These are among the conclusions of the corporate recovery report by Deloitte and Touche, who were ordered by the Scottish Office to come up with a package which would reduce the college’s borrowings from pound;1.9 million to pound;1m by March next year.

The accountants set out four options, one of which would have led to 100 job losses and left Clydebank barely viable. The Scottish Office backed the college board’s choice involving 36 redundancies, which was narrowly supported in a ballot of College Lecturers’ Association members.

But this option could still leave a funding deficit of pound;200,000 which will not be cleared until March 2000. It will also involve a six per cent shrinking of the college curriculum.

Deloitte and Touche found that Clydebank’s payroll costs are pound;1m greater than the average for a college of its size, but it does not spend enough on teaching support and administration. There are also too many promoted posts and higher salary levels than in other colleges, boosting costs by pound;300,000 above the FE average.

The skills of the senior management team are also called into question.

“This has been evidenced by under-performance in a variety of areas, not least the failure to deal with the operating deficit,” the report states.