What are the implications on pay now that Colleges are reclassified as Public Sector? FE Soundbite 675

Welcome to FE Soundbite edition 675: What are the implications on pay now that Colleges are reclassified as Public Sector? This is the weekly e-newsletter and e-journal brought to you be FE News ISSN 2732-4095. We know life is busy, so here is a snapshot of the latest announcements and cool thought leadership articles from influencers and cool thinkers across FE and Skills this week on FE News.

Merry Christmas! This is our last FE Soundbite edition of 2022. So thank you very much for your support, we really appreciate it and we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! 2023 is a big one for us. It is the 20th anniversary of FE News and we have a whole year of celebrations and new services planned! I can’t wait to show you what we have planned!

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What does the reclassification of Colleges and Sixth Forms as Public Sector Mean for Pay, and particularly College Principal and Senior Leadership pay?

Colleges and Sixth Form Colleges have been reclassified as Public Sector, but Irwin Mitchell wrote a really helpful Employment Law article on the implications on the ONS announcement. One thing that stood out for me was the pay scale implications for senior leadership in Colleges.

Colleges still remain responsible for setting the pay of their workforce. However, they now fall within the scope of HM Treasury’s (“HMT”)  senior pay controls process which allows the government to ensure that senior pay is set at an ‘appropriate level’.

So this has a massive impact on Principal’s salaries:

The HMT guidance states that the Chief Secretary to the Treasury must approve remuneration when an appointment will attract: Total remuneration at or above the defined threshold of £150,000, or the pro-rata equivalent for part-time staff; or Performance related pay (‘bonus’) arrangements that exceed the threshold of £17,500. Which is interesting seeing as a lot of Principals are paid over £150,000! Which is a lot of money to be fair!

Loads of Interesting reports and announcements this week in FE

There were loads of interesting announcements this week.

Ofsted had their annual report, stand out things for me were their feedback on Prisons (not great) and Bootcamp Providers lacking direction and CPD.

National Tutoring Programme Stats were released, Ofqual reviews the delivery and award of vocational and technical qualifications in 2022.

EPI released a new report highlighting the biggest increase in the disadvantage gap between poor children in England and their peers. OFS: University leaders and academics should be proactive in upholding freedom of speech.

PAC: £4 billion spent annually “failing to deliver skills we need” for economy. OFS had the latest labour market stats: “Flat” labour market but signs of slowdown may be starting to emerge.

AELP slam ‘disastrous’ plans to axe traineeships.

So a lot of announcements in just one week!

FE News Unwrapped Reaches the Final Countdown:

FE News Unwrapped celebrates the 10 most popular exclusive thought leadership articles from 2022 on FE News. We are now in the final countdown!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

I and the FE News team wish you a very Merry Christmas and a happy and healthy 2023

2023 is going to be a big year for FE News, I can’t wait to show you our celebrations, new services and offerings!