Bournville College in Birmingham, published in July 2019.

Anne Murdoch, a senior advisor at the Association of School and College Leaders union, said publishing reports in a timely fashion would allow the sector to “learn from any mistakes that have been made”.

She added: “ESFA investigations encompass everything from incidences of major fraud to minor errors in relation to complex and regularly changing conditions of funding.

“If the outcomes of these investigations are not being published, it is difficult to fully understand the reasons why significant sums of money are being clawed back.”

In recent months spokespeople for the Department for Education have provided different reasons for failing to publish investigation reports.

Last year a spokesperson claimed that most investigations did not need to be published as they were “routine”.

But in November, the department told FE Week’s sister title Schools Week that publication of investigations were often delayed by an “overly protracted” legal process, that gives those criticised in reports the right to respond before publication.

Outcomes not findings

In December 2023, the ESFA updated its policy on publishing investigation outcomes after being berated by the public accounts committee (PAC) for failing to be “sufficiently transparent about the results of inquiries into concerns”.

The government has now promised to publish investigation reports within two months of their conclusion.

But it also quietly changed its policy to only publish investigation “outcomes” which are significantly shorter and less detailed.

PAC chair Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown has now raised “concern that the [publication] changes hinder transparency and do not align with the view of the committee” from its 2019 report.

He demanded an explanation from DfE permanent secretary Susan Acland-Hood in a letter published on Thursday.

Acland-Hood has been asked to set out how the department “considered transparency against other factors, such as timeliness, when changing [its] guidance to ensure evidence-based decision”.

He also wants assurances on how officials will “ensure sufficient information is available to the sector to understand gaps in practice and learn lessons with just investigation outcomes published”.

The DfE previously said its commitment was still met by publishing outcome reports, adding that doing so “enables the investigation team to publish the pertinent information from these reports without an overly protracted” legal process, such as allowing those criticised to provide a response.

This rule, known as the Maxwellisation process, after a case brought by the late publisher Robert Maxwell against the government, has “historically led to significant delay in publishing investigation outcomes”, the DfE added

The change also enables the government investigation team to “spend more time on its core function of investigating fraud and financial irregularity across the academy trust and further education sectors”.