Staff and students left in the lurch after Wembley Skills Training Centre goes into liquidation

 

Skills Centre 328 Wembley High Road

A watchful Wembley Central resident got in touch with Wembley Matters earlier today saying:

The Skills Centre (housed in what used to be adoption/fostering service on the HIgh Road opposite Elizabeth House) is no longer in operation. There is a sign on the front door to the effect that no education studies are to be conducted in the near future.  This has been operating for about 3 years, mostly 16-18 year olds, mostly children from recently settled families (very nice young people from Iraq, Afghanistan, India ) wishing to take GCSE's again or trying to achieve a passing grade, or access to BTEC in English and Maths.

Someone mentioned to me that they believe their funding has been withdrawn or they lost it?

She is not wrong. The parent company Skills Training UK has gone into liquidation.

 According to FE Weekly LINK  staff were old a week ago that they would only be paid for 7 days work in August. 

The article was written before the appointment of a liquidator and FE Weekly reported:

 

While they wait for the appointment of a liquidator, employees can’t make a claim for unpaid wages, notice pay or redundancy pay. Meanwhile, staff are also worried learners could miss out on getting their qualifications this August as they’re not at work to liaise with awarding organisations.

 

Stunned staff, some in tears, told FE Week they had been “left drowning” and out of the loop at a time when living costs are spiralling and after they have worked at the provider for years.

 

“We’re just broken, some of us have children and mortgages, it’s completely crazy. Management went completely quiet on us.”

 

More than 200 staff members will be made redundant if the provider does go under. In an update issued on its website, Skills Training UK said it expects to appoint liquidators on August 2, and that all delivery to all learners has stopped. 

 

Importantly the students, some vulnerable, have been left in the lurch with the report continuing: 

 

There are also concerns that learners will not receive the qualifications they were studying for, as staff have been locked out of their computers and systems and are not able to communicate with the learners or awarding organisations such as Pearson. As emails were shut down, staff could not tell learners that the provider is about to shut its doors.

 

“They’ve abandoned them,” one staff member said. “Some of the learners that I started working with a year ago have behavioural issues, and now they are going to get nothing after a year’s work. And there’s no one to be held accountable.”

 

For the benefit of local businesses who may be owed money, staff and students, this is infromation from the liquidators LINK :

 

Appoinment of Liquidators Matthew Roe and Richard Hawes were appointed join liquidators over the Company on 2 August 2023, accordingly the Company is no longer trading. If you have any queries, please contact STUKCreditors@teneo.com
	Guidance for former Skills Training UK learners Guidance for learners, apprentices and employers undertaking an Apprenticeship or other ESFA-funded training programme (such as study programme or Traineeship) with Skills Training UK Limited, is available on gov.uk at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/termination-of-esfa-funding-agreements
	If you were undertaking a Gateway Qualifications’ qualification, please visit: https://www.gatewayqualifications.org.uk/learners/ If you were undertaking a Pearson qualification, please visit: https://qualifications.pearson.com/en/support/support-for-you/results-for-students.html If you were undertaking a City and Guilds qualification, please visit: https://www.cityandguilds.com/teaching-learning-assessment-and-results/students-and-parents If you were undertaking a Ascentis qualification, please visit: https://www.ascentis.co.uk/news/arrangements-for-assessing-and-awarding-qualifications
	If you are a London resident and were undertaking an adult course, please direct any enquiries to:  aeb@london.gov.uk
	Apprentices If you were being supported on an Apprenticeship with STUK you will be contacted directly either by your employer who will help you find an alternative supplier, or you may receive contact directly from the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA). If you are an employer who has been working with STUK, the ESFA are making direct contact with you to identify a new provider to support you.
	GCSE Resit Result Contact Information: Please note results will be released on Thursday 24th August 2023. London Learners: your results should be emailed directly to you by London Brookes College. Exam Office: exams@londonbrookescollege.co.uk

Greens call for cancellation of HS2 in the wake of the Carillion collapse

The Green Party has called on the Government to cancel HS2 after the collapse of Carillion, the company building the high speed rail link.

Jonathan Bartley, Green Party co-leader, also urged the Government to reverse privatisation, bring contracts back in house and launch a full-scale inquiry into the decisions made about the company, and the wider “privatisation experiment”.

Bartley said:

The collapse of Carillion should be the final nail in HS2’s coffin. Cancelling this vanity project would save tens of billions of pounds, and stop the environmental vandalism which would see miles of countryside and ancient woodland covered in concrete. Instead, Britain's rail network has the opportunity to rise like a phoenix from Carillion’s flames. Thousands of jobs could be created by investing instead in the upgrades local rail networks desperately need.

Carillion's demise should be seen as an opportunity to reverse privatisation, and protect jobs and pensions by bringing contracts back in house. It should also be the trigger for a full-scale inquiry, not just into the reckless decisions this Government has made over Carillion but also the whole privatisation experiment, which has been tried and found consistently wanting.