ORJ help Apprentice Provider defeat the ESFA and recover £60,000 in costs

ORJ have assisted an Apprentice Provider to defeat the Education Skills Funding Agency (EFSA)

The Apprentice Provider was sent invoices by ESFA for over £800,000, but it argued that the invoices were raised following inappropriate audits, including audits where the apprentice provider was not consulted. The provider also claimed that ESFA’s standard Levy and Non-Levy contracts contained unenforceable penalty clauses and that in any event, ESFA had suffered no loss from the breaches it alleged.

HHJ Cooke agreed that the matters raised gave rise to genuinely triable issues and ordered ESFA to pay £60,000 in costs. This decision may have very wide implications in the training sector and the treatment of Apprentice Providers by the Secretary of State for Education and his agents at the ESFA.

We have over 40 years of experience dealing with litigation and dispute cases in the education sector, and we are here to support you the best that we can.

If you are an apprentice provider struggling with the actions of the ESFA, contact Patrick Tedstone or Daniel Whitehouse at ORJ. Click here to find out more about our litigation and dispute resolution services to see how we can support you. Please call 01785 223440 or email Patrick Tedstone, litigation specialist, at patrick.tedstone@orj.co.uk.