The secret £470k pay-off to bosses at college

Is this scandalous?

The secret £470k pay-off to bosses at college

We have been advised of this article in the Sunday Post; a paper that we are not usually looking to gleen items from but this is a cracker before Christmas!

Two men paid £100k in ‘gardening leave’ as cost of merging colleges tops £5m.

College bosses in one of the most deprived areas of Scotland banked a £470,000 payoff in a secret deal approved by some of their closest colleagues.

The taxpayer paid out more than twice what was contractually obliged in severance packages for Ronnie Knox, former principal of the now defunct North Glasgow College, and John Gray, his vice-principal.

The haul includes more than £100,000 in wages for six months “gardening leave” after they left their posts, even though their services were never called upon.

The revelations come in a confidential Auditor’s Report obtained by The Sunday Post that shows no business case or paperwork was produced to support the lavish payoff, which came as a result of merging three Glasgow colleges.

The confidential report by top auditors Scott Moncrieff revealed:

• A “pension enhancement” worth £124,000 was paid to Mr Knox’s pension pot to persuade him to retire three years early but the offer was not extended to other college employees.

• The pay-outs were approved by a three-man remuneration committee which had not met for years and kept no minutes.

• Board chairman John Russell oversaw the meeting and later authorised the payments but decided against telling fellow members of the deal or even that the meeting had taken place.

• Other members had received assurances the college’s voluntary severance scheme would be applied across the college.

• Human Resources director Jean Sturgeon had her pension pot topped up by £165,000 before leaving the college.

The report on North Glasgow College’s finances will be discussed by MSPs on Holyrood’s Audit Committee this week.

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