Whatever emerges from two separate investigations into last year’s privatisation of City & Guilds, the transfer to new owners is a done deal. The qualifications arm of the 148-year-old vocational education charity – with a royal charter granted by Queen Victoria – is now the property of a Greek-owned business, PeopleCert, with plans to cut costs and replace UK jobs with cheaper staff abroad. One of the biggest, best-regarded non-profits in England’s further education (FE) sector has thus been turned into an international brand that shares the name of the charity that sold it – now rebadged as the City & Guilds Foundation.

Ministers appear not to have been paying attention when this momentous decision was taken by trustees (neither City & Guilds nor the other awarding bodies were mentioned by name in last year’s skills white paper). The sell-off was not debated in parliament. But the deal is belatedly under the spotlight after the Guardian revealed that senior City & Guilds staff, including the chief executive, Kirstie Donnelly, and the chief financial officer, Abid Ismail, received huge bonuses (£1.7m and £1.2m) when the deal went through.

The Charity Commission was first to open a statutory inquiry. Then PeopleCert launched its own investigation, with Ms Donnelly and Mr Ismail placed on leave. The qualifications regulator, Ofqal, is also monitoring developments. Why the bonuses were paid is the first question that investigators must answer. The charity said it had considered, and rejected, the idea of paying bonuses in connection with the deal.

The role of Dame Ann Limb must also be examined. As chair of the charity’s trustees, she co-authored an article about the deal with Ms Donnelly, in which the pair claimed that the alignment of the stars had enabled them to “shape the course of history”. In December it was announced that she would step down and become a Labour peer. The Sunday Times’s report that she had falsely claimed to have an MA and PhD throws her suitability into question. Dame Ann is reported to have donated £50,000 to the Labour party.

Unlike in Scotland and some other European countries, FE in England is run as a market. But this privatisation tilts the balance further away from a social democratic view of education as a public good. Critics of the deal point out, correctly, that profit-seeking businesses do not behave in the same way as charities, which by law must deliver a public benefit. PeopleCert plans to make savings totalling £22m. In addition to the offshoring of UK jobs – City & Guilds employs 1,600 people, and many more on short-term contracts – there are concerns that the new owners could raise the fees charged to colleges as they seek a return on investment. Options for students could also narrow, with less profitable qualifications potentially at risk.

Ms Donnelly and Mr Ismail must explain their actions and their riches. The light being shone on PeopleCert is welcome too. It is now a big player in the crucial area of technical education – with the rate of economic inactivity among young people seen as a key concern by Labour ministers. Having denuded itself of its original purpose, the City & Guilds charity still has assets of up to £200m. Its trustees must ensure that this money is put to good use. While the deal cannot be unpicked, delayed scrutiny and accountability are better than none.

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