ESFA | FE Week

Stephenson College challenged over £100,000 tactical subcontracting

A college that charged up to 57 per cent in management fees has been found to be attempting to use up £100,000 of skills funding with tactical subcontracting. But the Education and Skills Funding Agency has refused to say whether it will take enforcement action over what appears to be a clear breach of funding […]

ESFA misses chance to get tough on wasteful subcontracting

The ESFA must enforce rules that are supposed to be putting a stop to wasteful short-term subcontracting. The example uncovered this week showed Stephenson College seeking to find subcontractors to use up £100,000 of funding by the end of July. That’s less than three months from the start of the contract to the end, proving […]

Mucklow tackles AEB devolution as director roles change at ESFA

The director of Young People and former sixth-form college commissioner has been given the mammoth task of devolving the adult education budget, as part of a reshuffle at the top of the ESFA. In an extensive new brief, Peter Mucklow has become the agency’s director of further education, which as well as implementing devolution includes […]

Apprenticeship payments system breakdown finally ‘resolved’

The government claims to have finally fixed its malfunctioning apprenticeship payments reporting system, more than two weeks after it was first reported. FE Week reported last week that the ESFA had missed its own deadline to repair the IT issues, which had prompted numerous exasperated complaints on the FE Connect site from April 10. We […]

Providers told to declare subcontracting fees by late April

The Education and Skills Funding Agency has finally sent providers long-delayed templates to let them declare their subcontracting fees. Individual lead providers previously had to publish their annual figures by the end of every November every year. But the rules changed for 2016/17, and providers are now expected to inform the ESFA of their figures, […]

ESFA to ‘review’ rules on subcontracting fees and charges

Subcontracting fees and charges will be reviewed to ensure government funding is being used for “recognised costs”, the Education and Skills Funding Agency has revealed. “In the coming months, we will be reviewing… aspects of the subcontracting funding rules,” it said in its announcement, published online last night. This includes “subcontracting fees and charges, so […]

Employer satisfaction surveys to be audited for the first time

The government will audit the results of its employer satisfaction survey for the first time, due to concerns over the way it is distributed by providers. The ESFA said it would provide “additional quality assurance” in this year’s survey, in new guidance, in order to ensure the data is comparable between providers. It specifically wants […]

Apprenticeship levy transfer policy explained

The government has explained how employers which pay the apprenticeship levy will be able to transfer funds to other organisations from April for the first time. Large employers have been forced to pay the levy since it was launched last April, but they have only been able to spend the funding generated on their own […]

New ESFA boss admits levy ‘challenges’

The apprenticeship levy is having a challenging introduction, the new person in charge of education finances has admitted. Eileen Milner (pictured above) admitted as much in a statement marking her first day as chief executive of the Education and Skills Funding Agency. “Seven months into the apprenticeship levy, which has brought about much change, the […]