LATEST: Nescot accepts former £360k a year principal was unfairly dismissed

The highest-paid college principal in the country has left her job as head of North East Surrey College of Technology (Nescot), FE Week understands.

The chair of Nescot FE Corporation Professor Mark Hunt is believed to have announced the departure of Sunaina Mann in an email sent to staff at 9.42am on Thursday (June 2), which FE Week has seen.

The news comes after FE Week revealed that her husband, Jaswinder Singh Mann, was paid almost £200,000 over the course of a contract with a Saudi Arabian college subsidiary that Nescot’s board of governors were unaware of for 18 months.

The college principal Ms Mann told FE Week that “robust governance arrangements… removed any conflict of interest”, but the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) has since asked for a report from Nescot on the issue, a request with which it complied.

Mr Hunt then told staff in the email, which was sent on Thursday: “The college can confirm that Mrs Sunaina Mann has ceased to be principal of the Nescot Further Education Corporation and she no longer represents it or any other Nescot entity within the Nescot Group.

“Cliff Hall [head of college] will be taking up the role as acting principal until a permanent replacement has been put in place.

“We will not be providing any further comment at this time.”

Ms Mann received a salary of £363,000 in 2014/15, making her the most well remunerated college principal in the country.

FE Week has also seen a follow-up email which was apparently sent by Ms Mann to college staff shortly after 3pm.

In it, she said: “I have been told that the chair has announced that I have left.

“Following what I felt was a serious failure by the college to support me publically, and to correct the totally untrue stories concerning the appointment of my husband, as a consultant, (with which I had no involvement whatsoever) I resigned from the college on Tuesday after 10 great years in which, together we have been responsible for its success.”

However, she continued: “I am continuing to work at the college in Jeddah [Saudi Arabia]. I wish you all a bright future and thank you again for support.”

Her husband had been employed as a consultant to work on Nescot’s controversial partnership in Saudi Arabia, the Jeddah Female College.

A representative for Ms Mann told FE Week: “In the summer of 2013 [Ms Mann] was the principal of Nescot, and a nominee director of NCL [Nescot Consortium Limited].

“There was an urgent need to address MIS systems and David Round [the company secretary and project manager at NCL] proposed the appointment of Jaswinder Mann.

“[Ms Mann] was not in support of that proposal, because she felt it better that he did not work for an organisation in which she had any involvement, but the board agreed to take forward the recommendation, noting her concern, and arrangements were put in place to ensure that there was clear independent oversight of his appointment and of his performance.

“[Ms Mann] had no involvement whatsoever in the appointment or oversight of Mr Mann nor the authorisation of his invoices.”

Falling FE membership is an issue that has long been playing on the mind of Sally Hunt, general secretary of the University and College Union (UCU).

The union’s FE membership dropped by 3,000 between April 2015 and the same month this year, almost a 10 per cent fall, whilst figures suggest that the higher education sector has seen an increase in numbers of around one per cent.

She was open about the problem when we met during the UCU general conference this week.

“I wouldn’t pretend to you that it is anything other than a serious issue,” she told me.

“I wanted to make it very clear to congress; I didn’t want to hide behind no figures and generalities because I think sometimes you have to face up to what’s taking place.” She believes that redundancies are part of the problem, and an issue that the union needs to keep on top of.

I wouldn’t pretend to you that it is anything other than a serious issue

“We know that there is a huge turnover in the sector and it’s very hard, with that kind of churn, just to keep track of where people are. As a union we’ve just got to be a little bit tighter on it,” she said.

However she conceded that the age profile of members is another serious issue — core members are older and more of them are leaving the sector, while younger members can be harder to recruit.

She said: “You are having more of our members leaving than proportionately you might expect in terms of the sector overall, so we’re taking a bigger hit there.

“But I think that there is also an issue over how we go about recruiting and how we represent ourselves to people coming into the sector.”

Ms Hunt acknowledged that fewer of the younger generation are automatically joining a union when they start a job, meaning there is now more for unions to do to show what value they can offer.

Offering continuing professional development (CPD) is one thing that UCU has found helpful.

“There are a far higher number of our younger members who are using CPD as opposed to for example who are turning up and wanting to have a debate about industrial issues. They are using their union in a different way,” she said.

“Do I think we’re turning it around? Well actually yes I do. I’m starting to look at figures that are saying we’re starting to turn it around.

