College axes 250 jobs across West Midlands campuses

Birmingham Metropolitan College (BMet) today confirmed all but six of the workers had left voluntarily following its workforce review.

Bosses say they had been forced to slash the number of posts at the college, which runs sites in Stourbridge, Brierley Hill, Great Barr and Kidderminster, due to a reduction in funding.

Principal Andrew Cleaves said a total of 246 people opted for voluntary severance while there were also six compulsory redundancies.

He added it had been 'a challenging process' for the college, funding having been cut by a third in recent years. The workforce review was announced in April this year.

" Earlier this year, the college announced it needed to make efficiencies in order to respond to reductions in funding.

"We had a good response to our voluntary severance programme and delivered most of our targeted savings through this scheme.

"We worked closely with staff and their representatives and 246 posts were accepted for voluntary severance, with only six staff made redundant.

"Whilst this was a difficult exercise for all concerned, we were pleased that we were able to minimise the number of redundancies.

"We have moved through this challenging process and remain a strong organisation delivering education and training to local communities and regional businesses, building the skills needed for future prosperity," added Mr Cleaves.

Before the staff cuts, the BMet had 1,600 workers across 13 sites which include Stourbridge's Hagley Road campus, Brierley Hill's Art and Design Centre and Advanced Technology Centre, the James Watt campus in Great Barr and Kidderminster Academy.

In June, the college was ordered to improve by Ofsted which said too few students achieved the qualifications, especially English and maths, and attendance to some lessons was poor.

Inspectors also said that too few learners on study programmes complete work experience to improve their understanding of how skills they learn are applied in the workplace.

But the report did highlight a series of strengths – saying teaching, learning and assessment are outstanding in manufacturing technology apprenticeships.

They also praised college-based programmes in sport and visual arts and said learners and apprentices have a positive attitude to learning.

At the time Mr Cleaves said the college was committed to 'accelerating' the rate of improvement.

The college had slipped from a good rating in 2011 and was rated as 'requiring improvement' following a visit in May.