A training provider removed from the apprenticeship register for being investigated for fraud has changed its name and is continuing to offer training, it has emerged.
In July 2017, Tes revealed that a total of 12 individuals with links to UKRS Training, which delivered training for the railway industry, had been arrested by British Transport Police (BTP) on suspicion of “supplying articles to commit fraud”. Ten individuals have now been released from bail but remain under investigation while two others are no longer under suspicion.
The provider had also been suspended from delivering rail safety training by Network Rail, but had been added to the Education and Skills Funding Agency’s register of apprenticeship training providers on 17 May 2017, making it eligible to deliver apprenticeships using the Department for Education’s apprenticeship service. After Tes provided information on the BTP investigation to the DfE, UKRS Training was removed from the register.
Now it has been revealed that the provider changed its name in February 2018 to Accord Contract Engineering Training Ltd (ACE), and, despite the police investigation still ongoing, it is offering training, although there is no suggestion this is improper. It is a registered training provider and a test centre for the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB), and Tes also understands it is approved to deliver a small number of City and Guilds qualifications.
Ian Sidney, fraud manager at CITB said: “ACE currently offers our site safety plus course, and health, safety and environment tests. Current compliance laws mean that other awarding bodies aren’t under any obligation to inform CITB of any investigations into other training providers for unregulated products.”
He added: “We are now looking into this issue through our compliance and verification team. If ACE is found to be in breach of our terms and agreement, we could terminate its contract. We’re working with the wider industry, Ofqual and other awarding organisations delivering construction qualification and card schemes to share such data, and information about incidences of fraudulent activity.”
A City and Guilds spokesperson said: “City and Guilds carries out rigorous and ongoing quality assurance checks on all of our centres as part of our ongoing relationship with them. We take any allegation of this kind incredibly seriously, and any suspicion of inappropriate delivery of City and Guilds qualifications will be thoroughly investigated.”
Sion Bowen, a director of ACE Training Ltd, said: “UKRS Training Ltd had been renamed to Accord Contract Engineering Training Ltd, the company has never stopped offering training, [and] still is governed by the same governance that it always has had.
“They [the authorising bodies for the courses it delivers] are all aware of the investigation and have audited the company on the back of this and are more than happy with the high standards maintained. All training is done on a commercial basis with no government funding.”
He added that the fraud investigation was still ongoing and “no proof of any fraud has been provided after three-and-a-half years of this investigation”.
Mr Bowen said that “all warrants that were [issued] by British Transport Police were quashed as they were all gained unlawfully, and compensation has been paid to the individuals and the company”.
A spokesman for British Transport Police confirmed the investigation was still ongoing and evidence was still being collected. “It wouldn’t be appropriate for us to go into further detail,” he added.