“Do I think we’re doing enough? Absolutely not, I think we’ve got to do an awful lot more.”

With the sector focused heavily on apprenticeships at present, in line with the government’s target of three million for 2020, I asked her whether this was an area where she felt the union could be more positive and engaged.

She told me: “It used to be that apprenticeships were seen as being out there and other courses were seen as more central. Now what’s happening is colleges are reversing that and trying very hard to pull apprenticeships in as the centrality in order to chase the funding.

“Do I think that the union has stood in the way? No, I don’t recognise that.”

We went on to discuss Nick Boles’ comments at the Association of Colleges (AoC) conference in November 2015, where he advised colleges not to let training providers “steal your lunch” when it comes to securing the government’s apprenticeship funding.

Ms Hunt surprised me by agreeing with Boles’ message.

“One of the things that I have been just watching with interest in how much of the apprenticeship agenda, for example, is not done by core college staff,” she said.

“You won’t hear me say this often but I think Nick Boles asked the right question there of colleges – ‘what are you doing to make sure that you’re developing a really strong central brand with well-skilled people who can actually deliver?’”

Another issue that hit the headlines after the 2015 AoC conference was funding, a topic that the UCU has been heavily involved with – leading to a number of strikes in recent months over the AoC pay freeze for FE staff.

The issue clearly has riled her: “We know that they have year-on-year been reducing the proportion of spend that they have on staffing compared with other issues.

“I know that our members are already finding that they are being employed on inferior terms and conditions, on inferior pay, and on a range of salaries nationally that don’t bear comparison to previous years.”

Nick Boles asked the right question there of colleges

She was explicit in claiming that the AoC has not been pulling its weight: “I think [the AoC] has got a real serious credibility issue, I really do.

“It has struck me for many years, that the more localised funding and management has become, the less it has some kind of coherent and credible story behind it.”

She believes the AoC has shown a lack of respect for FE workers in its handling of pay, saying: “I don’t think that they are coherently responding to us, or that they are treating our members respectfully.

“I don’t look to back away from this or to try and disguise my real concern, and frankly anger, at the way that they treat the negotiations within further education.”

She wants to see the problem addressed head on.

“At the moment I think the question is: are they serious about having a negotiation and are they serious about having a national pay spine?

“Employers are not supporting their own national body, and they really have to think about this because it makes it very difficult for us to believe that they are serious about even discussing some of the issues that we want to bring to the table,” she said.

She also sees funding as an unwanted backdrop to the government’s post-16 education and training area reviews.

The UCU generally supports the movement towards devolving adult funding to the combined authorities, but she believes that there are “some major issues” with it.

She said: “Under Nick Boles what ought to be taking place is cost-cutting and stripping down provision.

“They seem to be saying that merger is the key for merger’s sake.”

Hunt said that from her perspective, the focus must be on what is best for the community.

“I would be more interested in how the government is translating their agenda in terms of area reviews, if I really felt we were talking about what each community needs and worked backwards from there, not start from saying ‘we’ve got 10 and we’d like to end up with six’,” she said.

“I know that there are backroom conversations taking place between principals in order to head off at the pass any imposition of merger.”

Over all though, Ms Hunt was eager to emphasise that it was important for the union to highlight the positives, as well as challenge the problems.

She said: “There is a massive opportunity for the sector here. It is an opportunity that they should grab with both hands, but they should do it by articulating that they are the community college and that means skills, but also something much broader as well.

“They have got a very strong part to play in this country and I think that our members are the driving force of that.”

NEW UCU PRESIDENTS FROM FE

Vicky Knight is the new UCU vice president and a lecturer in trade union studies at Manchester College. Rob Goodfellow is the new UCU president and a lecturer at Hull College. Mr Goodfellow told FE Week: ‘These are difficult times for further education; years of funding cuts have put colleges under real financial pressure, and now area reviews are acting as a catalyst for mergers and cutbacks. “That’s why it’s never been more important to defend education and reinforce the integral role of local colleges in meeting different learning needs. I look forward to taking on that challenge in the year ahead and working with colleagues to protect and promote the sector.’

The outgoing president of the University and College Union (UCU) has slammed ignorance among politicians towards FE, in her speech to conference.

Elizabeth Lawrence addressed delegates at the start of the union’s annual conference at the ACC Liverpool this morning.

