Salary bid is rejected as trusts protected

COLLEGE bosses have dismissed suggestions that millions of pounds held in arm’s-length foundations could be used to fund a national pay deal for lecturers.

Shona Struthers, chief executive of Colleges Scotland, said the money, which was previously held as college reserves, had already been earmarked for improvements such as new facilities.

The intervention came after unions said the £100 million could be used to deliver national pay scales for lecturers.

Ms Struthers said: “It is frustrating that some people continue to suggest dipping into money in college foundations for revenue costs and important to understand why this is not feasible.

“These foundations are separate charitable bodies, independent of colleges, that were created to ensure that money was not lost to the sector due to colleges being reclassified as public bodies.

“The funds, which colleges must apply for, specifically support special projects to deliver the needs of students, such as new facilities, and cannot be used for ongoing costs such as salaries.”

Talks over a new national deal for lecturers that would harmonise pay across the sector have currently reached deadlock.

Colleges Scotland argues the proposed deal will cost up to £80m to implement and cannot be delivered without additional funds from the Scottish Government.

However, Larry Flanagan, the general secretary of the Educational Institute of Scotland, which represents lecturers, believes the £100m held in foundations could be used to finance a solution. A FIRST World War sculpture has been unveiled for the first time in Scotland as part of this year’s Scottish Poppy Appeal.

The Every Man Remembered statue, which stands about 23ft high, is based on the Unknown Soldier and stands on a block of limestone from the Somme, France.

The sculpture, encased in a glass box among thousands of poppies that float in the air, has gone on display in Glasgow.

Designed by artist Mark Humphrey, the statue was unveiled by Glasgow Lord Provost Sadie Docherty in the city’s George Square and is part of a four-year campaign to honour the 1,117,077 Commonwealth servicemen and women who lost their lives in the First World War.

The piece will be on display in George Square throughout the Scottish Poppy Appeal until Sunday, November 13. Picture: Kirsty Anderson