Peter Marples’ attempt to sue the government for refusing to sign off on the sale of his defunct apprenticeship provider 3aaa is “fundamentally flawed” and based on “unjustified gloss”, according to the Department for Education.
In its defence for the lawsuit, the DfE has denied that officials in the then-Skills Funding Agency acted negligently, with malice, or in bad faith when the verdict was made in 2016.
The department states that the decision to not sanction the change in ownership was based on “unrealistic expectations” as to the future growth of the company – a view that was accepted by the proposed buyer at the time and the reason used by the purchaser for ending the deal.
The DfE’s defence (download full documents below) also provides evidence that counters Marples’ claim that officials had a personal vendetta against the businessman. It also tells of further “funding errors” including “falsification of documentation” at his previous training providers, and a £300,000 clawback due to “significant discrepancies in the evidence relied upon” by 3aaa in support of funding claims.
