Council under fire for lack of further education safeguarding

OFSTED CRITICISES FURTHER EDUCATION AND APPRENTICE SCHEMES AS INADEQUATE AND OPEN TO EXTREMISM

Government inspectors have branded Sunderland City Council’s further education and apprenticeship service ‘inadequate’ and highlighted concerns over ‘risks of radicalisation and extremism’.

An Ofsted report published this week found safeguarding was ‘ineffective’ and leaders and managers had not properly assessed the risks of radicalisation and extremism and had failed to prepare instructors to discuss the risks.

Tory leader Coun Robert Oliver described the report as ‘deeply troubling’, while Lib Dem leader Coun Niall Hodson said it described a council which was “slow, indecisive, and in some cases completely unaware of the services they run”.

The report highlights failures by the Tyne and Wear Care Alliance, which provides the council’s apprenticeship service: “Safeguarding on apprenticeship provision is ineffective.

“Apprentices do not understand how to keep themselves safe from risks, including the risks of radicalisation and extremism, or how to report any safeguarding concerns.

“Managers do not have a record of safeguarding issues or incidents at subcontractors and, therefore, do not know whether or not apprentices are safe.”

The report looked at six areas: ‘Effectiveness of leadership and management’, ‘Personal development, behaviour and welfare’, and ‘Apprenticeships’ were all rated ‘Inadequate,’ while ‘Quality of teaching, learning and assessment’, ‘Outcomes for learners’, and ‘Adult learning programmes’ were rated ‘Requires improvement.’

“Elected members and senior leaders have been too slow to recognise and hold managers to account for the recent deterioration in the achievement of apprentices and the emerging safeguarding concerns. They have not been decisive enough in ensuring that managers take action to address these issues,” says the report.

“Contract management for the apprenticeship provision has not been robust enough to identify and arrest deterioration in the quality of theprovision.Apprenticeship provision does not fully meet the principles and requirements of apprenticeships.”

It says the council needs to ‘urgently’ improve safeguarding arrangements, improve the flow of information to councillors and managers on performance of the service, and strengthen monitoring of subcontractors.

The report is kinder to the adult learning programme, saying learners enjoy courses and achieve goals, councillors are ‘committed and passionate advocates of the benefits the service brings’ and the curriculum ‘meets the needs of employers and communities’.

Deputy council leader Coun Harry Trueman attacked comments from opposition councillors: “It’s a default position of political opposition to criticise.

“They’re not the decisionmakers looking to balance the ever increasingly precarious budgets they have imposed on this council.

“Both Tories and Lib Dems are massively disrespectful of and to frontline workers who are striving to do their best as a result of the heinous Tory/Lib Dem austerity programme that has created these challenging circumstances.

“This is a service that helps more than 3,000 people every year into further learning, employment and apprenticeships and to achieve the independence that goes with that.

“As ever, the opposition is true to form in hyperbole and hypocrisy.

“Nonetheless, we recognise the inspector’s report and we’re naturally very disappointed about the findings.

“We have already put an improvement plan in place and are addressing the major issues raised around Prevent and British values.

“Our focus continues to be on our learners and ensuring that they achieve success.

“As both Tories and Lib Dems conveniently failed to recognise, this service is outsourced and the report confirms the council’s intention to bring about stronger contract monitoring processes.”