Recommendation 27

In July 2020, the government published an independent review of college financial oversight by Dame Mary Ney. The review made a number of recommendations with a view to improving the support individual colleges and the sector received, and enhancing oversight and intervention arrangements. Dame Mary proposed a new, more nurturing relationship between government and colleges.50 In written evidence, the Association of Colleges described the existing intervention regime as “very negative”.51 The ESFA acknowledged that intervention—including the use of the word—jarred with the sector. It told us that it was taking action in response to Dame Mary’s report, including moving the FE Commissioner into the ESFA, to present a more joined-up approach to intervention.52 The Department’s strategy for further education