Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 14 May 2013, Official Report, column 128W, on Central Sussex College, what conclusions were drawn from the urgent review of the financial situation of Central Sussex College; and what further steps have since been taken. [170482]

Matthew Hancock, Minister of State for Skills and Enterprise [holding answer 14 October 2013]:The Skills Funding Agency has concluded that there is good progress being made to bring the college back to sound financial health. The agency has worked proactively with the college on identifying and resolving the reasons for the poor financial situation which included; poor budget setting, inaccurate financial reporting, weak operation of some key financial controls, poor management of the cost base of the college, shortfalls in income generation, poor leadership and weak governance. These were set against a context of very high borrowings due to new capital build at Haywards Heath.

Alongside new appointments of both the Chair of Governors and the Chair of Audit Committee, the college has undergone a major restructure which has delivered significant savings and has also appointed new internal and external auditors.

The college was inspected in April and was graded as requiring some improvement overall but with some curriculum areas being graded as good or outstanding. Significant improvements have been made to the college's management information system resulting in accurate financial and data management reporting.

A draft Recovery Plan was received in May and reviewed by the Skills Funding Agency and externally by EFA and HEFCE colleagues. The agency accepted the final Recovery Plan in August which should fully take the college to satisfactory financial health as soon as reasonably possible. In order to ensure progress, the agency holds monthly case conferences to review the Recovery Plan and has a presence on Audit Committees and at Governors meetings.

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