Lifelong learning minister Malcolm Wicks threatened tough financial sanctions against mismanaged colleges, as lecturers' union Natfhe warned that universities and colleges continued to be "riddled" with sleaze, writes Phil Baty.
Mr Wicks told delegates at Natfhe's annual conference in Blackpool that tougher powers of intervention introduced in the Learning and Skills Bill will be used to full effect. He said ministers were looking to the Learning and Skills Council to take "a targeted, firm approach" to mismanagement.
Mr Wicks said: "The LSC will have powers to intervene at an earlier stage to appoint new governors quickly and to attach terms and conditions to grants. For example, it could threaten to withdraw funds."
One motion, carried unanimously, said "post-16 education continues to be riddled with sleaze and corruption, creating a culture that inevitably results in the victimisation of trade unionists as the culprits among managers and governors who seek to avoid dismissal or arrest". Another noted that "victimisation of Natfhe activists and alleged whistleblowers continues".
Meanwhile, Natfhe general secretary Paul Mackney told the conference that the Higher Education Funding Council for England is dominated by old universities and has designed a funding methodology to serve their interests.
Mr Mackney called for the reconstitution of the Hefce board to reduce the influence of representatives of the elite, research-led Russell Group universities.
He said the composition of Hefce's board should be addressed. "It socially includes far too many from the Russell Group andI appears to devise a funding system that benefits that limited circle."
He said that while new universities teach 60 per cent of all students, they only get 40 per cent of the funding. "The fact that 93 per cent of research money goes to old universities adds insult to injury," he said.
"Higher education as a whole needs additional funding. But much of that should be targeted to the sector that is addressing the social inclusion agenda - the new universities and colleges."
Natfhe's head of universities, Tom Wilson, has written to the Department for Education and Employment complaining that the board should be more representative of the sector, "not just the top 10 per cent of institutions".
Hefce's board includes four Russell Group vice-chancellors. There are no representatives from new universities. The 14-strong board includes two principals from colleges of further and higher education, but of the remaining eight non-academic members, largely from industry, many have close associations with Russell Group universities.