The Careers and Enterprise Company has been blasted for spending more than £200,000 on two conferences after MPs demanded to know why private sponsorship for such events was not sought instead.
The organisation, which was grilled by the education select committee in May over its spending, had a second hearing with MPs this morning, with questions covering staff salaries and cost of events.
MPs heard the company’s ‘Joining the Dots’ conference cost £158,000 – or £200 per person – with another conference, held at the children’s activity centre KidZania, costing nearly £50,000.
CEC, which has so far received £40 million in public money to support careers guidance in schools, was also given short shrift by MPs about a new survey tool it claims is measuring impact.
Robert Halfon, chair of the education select committee, led the questioning of chief executive Claudia Harris and chair Christine Hodgson.
After revealing the ‘Joining the Dots’ conference spend, Halfon said: “Is that money that could go on the frontline? How can that be justified?”
Harris said an annual conference helps schools and colleges work together and understand good careers guidance.
But Halfon said other similar organisations get private companies to sponsor such events so taxpayers’ money is not used, to which she replied the idea was “a good opportunity for us.” Hodgson added there would be no annual conference in 2019.
Halfon pointed out another conference was held at KidZania for £46,000. Harris and Hodgson appeared initially stumped, with Hodgson saying she thought KidZania had helped to support the event.
But then Harris said: “2,000 business volunteers give us a day a month for free. […] That is what we did in return, to offer a learning event.”
“It’s how we ensure quality, by providing those events,” she added.
Harris said the conference budget was “probably around” £150,000 to £200,000 a year, prompting Halfon to point out those two conferences mentioned were already more than that put together.
He asked Harris: “Do you not understand there are massive public sector constraints […] people could rightly say, ‘why is this money not being spent on the front line?”
People could rightly say: why is this money not being spent on the front line?
It comes as the commons youth select committee has said Ofsted should inspect provision funded by the CEC to check on its impact – an idea which Halfon floated again during the hearing today.
However Harris said a new survey introduced in September allows pupils to report on their motivation or resilience following a CEC-funded intervention, with results so far showing a reported increase.
But Trudy Harrison, MP for Copeland, said she would expect exam results to improve if motivation was supposedly higher, and queried why more quantitative data was not being collected by the CEC.
Harris responded that as more than the current 3,000 secondary schools and colleges become involved in CEC-funded initiatives, such data could be increasingly collected.
Halfon added that “surveys are not enough” to demonstrate the organisation’s impact.
Finally, Lucy Powell, MP for Manchester Central, took aim at the high senior staff salaries at the CEC. According to Hodgson, she as chair is pro-bono at the organisation while Harris is on £135,000.
Harris said she asked for a £50,000 reduction in the salary when she was initially offered the role, implying it was originally offered at £185,000.
But Powell said the salaries were higher than most headteachers and MPs, the latter of whom are paid around £70,000.
She also queried why a deputy chief executive role was advertised at £117,000. Harris said the organisation was expanding rapidly as the government has announced more careers hubs and needed more senior staff leadership.
In May the CEC was quizzed about why they required a £2 million research budget, the staffing structure and the lack of evidence the organisation was making a difference.
What a waste of money! What a shame the £200,000 was not spent on allowing schools and colleges to utilise careers staff made redundant from Connexions and Prospects, to do the work to provide essential and impartial Careers Advice & Guidance for all students lrior to making choices. This would reduce the number taking A Levels that they then find might precludE them from studying certain courses at university.
Those same Careers Advisers could also have been making sure all learners, staff and parents new about Degree and other Apprenticeships!
Feedback meetings on progress made by CEC also produced very little different evidence from that produced 20 years ago, so not much has changed exept a few people at the top get paid ludicrous sums of money, whilst schools, colleges and careers personnel lose out – sound familiar?
The top doen approach does mot work and Janet Colledge and Andy Gardner comtinue to do sterling work, finding their own sponsors and using much of their own money – shame on whoever organised that apalling state of affairs!