Save Jobs at BMC

We the undersigned are against the inappropriate use of public funds and the decimation of facilities, support and teaching for people within the West Midlands area and call for a thorough investigation into the management practices at the college, as well as a halt to all proposed job cuts until this investigation is completed.

Birmingham Metropolitan College is one of the largest further education providers in the country, yet over 100 redundancies are planned within the coming months. Whilst we accept there is a current funding deficit of over %uFFFD6 million, we do not accept the need to make such swingeing cuts in the workforce.

This college is proposing the axing of 30 permanent teaching posts, 30 support staff, and the remainder being made up of curriculum managers, senior managers and associate lecturers. Because of the threat of 'bumping' this means that more maingrade lecturers may face redundancy because of curriculum managers dropping down a grade. The figures provided here are not confirmed as the final figure is yet to be clarified. The result will be larger class sizes and increased workloads for the remaining lecturers, especially with increased targets for student recruitment for the next academic year. Add into this the recent proposals to allow undergraduate students the opportunity to study for a degree at any university in England, but attend lectures at their local further education college or other institute, it is easy to see how these planned redundancies are limiting the opportunities for students of all ages to participate in education, as well as lowering the standards of teaching and learning for existing students.

The college is currently spending a large amount of money on remodelling part of the Sutton Coldfield campus and extensive building works at the James Watt campus, as well as the questionable purchasing of computers for senior managers, a fleet of brand new cars for promotional purposes, the continued purchasing of fresh exotic flower arrangements for visible areas of the college premises, and the hiring of external consultancies to advise and oversee the redundancy procedure.

Thank you for taking the time to read this letter.