40 jobs to go at Inverness College

INVERNESS College UHI is on the verge of paying off 40 staff in a shock move to cut costs.

But despite fears from teaching and student unions, college bosses this week denied courses will be axed.

This is despite indications that 40 people – the equivalent of 16 full-time lecturers’ posts as well as support staff – have been issued with notices of possible redundancy as part of the massive cutbacks.

Teaching union the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) said its members had been “kept in the dark” over the job losses and maintain the cuts would definitely affect courses.

Karen Brady, EIS area officer, said: “We have been issued with notice that around 40 staff are in the formal 90 days consultation for redundancy and that period I believe is due to finish at the end of July.

“The lecturing numbers which are going is the equivalent to 16 full-time posts, we don’t know if that can be negotiated down.

“The college are saying they are restructuring management and they have invited people to apply for posts within that restructuring.

“However, we don’t know much of the detail and feel we have been kept in the dark. They are saying they are restructuring rather than saying here are the courses that are going. There has not been a year at the college where they have not gone through a redundancy process. I’m very disappointed.

“The whole college will be affected but we don’t know what courses will go but with the number of staff losses that there will be, there will be an affect on courses.”

Inverness College UHI operates from three bases in the Highland capital – one at the Longman, another at Midmills Campus and a third at the Scottish School of Forestry in Viewhill.

And a college insider told the Highland News: “We have been told that there are 42 jobs going altogether. Those jobs are lecturers and support staff. It is a worrying time and staff have been told to apply for their own jobs. I can’t see how this won’t affect courses.”

John Spencer, Principal of Inverness College UHI, said: “The impact of the recent funding cuts announced by the Scottish Funding Council for 2011-2012 has placed severe financial constraints on each and every college in Scotland. As a result, all colleges will have to look at how the business is run in order to continue to deliver a high quality service for Scottish students.

“Inverness College UHI will do all it can to avoid compulsory redundancies and no firm decisions will be made until the end of the consultation period.

“At present the college is seeking applications for voluntary severance as part of the college restructure. The restructure is part of an ongoing review of college business processes that we have been focussing on for some time.”

He added: “No courses will be cut as a result of the review and restructure. Our excellent level of provision for existing and prospective students will continue, as will recruitment of students to all of our higher and further education courses beginning in September.”

But Nathan Shields, president of the UHI Students’ Association, said: “Reports of cuts to lecturers and support staff at Inverness College, if correct, could do great damage to the reputation of Inverness College. “A quality education for college students in Inverness, or anywhere in Scotland, is reliant on class sizes not ballooning and courses not getting cut, two obvious outcomes of cutting full-time lecturers.

“It is also not unreasonable to predict a wider connection between this year’s 10 per cent cut to college budgets, the axing of staff, and the potential of reducing college places. As these cuts continue to sweep through Scotland’s colleges, the Scottish Government must ensure they protect college numbers. This is a commitment that over 85 per cent of MSPs in parliament made before the election, and one we expect that they keep”.

Chris Talbot, UHISA vice-president, added: “In order for Scotland to maintain its world-class reputation in education, we must find a means to end the cuts that Scotland’s colleges are making to lecturers and support staff, cuts that affect the learning experience of every student at Inverness College.

“At the same time, the government must ensure these cuts are not a prelude to a just-as-damaging reduction of college places. Inverness College has a vital role to play within the University of the Highlands and Islands region in turning the recession into recovery and providing talented people to the work place”.

Inverness College UHI is to relocate to a new £75 million state-of-the art campus at Beechwood which is currently under development by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE).

HIE believes the completed project could potentially support up to 6,000 jobs over the next 30 years and generate more than £38 million a year for the economy.

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