Chairman quits over funding fiasco

THE head of the further education funding body has quit amid heavy criticism after building projects at 79 colleges were halted — including Oldham College.

Learning and Skills Council (LSC) chairman Mark Haysom resigned yesterday, saying he was stepping down because of “well-publicised difficulties” with the building programme.

Oldham College’s £80 million redevelopment, due to start in June, hangs in the balance after ministers admitted funding has run out.

All the projects were given approval in principle by the LSC for building work totalling almost £3billion.

Another 35 colleges had also been asked to draw up projects.

There are fears that colleges which had borrowed, or committed, money could be forced to write-off millions of pounds and even forced into technical insolvency.

Conservative universities and skills secretary David Willetts called it an extraordinary catalogue of incompetence.

An investigation is under way into what went wrong and what projects can be funded and when.

Oldham College has planning permission to raze seven buildings and replace them with six new blocks, featuring facilities such as a sports hall, construction training, high-tech hair and beauty salons, purpose-built classrooms and a corporate training suite.

Principal Kath Thomas remains confident that the development will go ahead and stressed the college was not in financial or organisational difficulties.

Skills Secretary John Denham said: “I fully understand his decision to tender his resignation at this time, given the significant problems with the Building Colleges for the Future (BCF) programme.”

LSC chairman Chris Banks said that Geoff Russell, formerly of accountants KPMG, would take over as acting chief executive.