A Proposal for the Merger of Edinburgh’s Telford College, Jewel and Esk College and Stevenson College Edinburgh to create Edinburgh College “Creating opportunities for Edinburgh and the Lothians”
History – reasons for merger ‘Edinburgh College’ brand – City with 4 universities and 3 colleges – 1 college will have stronger position City of Edinburgh Council – development of city – ‘seat at the table’ Easier employer/stakeholder engagement International work
Reasons for merger now Still Edinburgh College brand Loss of £19m in budgets Sustainable model – able to invest in curriculum, technology, systems and facilities Provision of coherent, high-quality course offer £25m fixed asset investment
Why not federation? Could ‘survive’ but no growth and development Still competing interests between colleges Not possible to deliver total cost savings required within timescale without severe curriculum cuts Individual college administration and infrastructure could lead to delays in change
Partnership Board Purpose – to deliver the Merger Proposal Membership – 3 Chairs, 3 Vice Chairs, 3 Principals, 1 Teaching Staff, 1 Support Staff, 1 student Chair – Chair, SCE Other existing staff/student members in attendance SFC provided secretariat and advice Project managers to draft Merger Proposal and Business Case Partnership Board now completed its work – evolving into Shadow Board
Shadow Board Purpose – to plan and administer the remainder of the merger process up to vesting day on 1 October members – 3 members of each board Principal Designate when appointed 1 Teaching Staff, 1 Support Staff, 1 student 4 vacancies – to be filled by external or existing board members
Shadow Board – continued Interim Chair until regional chair appointed Decide ‘host’ college Appoint Secretary Appoint Principal Designate Future arrangements to be consistent with Government policy on regionalisation Transition – Shadow Board/Edinburgh College board/regional board
Executive Board and Workstreams Executive Board – 3 Principals and Chair (Chair, ETC) + senior managers as required Workstreams – Curriculum and Learner Services Finance and Commercial (incl Estates and ICT) Staffing and Structures Transition over 2 years
Next steps – timescale 20 April – Merger Proposal and Business Case submitted to SFC and Scottish Government 30 April – Scottish Government initiated its own week consultation 2 May – SFC visit to meet staff and students June/July – SFC advises Cabinet Secretary by end August – Cabinet Secretary announces decision 1 October – vesting day
West Lothian College West Lothian region approved by Cabinet Secretary – West Lothian College only college in region Conditions – Develop a detailed business case for the long-term sustainability of the West Lothian region Make efficiency gains whilst protecting front-line services Address sharing services, integrating partner provision and aligning and reducing college management overheads with West Lothian Council Develop with the Edinburgh colleges a plan for aligning the respective curricula offers and for managing significant student flows Develop a joint curriculum with Forth Valley College taking account of the expected growth in both areas
Further information/guidance Really useful documents – SFC Circular SFC/47/2008 – Guidance to institutions considering merger Scotland’s Colleges’ Briefing Paper – Finance CoP, Merger Issues, March 2012