Telford College to make redundancies following funding cuts
Telford College of Arts and Technology today announced plans for up to 60 redundancies following cuts in government funding.
The staff affected are in the college’s Employer Engagement faculty – the department responsible for delivering training on company premises.
There is no impact on Telford College’s campus-based services to full and part-time learners.
The college has been informed that the cash it receives from both the Education Funding Agency and Skills Funding Agency is projected to decrease by £2 million over the coming year.
Chris Scott, Principal and Chief Executive of Telford College of Arts and Technology, said: “We have made every effort to avoid this outcome, however the magnitude of the cuts and the changes to Government funding priorities has unfortunately left us with no alternative.”
“It has been well publicised in recent years that the further education sector has been subject to drastic funding cuts by the government, so we are not alone in making this kind of announcement.
“In fact, Telford College is one of the few that has been able to avoid such substantial restructuring in recent years.”
He added: “We are proud of our talented staff, who have always been and remain key to the long-term success of Telford College, and it is with regret that we are making this announcement.”
The college, which employs 650 staff, has now entered into a consultation period which officially began on September 16 and will last for a minimum of 30 days.
Mr Scott added: “It is my priority to ensure that we continue to provide an excellent offer to our students, to the employers that we work with and to our partners, and it is frustrating that these cuts are affecting an area of the College which was classed as ‘outstanding’ in its last two inspections.
“The future success of our students, and supporting employers, remains at the heart of what we do, and these measures are being taken in order to ensure we meet the needs of the local community and economy, both now and in the future.”
Telford College has been successfully delivering Vocational qualifications on the premises of large employers since 2007, leading to a steady increase in support staff.
But the Government withdrew funding for this type of activity in 2012, and redirected the cash towards apprenticeships. The College says that, unfortunately it has been unable to generate the same levels of funding from apprenticeship delivery and now has to re-examine its cost base.
Mr Scott added: “The College has sought to avoid making redundancies. However it is now obliged to make savings and we have commenced talks with trade unions to support the process moving forwards.
“We hope that, as far as possible, any redundancies are voluntary, and we will offer staff whose jobs are at risk all possible support during what we acknowledge are very difficult, distressing, but sadly unavoidable circumstances.”
