A college is at the centre of a fresh row after it was accused of stalling the release of a report in the wake of misconduct allegations.
Renewed pressure on South Lanarkshire College (SLC) follows calls from the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) for the document to be published “in the interests of openness and transparency”.
A whistleblower has also issued a damning letter containing claims of “bullying, intimidation, harassment, theft and fraud” at the institution.
The document, which was written by a former SLC employee and passed to Lanarkshire Live, states: "This college will go to the dogs if proper processes are not introduced to protect staff, to protect students, to protect public funds – and maintained in what is a public body and a charity."
Concern has been building since The Herald revealed in December last year that Aileen McKechnie, principal and chief executive, and Brian Keegan, interim clerk to the Board of Management, had been suspended. College bosses said at the time that they had acted so “various complaints” could be addressed fairly.
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The developments came after Ms McKechnie ordered a probe into allegations of misconduct at the college. This resulted in auditors producing a document that made “a number of recommendations for improvements to internal procedures”.
College bosses said in September 2021 that they had accepted “all the recommendations in full”, with news of Ms McKechnie’s suspension emerging suddenly just weeks later.
Employees are deeply unhappy. Last year, members of the SLC Further Education Lecturers’ Association (EIS-FELA) branch passed votes of no confidence in the Board and its chair Andy Kerr, a former Labour MSP and minister. They also called for Ms McKechnie and Mr Keegan to be reinstated with immediate effect. Funding bosses said later that the Board had since been “refreshed”.
However, there is new anger amid claims college chiefs have failed to publish the auditors’ report after telling the EIS-FELA branch a month ago that it would be released "within days".
The Herald previously tried to obtain the document under Freedom of Information legislation but the request was refused. A letter from acting principal Liz McIntyre said: “I can confirm that all internal audit reports are provided to the College for the purposes of advice to the Board of Management on matters relating to Governance at the College. For that reason, these reports are covered by the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 and specifically, Section 30(b)(i) and Section 30(b)(ii) which exempt information by way of the free and frank provision of advice for the purposes of deliberation.”
The row has now reached the most senior levels of government after the Education Secretary was questioned about it at Holyrood. Shirley-Anne Somerville told MSPs her “paramount interest” was to protect the quality of learning at SLC and stressed “high standards of governance” would be crucial.
She said yesterday: “The Scottish Funding Council (SFC) is responsible for investigating any potential issues around college governance.
“Following an independent review of governance at South Lanarkshire College, the SFC continue to work closely with the Regional Strategic Body to ensure arrangements are in place to secure good governance, sound leadership and positive outcomes for students.”
COMMENT: 'College governance questions still to be answered'
Ms Somerville added: “The Scottish Funding Council will continue to provide updates to the Scottish Government as required.”
EIS chiefs have described the situation as a matter of "significant concern". Larry Flanagan, general secretary, said: “Scotland’s students and college staff, as well as the wider public, have the right to expect the highest standards of governance in our colleges which are, after all, public institutions.
“The Scottish Government and the Scottish Funding Council must treat this issue with a high degree of urgency and commit to taking the necessary steps to address concerns related to effective governance of the college.
“The EIS also believes that recognised trade unions at the college should be regularly updated as to developments.
“In particular, staff have been awaiting sight of an internal audit report on the college since September last year – it is important that this is now published, in the interests of openness and transparency.”
An SLC spokesman said: “The decision to commission internal audit to undertake this review was taken by the college’s audit and risk committee and in line with standard practice, internal audit reports are not routinely made publicly available.
"However, the audit committee intends to review this practice going forward. The internal audit report made a number of recommendations for improvement, all of which have been accepted in full and have or are being implemented.”
An SFC spokesman said: "The release of an internal audit report is a matter for the College.
"SFC continues to work closely with the Regional Strategic Body and we are assured that arrangements are in place to secure good governance and sound leadership, and to ensure that students continue to have a good, productive learning experience."
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