The Scottish Funding Council has announced that it will claw back hundreds of thousands in funding from colleges, which received those funds to deal with the additional costs caused by pay harmonisation.
The return of national bargaining, along with subsequent pay deals for support and teaching staff, significantly increased staff costs for the country’s further education institutions. To help ensure financial sustainability, the SFC pledged an extra £34.2 million to support harmonisation of pay and conditions and job evaluation.
Colleges were allocated specific amounts from that pot on the basis of staff data provided by the Employers’ Association alongside their general core funding allocation from the SFC earlier this year. However, Tes later revealed that they might be asked to pay a proportion of that money back, owing to a revision of the staffing data.
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College forced to give back funding
Today, the SFC announced that it will indeed “adjust in-year [academic year] 2018-19 by recovering 50 per cent of the over-allocation, which amounts to £907,942”. This money will be used to pay an additional £595,519 to those college regions that did not receive sufficient funds to meet their costs. The remaining over-allocation will then be clawed back next academic year.
Principals have previously told Tes of the implications of having to pay back funds that had already been allocated. “We don’t have those funds hanging around so we wouldn’t be able to pay that,” one principal said. “We, in good faith, gave the [Employers’ Association] our contract data and assumed the calculations were done on what we gave them and what was agreed.”
Another college leader said: “When the award was made, there was no fine print that it would be reviewed so colleges have included it within their budget planning. To clawback mid-year, when colleges are under considerable economic pressure, would be really unhelpful.”
‘Welcome investment’
According to data published by the SFC today, the three colleges in the Glasgow region will have to pay back ££180,222 this year, with a further £180,000 taken off its teaching grant for 2019-20. The Lanarkshire college region, made up of New College Lanarkshire and South Lanarkshire College, will have to pay back £215,000 this year, and see a further £215,000 deducted from its teaching grant next year. Meanwhile, Dundee and Angus College will receive £125,000 it was previously underpaid.
John Gribben, director of employment services at Colleges Scotland Employers’ Association, said: “The college sector welcomes the investment coming from the Scottish Funding Council to fund national bargaining harmonisation costs and the job evaluation process for support staff. The £1.2 million net reduction in national bargaining is a result of revised staff numbers and the outcome of the promoted posts matching process.”
A spokesperson for the Scottish Funding Council said: “The Scottish government has provided the SFC with funds to ensure that all colleges are funded for their national bargaining harmonisation costs in AY 2018-19.
“The adjustment is necessary as a result of clarification provided by Colleges Scotland on full time equivalents (FTEs) and promoted posts which took place prior the start of the academic year. This adjustment is required in order to ensure all colleges have sufficient funding to meet this requirement. Today’s announcement contains measures that are designed to support colleges in managing the adjustment.
“The total teaching allocation for 2018-19 has increased by around £728,000 following this announcement.”
