Inadequate provision of education services in Sunderland

Provision of further education and skills training at Sunderland City Council has been deemed inadequate, with Ofsted warning of ‘radicalisation’ risks.

The educational inspectorate found that staff at the council were not prepared to discuss the risks around extremism, stating that the ‘majority of learners and apprentices do not understand how to stay safe’.

Additionally, leaders had been noted as being ‘too slow’ to hold managers to account for a drop in apprentices' achievements, with management said to not be ‘robust enough to identify and arrest the deterioration in quality’.

As part of a statement, the council said: "We're naturally very disappointed about the findings of this report. We have already put an improvement plan in place and are addressing the major issues raised around [the government's anti-radicalisation programme] Prevent and British values. Inspectors acknowledged the majority of learners complete their courses and achieve their qualifications and that the curriculum has been developed to serve both local employment and community needs well."