Too many chiefs drain coffers

COLLEGES appear to have fallen into the health service trap of employing more chiefs than indians, with an estimated extra Pounds 300 million spent employing managers in the past four years, writes Alan Thomson.

The national figure of Pounds 300 million is set against an estimated Pounds 220 million saved on the wages of some 10,000 lecturers shed by colleges since incorporation in 1993.

The Pounds 300 million is based on the cost of new managers for just one East Midlands college as calculated by Natfhe regional officials. The college, which is not being named, has spent some Pounds 688,000 on senior managers, business development and personnel staff since incorporation.

Julian Atkinson, a former Natfhe national executive member who now works part-time for the union's East Midlands regional office, said that the college is small to medium in size and so likely to be broadly representative of all 400 colleges in England.

Mr Atkinson said: "Based on the figure for this one college we believe that there have been massive costs due to incorporation. Each college is spending on functions which would have been carried out by local authorities."

He added that his calculation for the college excluded the extra periodic costs of hiring marketing and design consultants hired to improve the college's competitiveness post incorporation.

Roger Ward, chief executive of the Association of Colleges, said: "This certainly does not accord with our experience. Colleges are cutting back on managerial staff rather than shedding lecturers."