Glasgow Clyde College Board Sacked After Failings
Education Secretary Angela Constance said she took the highly unusual'' decision to remove the board of Glasgow Clyde College after a series of failings were uncovered.
Ms Constance used ministerial powers to oust the chairman and other board members after finding they had repeatedly breached grant conditions and mismanaged the college's affairs.
The decision follows a row over the suspension of the college's principal, Susan Walsh, in February.
Ms Constance has appointed a new board, chaired by Alex Linkston, former chief executive of West Lothian Council.
Giving a statement at Holyrood today, she told MSPs: Matters first came to my attention in February when the principal was suspended. This is, rightly, a matter for the college, as the employer.
But concerns were then raised with me and the Scottish Funding Council by students, staff and wider stakeholders.
Such was their nature, we took these concerns seriously. And we addressed them appropriately.''
The college was investigated by the Scottish Funding Council and a series of meetings between all parties took place.
Ms Constance concluded the board had failed in four key areas.
Firstly, the board allowed its relationship with student representatives and the wider student population to deteriorate,'' she said.
It did nothing to address that problem and does not accept there is a problem.''
It breached the rules on how colleges can spend public money, including breaching spending limits, she said.
Further, Ms Constance said the board failed to consider serious concerns raised by the principal about governance matters prior to her suspension.
It also failed to discharge functions appropriately, including operating without a board secretary in place.
There was extensive engagement with the college to understand the matters being brought to our attention,'' Ms Constance said.
These matters were serious and complex. It was right to consider them fully.
"We did so. We also provided the board with the opportunity to make its case. We considered its response carefully.''
She added: I am clear that the board repeatedly breached its grant conditions and mismanaged its affairs through collective board failure.
Despite everything, the board showed no sign of recognising the seriousness of our concerns. It refused to take responsibility for the situation that had arisen through its own failings.''
Ms Constance also announced a task group aimed at learning lessons from the situation at Glasgow Clyde College.
This will be a practical, purposeful and focused effort to provide additional assurance on the quality and resilience of college governance,'' she told MSPs.
It will consider and take account of best practice in other sectors. And it will produce recommendations for improvement by early next year.''
Labour's Iain Gray said the Cabinet Secretary had provided clear evidence of failure'' at the college.
The Cabinet Secretary has made the case for the action she has taken today,'' he said.
It is extreme and unusual action, though.
Will she ensure that the unions representing staff and the organisations representing students are also involved in the work of the task group along with Colleges Scotland and the funding council?''
Ms Constance said she would ensure that all interest are represented within the task group.
Conservative MSP Mary Scanlon said: We also welcome the setting of a task group... particularly given that other very serious issues are currently being looked at by the Public Audit Committee at the Parliament in relation to North Glasgow and Coatbridge colleges.''
Vonnie Sandlan, president of NUS Scotland, said: ''NUS Scotland, and students right across Scotland, have worked incredibly hard over the last few years to get to a position where college student representation is enshrined in law and given the respect and place it deserves.
''Since the start of this year, however, we saw those successes ignored, if not outright undermined, by the previous leadership of Glasgow Clyde College.
''While staff and students have done amazingly well to get on with the day-to-day work of the college, a change in leadership means the college as a whole can start afresh.''
The new board appointed by Ms Constance alongside new chairman Mr Linkston are Sandra Heidinger, director of human resources at University of Strathclyde; Michael Yuille, currently non-executive director of YPeople, chair of former Clydebank College and regional lead for West College; David Newall, university secretary, University of Glasgow; Gordon McGuinness, of Skills Development Scotland and chair of former Reid Kerr College; Alex Muirhead, of Ecosse Regeneration Management Ltd and chair of former Motherwell College; and Gill Troup, leadership and management consultant, former senior civil servant and former member of Skills Development Scotland.