03 May 2002
A survey by the Association of Colleges, published this week, found 84 colleges that expect to lose £1,225,111 after honouring their commitments to students who would otherwise have been funded through individual learning accounts (ILAs).
A further 19 colleges expect to suffer losses amounting to £144,845 after investing in staff and other resources in anticipation of ILA holders joining courses. At least 7,724 students lost the chance to enrol on learning programmes after the ILA scheme closed amid claims of fraud by private trainers, says the survey.
Under the scheme, adult learners contributed a minimum of £25 to join a course and received £150 from the government. Ministers announced on November 23 last year that it was being shut down and the police called in after the Department for Education and Skills was alerted to irregularities.
A report by the Commons' education and skills select committee this week criticised ministers for failing to draw up the Private Finance Initiative contract properly. It said the programme was uncapped, had indefinite targets and failed to define fully the role of the private sector partner, Capita.
The 105 colleges that responded to the AoC survey – about one in four of the total number in England – had booked more than 48,000 students on to courses in 2001/02 using ILAs. The AoC is urging ministers to come up with an alternative scheme and to reimburse colleges for their losses.
David Gibson, AoC chief executive, said colleges had wasted large amounts of administrative time on ILAs and faced adverse publicity as a result of not being able to run programmes that they had originally offered.
'ILAs were a good idea that went wrong because the government didn't apply the same standards to other training providers as it applies to colleges,' he added.
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