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Coatbridge pulls out of three-way college merger: News
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Major blow to FE's regional plans as amalgamation hits the rocks.
The three-way college merger in Lanarkshire collapsed this week after Coatbridge pulled out, saying the intransigent approach shown by the other two colleges had left it with no choice.
The news will be seen as a blow to the education secretary's plans for restructuring the FE sector. Michael Russell told the education committee this week he saw single college regions as the "direction of travel" in the regionalisation process.
Cumbernauld and Motherwell colleges announced plans to merge on 11 January and said the door was open for the remaining two in Lanarkshire - Coatbridge and South Lanarkshire - to join. A month later, Coatbridge said its aim was to do so, but South Lanarkshire has stayed out of the process.
A Coatbridge College spokesman said no effort had been made by Cumbernauld and Motherwell to include it in the process. And concerns raised by Coatbridge over governance and its level of participation were not addressed. This related to the other colleges' refusal to revisit decisions they had taken before Coatbridge came to the table.
Merger workstreams put in place prior to Coatbridge's involvement were cited to TESS as an example - all were to be led by Motherwell and Cumbernauld, despite Coatbridge asking to be given the lead in a fair proportion of them.
When Cumbernauld and Motherwell announced plans to merge, they said that if either of the other two joined, this could not be allowed to delay progress.
TESS has also learned that the Coatbridge College board was concerned about the late insertion by merger committee members of a page on delegated authority into the consultation document. The change became known to Coatbridge only shortly before publication of the document.
John Gray, Coatbridge chair, said his management...