She spoke of a need to spring to the “defence of FE” – which she felt was being undermined by meddling politicians who do not understand the sector.

Ms Lawrence said: “Too many politicians know too little about the world of FE.

“They do not appreciate how varied in the contribution of the FE to the rest of society — providing not only apprenticeships but also ESOL [English for Speakers of Other Languages], A-levels, prison education, adult basic education and return to study courses.”

She added many university students accessed university “through the FE route” — which was an important means of bolstering social inclusion.

“Not all young people succeed first time at school, and many people need to access FE at various stages of the life cycle,” said Ms Lawrence, in her last address to conference as president.

“UCU has continued to campaign for decent funding for FE. We now have a white paper for higher education, I believe that UCU has worked with conventional higher education and with subject associations to defend academic freedom and academic standards.”

She also raised concern about “the threat to academic freedom in the government’s [anti-terrorism] Prevent agenda”.

“More needs to be done to help universities and colleges understand their duties of safeguarding students and of defending academic freedom,” added Ms Lawrence.

It comes after FE Week reported in September that a survey of Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) members, working in English FE colleges, indicated that 45 per cent of those questioned had not had any Prevent training in how to stop students being drawn into terrorism.

Delegates are set to vote on 35 FE-related motions during the three-day conference— covering a wide range of issues including Prevent, members’ pay, area reviews, and “unprecedented” funding cuts.

FE Week editor Nick Linford will also be on a panel discussing what colleges can do to increase their market share of apprenticeship provision.

This comes after Skills Minister Nick Boles criticised colleges — in November, at the Association of Colleges (AoC) conference — for being slow to adjust to the extra funding being made available for apprenticeships.

The main day dedicated to FE will be tomorrow (Thursday) — but ahead of that UCU general secretary Sally Hunt will reflect, during her speech to conference this afternoon, on the tough financial climate facing the sector.

She will tell delegates: “Colleges and their staff really can’t win under a government that seems to have little understanding of what they do and why they are important to their communities.”

Members of the University and College Union (UCU) at South Downs College are being balloted for strike action, in what the union describes as a “row over new contracts”.

UCU claims that the college has threatened to dismiss staff who refuse to sign up to new contracts, which it says “would lead to worse pay and conditions for staff”.

The ballot opens today (Thursday June 2) and closes on Monday June 13.

The union cites a pay cut of around three per cent for lecturers, as well as reductions to annual leave and redundancy notice periods among its concerns.

The union’s regional official Moray McAuley said: “These are deeply damaging proposals, and staff are understandably angry at plans to dismiss staff who refuse to sign away a significant chunk of their salary and annual leave entitlement.

“Staff are dismayed at the actions of a senior leadership team, including a principal earning more than the prime minister, cutting their pay at the same time as leaving their own salaries intact.”

The Skills Funding Agency (SFA) College Accounts list the South Downs College principal’s salary as £149,000 in 2014/15.

Mr McAuley added: “Imposing these new contracts would be bad for staff and students alike.

“South Downs is an outstanding college but these changes will make it harder to attract the best teachers and lecturers.

“The college urgently needs to rethink its plans and work with UCU to address members’ concerns.”

A spokesperson for South Downs College told FE Week: “It is disappointing that the union has chosen to ballot for industrial action whilst consultation is taking place. We will be working with unions and staff to find a solution and to maintain our high standard of education for our students.”

Members of the University and College Union (UCU) will head to Liverpool tomorrow for the start of the union’s tenth annual congress — with the future of FE set to be a key topic up for discussion.

Delegates will vote on 35 FE-related motions during the three-day event at the ACC Liverpool — covering concerns over members’ pay, area reviews, “unprecedented” funding cuts, and implementation of the counter-terrorism Prevent duty placed on colleges by the government.

The ninth FE-related motion, for example, states that “this conference deplores the ongoing government programme of area reviews of FE, caused by the same government which systematically refuses to fund post-16 education adequately, whilst effectively making it compulsory for young people up to 18 to stay in education”.

It adds: “This is staggeringly hypocritical in that the government is exhorting colleges to work collaboratively and reduce competition whilst supporting a blinkered target-driven short-term approach to education.”

The main day dedicated to FE will be Thursday — but ahead of that UCU general secretary Sally Hunt will reflect, during her speech to conference tomorrow afternoon, on the tough financial climate facing the sector.

