THE former college principal at the centre of a row over excessive severance payments has remained defiant in the face of criticism as he prepares to give evidence to auditors.
John Doyle caused outrage when it was revealed that he and six others all shared half of a £1.7 million severance pot during a college merger.
The 60-year-old former Coatbridge College principal himself received £304,000 when the institution merged to form New College Lanarkshire in 2014.
The payments were uncovered at a meeting with the Holyrood Public Audit Committee last month, with Auditor General Caroline Gardner describing the case one of the most serious failures in governance she had ever encountered.
She said at the time: "What appears to have happened is the chair of the board and the principal worked together to achieve a certain outcome, with members of the remuneration committee not receiving the information they needed to make their decision, and not receiving the concerns that had been raised by the SFC."
SNP MSP Nigel Don told the committee the case was a “particularly bad example of misuse of funds, deliberate withholding of information and of feathering one’s own nest”.
However in light of the allegations, Mr Doyle is reported to have said he is "looking forward" to providing evidence which he says has not yet been made available.
He is alleged to say: "I welcome giving evidence. I look forward to it as they haven't had the full evidence made available to them.
Though he has already given a written submission to the committee, he did not elaborate the nature of the evidence, saying: "Questions need to be asked about that, the media should do some digging on it and people should be asking questions as to why it wasn't passed on."
He was also reported to say that he will be happy to talk fully once he has given his evidence, but was restricted from saying more on account of legal advice.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon recently entered the row, saying she was "appalled" by the revelations and backed a proposal to compel those involved to appear before MSPs.
A Scottish Parliamentary spokesman said the Audit Committee will be meeting on Wednesday.
He said: "The Public Audit Committee has received a number of responses to its call for written evidence relating to severance payments at Coatbridge College.
"At its meeting on Wednesday the Committee will consider the submissions received and decide how it takes its inquiry forward.
"It is expected that the Committee will decide who it wishes to invite to appear before it. The earliest date for oral evidence is Wednesday 28 October."
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