CUMBRIA'S four far-flung colleges could be fused into one super college under a merger plan mooted by further education's funding authority.

The Cumbria Learning and Skills Council (LSC) has commissioned a detailed feasibility study into merging Kendal College and Furness College in Barrow with Carlisle College and Workington's Lakes College.

Cumbria LSC Director Mick Farley said the move was prompted by a consultant's study, which compared the running costs of similarly sized colleges and concluded that around £1 million could be saved by combining "back house operations".

The feasibility study will now explore a range of options from merging two to all four of the colleges with varying degrees of interconnectedness of their services.

But the LSC's preferred option, following an initial review by consultants, is what Mr Farley called a federated structure of all four colleges' to be established by September 2004.

He said the idea would be to centralise services like personnel, pay roll, financial management and marketing.

"It would result in significant benefits in the context of more funding being available to support front line learner services rather than back house services," said Mr Farley. "It will enable us to enhance the range and quality of learning opportunities for the people and employers of Cumbria."

He said Cumbrian colleges had experienced "resource difficulties" because they were comparatively small and funding was based on student numbers. But through merger they would be

able to save money, freeing up resources to invest in new courses and so attracting more students with their attendant funding.

As for governance of a new super college, Mr Farley said exact management arrangements would be a matter for the study, adding: "We are determined that a new federated structure will have proper management and governance structure that mixed local community engagement."

However, merged backroom services were not likely to lead to merged classes. "The intention is not to run a transport service," said Mr Farley.

When it comes to the classrooms the advantages of the merger would be more about pooled resources. Mr Farley suggested colleges could use some of their liberated cash for things like hiring specialist staff who could split their time between the colleges while lecturers could combine their skills to develop courses.

There would be a name for the federated structure, added Mr Farley, but individual colleges would continue to have "their own nomenclature".

The individual colleges all welcomed the feasibility study but were not yet going so far as embracing a merger.

"It's in the details that people's opinions and judgements will be formed," said Carlisle's acting principal Moira Tattersall.

At Furness, head of student services Graham Hodgson said the college welcomed the opportunity to take part in the study and would wait to see if merger was the right way forward. "It doesn't commit us to anything," he said.

Graham Wilkinson, head of Kendal College, simply said the college had been reviewing its strategic direction and fully supported the LSC's announcement. No-one was available for comment at the Lakes.

Meanwhile, the merger idea elicited a cautious response from the National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education, which represents 350 lecturers from the colleges. Regional official Iain Owens said union support was conditional on full consultation with staff and protection of members' jobs in any new institution. It also insisted that the

plan must prove its

worth by identifying substantial savings and ensuring provision of a broad curriculum.

"A merged college creates the possibility of a more dynamic further education sector in the county and must be worth exploring. However, this can only work if the views of staff are listened to and taken on board during the process."

Asked if the move would entail staff cuts, Mr Farley said it could not be ruled out. "You can never rule anything out," he said, but added that the intention was not to cause job losses.

Meanwhile, collaboration was also on the agenda of the Higher Education Funding Council this week. A review of HE in Cumbria, carried our by the former vice chancellor of Keele University Sir Brian Fender, concluded that a "network of deeply collaborating campuses which has all the attributes of a single campus university" needed to be built. "For convenience this network is called the University of Cumbria'," wrote Sir Brian.

He recommended a project board be set up to create the "21st century vision".

May 16, 2003 09:30