College set to lose 10% of staff as funding cuts bite

AT least one in ten staff at Telford College faces losing their job after bosses today revealed they have to slash £2.4 million from its budget.

The college's 600 employees were told during crisis meetings yesterday that at least 65 full-time jobs needed to go in light of government funding cuts.

It follows news that Stevenson College plans to cut the equivalent of 25 full-time academic posts and 28 full-time support staff jobs in a bid to save 1.8m in the next year.

Telford management expressed their "deep concern" at having to make the redundancies, which will affect teachers, administrators and management, and vowed to keep up the standard of teaching. But some members of staff questioned why the college had spent hundreds of thousands on upgrades in recent months.

They pointed out that more than 70,000 was recently invested in a new sound system and 120,000 on an upgraded spa at the college.

Managers at Telford said they were committed to avoiding compulsory redundancies wherever possible.

They stressed that none of the 17,000 students would be prevented from completing their current course, and said they were preparing to phase out some of the less popular and least valuable courses from the new term in September.

College principal Miles Dibsdall said he was "outraged" at being forced to make the cuts. He added that the college was in talks with staff and unions to minimise the impact of the redundancy wave.

He said: "We are widely recognised as a hugely successful learning establishment, but that success is being 'rewarded' by having to make cuts in our operation because the government wants education to take a higher chunk of the public sector cutbacks."

A number of staff members, however, expressed their anger and concern over the decision. Some said they feared the number of redundancies could be far higher.

One said: "Everybody is shocked, and people are angry because the college has spent hundreds of thousands on upgrades. Was that necessary?

"You have to wonder how they will keep up their standards if they get rid of loads of lecturers and other staff. Clearly some of the redundancies will have to be compulsory."

Mr Dibsdall stressed that it was "inaccurate" to say that the college had pumped funding into unnecessary purchases.

He said: "Funding for general operating costs and capital costs on the items highlighted are ring-fenced – you cannot switch funds between the two budgets. Telford is a learning teaching college – all capital spending is used to improve the learning experience of students."