Jobs threat at Leeds City College

The college has said it needs to find £2.83m savings and wants to get rid of 218 posts, which would affect 293 members of staff due to the part-time nature of some roles. The college has told trade unions that it intends to create 179 new posts and expects the total net loss of jobs to be around 40 posts.

Most of the jobs set to go are in non-teaching areas of the college, however eight teaching posts are expected to be lost. The news is a bitter blow for staff and students as this is the fourth year in a row that the college has cut jobs and educational opportunities for the city. This year alone 66 teaching roles have already been lost due to cutbacks.

UCU said it understands the difficulties colleges are facing but that the college should be working harder to make the case for better government funding.

It pointed out that staff who survive the cull will be on worse terms and conditions and forced to take a pay cut. The local branch is due to meet this week to discuss its reaction to the latest plans, but has vowed to fight the losses.

UCU representative John Giddins, said: 'This is another terrible blow for the hard-working staff at Leeds City College. This is the fourth year in a row that the college has cut jobs and educational opportunities in Leeds.

'This latest round of cuts reveals the true extent of the damage being wreaked on colleges by government cuts. The so-called new posts the college wants to create to avoid redundancies will in reality be a pay cut for people forced to apply for a job that is very similar to their existing role.'