Prospects College of Advanced Technology has been issued with a financial health notice to improve by the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA).
In a letter to David Sherlock, chair of the college’s board of governors, David Jeffrey, deputy director, intervention (London and South East), ESFA, states: “PROCAT has been assessed as having inadequate financial health by ESFA following a review of the college’s latest out-turn figures for 2016-17 and the revised budget for 2017-18.”
The correspondence, released today, says that the college will be referred to the FE commissioner “for an independent assessment of the college’s capability and capacity to make the required changes and improvements within a reasonable period of time”.
It adds that the college has until 12 March to submit a financial recovery plan to the ESFA.
College ‘must make cost savings’
The plan should show “how the college intends to further generate income and make sufficient cost savings to achieve this financial recovery” and include measures such as “exploration into further staff savings for 2017-18 and 2018-19”.
This comes just four years after the then minister for skills and enterprise, Matt Hancock, announced the creation of Prospects College of Advanced Technology - the first new further education college in more than 20 years. It was created to provide “cutting-edge technical education in engineering, aviation, rail and construction to young people over 16”, according to the government.
Tes has approached the Prospects College of Advanced Technology for comment.
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