At first glance I thought that the article of October 27 on Roger Ward, the man who has brought so much misery and damage to the FE sector, was just a reiteration of his Labour party beginnings, his so-called panache and his reputation for being the hard man.

However, my interest was awakened by the assertion that he had advised civil servants on the Pounds 50 million grant holdback for colleges that failed to press ahead with flexible contracts. Correct me if I am wrong, but doesn’t this mean that he sat down with Government representatives with the intention of reducing Further Education Funding Council funds for some of the very colleges that were paying his salary through their Colleges’ Employers’ Forum subscriptions?

If this is true, college principals and governing bodies are not only being politically manipulated and financially disadvantaged by the CEF, but are also paying handsomely for the privilege!

TR Collison

55 Dawlish Drive Pinner, Middlesex