The University and College Union has hit out at plans by City of Bristol College to cut around 100 jobs at the college in a bid to reduce costs.
The college insists that its financial position means changes have to be made, but UCU regional official Nick Varney called for the “slash and burn of staff” to be halted and for the governing body to resign. He also called for extra funding to support the college.
According to the UCU, the college plans to cut around 50 full-time lecturing jobs, along with at least 50 support staff roles. Mr Varney, said: ‘City of Bristol College has clearly been mismanaged over a long period of time but we do not think that this slash and burn of staff and provision is the answer to its problems. It will threaten the future viability of the college, which is currently a major regional centre of further education.”
Earlier this month, a survey by the Association of Colleges, carried out in partnership with TES, revealed that a fifth of colleges were budgeting to operate with a financial deficit this year. The same survey revealed that 46 per cent of principals were planning for staff restructuring, with nearly a third saying that they anticipated making compulsory redundancies in the next 12 months. Another 31 per cent said that they planned to seek voluntary redundancies.
But UCU head of further education Andrew Harden (pictured, above) said that City of Bristol College was a specific case. “There have been problems in Bristol for a number of years. We are worried, but we have not seen evidence of this elsewhere.” He said this was not to say the mergers and efficiency savings resulting from the currently ongoing area reviews would not lead to staff cuts, but the union was yet to see evidence of that.
City of Bristol college principal Lee Probert said that the college’s financial situation had been well reported, and since his arrival in January he had to make a significant number of changes to address the college’s current financial and quality issues.
“We have been in dialogue for some months now about these proposals with the recognised trade unions. It is regrettable that the recovery plans affect colleagues’ jobs at the college, but we must take steps to reduce costs. There is no additional bail-out funding from government. The plans we have developed will ensure that every single student at City of Bristol College now and in the future will have access to the teaching and support staff they need to complete their course successfully.”
He added that there had been many changes to the governing body and senior management team, and the college was currently seeking a new chair of governors.
