Warwickshire College job losses 'inevitable' in £3m cut

Job losses at a college in Warwickshire are "inevitable" as it looks to shave £3m from its budget.



One of the largest in the UK with a turnover of more than £50m, Warwickshire College said it had lost £10.5m in government funding.

Last autumn more people than ever enrolled and it now has more than 20,000 students in six sites.

The University and College Union warned against "knee-jerk reactions" that would lead to redundancies.

Warwickshire College's principal, Mariane Cavalli, told staff that "rapid and difficult choices" would need to be made and job losses were "inevitable and unavoidable".

She said that this year the £1.6m expected from the government had been cut to £600,000 and it had also lost £1m from previously funded adult courses.

Anne O'Sullivan, from the University and College Union, said: "We do accept colleges have funding difficulties at the moment... however what we don't want to see is colleges making knee-jerk reactions because all that will achieve is closing courses and losing jobs."

The union has asked for a meeting with the college, which employs more than 1,700 staff, to see if compulsory redundancies can be avoided.

The college offers more than 1,000 courses and includes the first equine college in Britain.

Warwickshire College principal's pay rise criticised

A union has criticised a college principal's pay rise of up to £50,000 over two years, while 99 members of staff are at risk of redundancy.

The University and College Union found the salary rose from up to £180,000, to £230,000 between 2011/12 and 2013/14.

An unnamed senior manager at Warwickshire College also enjoyed a £15,000 bonus, according to the union's Freedom of Information request.

Staff were offered a below inflation rise of 1% this year, said the union.

Principal Mariane Cavalli went on "temporary leave of absence with immediate effect" last Friday.

Chair of governors Sue Georgious will become interim principal.

In May, Ms Cavalli said job losses were "inevitable" as the college looked to shave £3m from its budget.

Anne O'Sullivan, the union's regional officer, said she and a colleague met with Ms Georgious on Wednesday.

She said they received "no definitive answers" why Ms Cavalli was away nor on the college's spending, but it was confirmed the redundancy programme would progress.

She added: "Our meeting was disappointing."

The union would not agree to begin full consultation on job losses until it had answers to its questions on the college's finances, Ms O'Sullivan claimed, but would be sending further questions in writing.

A spokeswoman for the college said its governing board had in place "robust internal and external audit processes for financial matters".

She added: "We have no further comment to make on the contents of the FOI at this time."

Accounts showed that in 2011/12 the principal's salary was between £170,000 and £180,000.

The following year it was between £190,000 and £200,000 and in 2013/14 it had increased to between £220,000 and £230,000.

Warwickshire College Principal Mariane Cavalli quits amid controversy over spending £500,000 with education consultants Gazelle Global, of which she is a director


Mariane Cavalli pictured with Zara Phillips

High-flyer Mariane Cavalli, who had a leading role in attracting jobs to Coventry, has created two vacancies herself after hitting a cloud of controversy.

She has quit as principal of the Warwickshire College as criticism mounts over revelations that she spent more than £500,000 with education consultants Gazelle Global, of which she is a founding director.

Make that was a director. For on August 1, according to documents filed with Companies House, her position was described as “terminated”.

The University and College Union has called for a top level enquiry into the college’s policies at a time when a £3million budget deficit threatened 100 jobs across the college’s six campuses.

UCU used the Freedom of Information Act to discover the level of spending and also estimates that the principal was given a £50,000 pay rise over two years of her tenure.

UCU regional official, Anne O’Sullivan, said: “The time has come for proper scrutiny of colleges’ spending.

“We would urge the Public Accounts Committee to properly investigate how taxpayers’ money is being spent by our colleges.”

Ms Cavalli, who studied at the Open University and Coventry and Warwick Universities, rose to national prominence through her championing of teaching students to be entrepreneurs.

Her own success in forming Gazelle Global, which now advises 23 colleges in the UK and has links with another in Boston, USA, epitomised those qualities of personal drive and entrepreneurship.

The Warwickshire College board of governors which has taken the highly unusual step of appointing its chairwoman as acting principal until a replacement is appointed, says her departure is not linked to the union’s criticism.

It is not commenting on Ms Cavalli’s resignation “for legal reasons” but says that decision is normal professional practice and it refutes strongly that there is anything untoward about the financial policies.

In fact the board praises Ms Cavalli ‘s four year record, especially in leading a joint venture to establish a British FE college in China, the first of its kind.

The union counter that the emphaisis of should be on home students and it will be little comfort to Warwickshire College staff facing redundancy to know it’s unique in China.

For 10 months Ms Cavalli was chair of the Coventry & Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership Skills Board, whose key role is to help job creation and boost economic development. She stood down last November.

If you look at the ownership of Gazelle it paints an interesting scenario...

Warwickshire College appoint new principal

A NEW Principal has been appointed to take Warwickshire College forward.

The troubled college - with sites in Leamington, Warwick, Henley, Moreton Morrell, Rugby and Pershore - has endured a turbulent year and was already looking to make savings of £3 million before the shock departure of £230,000 a year former principal Marianne Cavalli in the summer.

Angela Joyce is set to take up the post of group principal and chief executive next April. The 40 year-old currently holds the same title at Peterborough Regional College where she is credited with having led a transformation of the Cambridgeshire college since her appointment four years ago.

She said: “I’m thrilled to be joining Warwickshire College. As one of the largest and most respected college groups in the UK Warwickshire has an outstanding reputation for teaching and learning and some amazing facilities that provide a first class experience for over 16,000 students each year.

"I am looking forward to working with the team during this challenging time for FE to take the college forward into the future.”

Chair of Governors, Steve Wood, was confident Ms Joyce would lead the college forward.

He added: "She has demonstrated outstanding leadership throughout her career to date and we know that she will bring a new dimension to Warwickshire College, ensuring the college group has a strong and successful future.”

Sue Georgious, who stepped in as interim principal following the departure of Ms Cavalli, will be staying on at the college.

Warwickshire plans to remain part of the Gazelle group – which currently includes 22 other colleges and costs £35,000 a year in membership - at least for the time being.

The group, which aims to develop new learning models and links with business, was co-founded in 2011 by former principal Ms Cavalli, and under her leadership the college paid £500,000 to the Gazelle group of colleges.

A spokeswoman from the college said: “Warwickshire College Group will remain a member of Gazelle for the foreseeable future and plans to renew our membership will be confirmed by the governing board at our next meeting.”