Police have been called in to Bournville College of Further Education in Birmingham to investigate allegations of fraud involving bogus franchised courses. The college may now have to consider voluntary staff redundancies to make up for about Pounds 500,000 of lost income for the cancelled courses.
The courses were mainly for ethnic minorities and were started last October by four community groups. College principal Patricia Twyman said other principals across the country were also concerned about bogus franchises and the Further Education Funding Council was making its own investigations.