She will tell delegates: “Colleges and their staff really can’t win under a government that seems to have little understanding of what they do and why they are important to their communities.

“It is the cuts to public funding since 2010 that has created this [financial] weakness.”

She will add: “We meet at a time of extraordinary change.

“With white papers on schools, skills and higher education, the wrongness of the government’s vision won’t make the changes they propose any less real.”

Ms Hunt will also announce plans for a joint national demonstration to defend education in the autumn with UCU’s sister organisation, the National Union of Students.

Our very own FE Week editor will also be on a panel discussing what colleges can do to increase their market share of apprenticeship provision. This was criticised by the Skills Minister in November at the Association of Colleges (AoC) conference for being just 30 per cent.

Andrew Harden, head of FE at UCU, told FE Week today ahead of conference: “Clearly pay will be a big topic. We are getting to a situation where we are getting on towards a 20 per cent real cut in pay since 2009, so there will be a big debate about that around how we can get back what would look like meaningful national bargaining.

“Obviously area reviews are a big concern for the sector and that will be one of the bigger and longer discussions.”

He added that chief inspector Sir Michael Wilshaw’s damning comments to MPs on FE would still be a hot topic for discussion.

It comes after the Ofsted boss caused widespread anger across the sector by telling the Commons Education Select Committee in March that 16-to-19-year-olds should be taught in schools rather than colleges, because FE was “in a mess”.

See below for the full list of FE-related topics for motions going before this year’s conference:

FE1 – Pay

FE2 – Equal pay

FE3 – Equality data in further and adult education

FE4 – Campaign to defend further and adult education

FE5 – Defending post-16 provision

FE6 – Apprenticeships, disability and the destruction of FE

FE7 – National campaigning, area reviews and mergers

FE8 – Area reviews

FE9 – Area reviews of FE

FE10 – Area reviews

FE11 – Protect disabled people’s access to FE in merger process

FE12 – Cuts to FE, area reviews, and their impact on learning opportunities and access to education

FE13 – FE cuts, area reviews, and gendered impact on learning opportunities

FE14 – Anti-casualisation in a time of FE mergers

FE15 – The impact of area reviews on black communities

FE16 – Area reviews and LGBT concerns

FE17 – ESOL [English for Speakers of Other Languages], campaigning to defend further and adult education

FE18 – Cuts to ESOL and the persecution of women

FE19 – Ensuring gender identity equality in prison education

FE20 – Casualisation

FE21 – Workload

FE22 – FE workload and exploitation of staff

FE23 – Reaching out to ACE workers

FE24 – Supporting small scale ACE events and actions

FE25 – ACE [Adult and Continuing Education] national meeting

FE26 – ACE representation in UCU structures

FE27 – Regional adult and community education anti-casualisation campaigns

FE28 – Greylisting college principals

FE29 – Accountability in FE

FE30 – Prevent – education is not surveillance

FE31 – Learner/student voice

FE32 – Professionalism in post-16 education

FE33 – FE lecturers and QTS

FE34 – Lesson observation

FE35 – FE and Ofsted

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has confirmed that Rachel Sandby-Thomas will be leaving her role as shadow chief executive of the new Institute for Apprenticeships (IfA) — just two months after it announced she had been appointed.

Ms Sandby-Thomas had been the only appointment so far at the IfA — which is due to launch in April 2017 and will help police employers as apprenticeship reforms take effect.

But a BIS spokesperson has now confirmed that she will join Warwick University as its registrar from September, when she will then leave the institute.

This will be a blow to an already challenging implementation timescale and shadow skills minister Gordon Marsden said the announcement had potentially left the IfA “in crisis”.

He said: “It is quite extraordinary that the person the government has just appointed as the key driver for the new institute has suddenly announced that she will be leaving the post in September.

“Clearly, whatever the reasons, this now potentially leaves a body, which still lacks a chair and a board and where the government have consistently been extremely vague about the future composition of this board, in crisis.”

Mr Marsden went on to question how employers, FE providers and colleges could have “any confidence” about the timetable for rolling out the IfA — which was “already highly ambitious in terms of both the levy and the apprenticeships target”.

BIS declined to comment on why Ms Sandby-Thomas was leaving the role, but told FE Week: “We will shortly be commencing the recruitment process for the institute’s permanent chief executive.”

At the time of her appointment in March, the department’s permanent secretary Martin Donnelly said: “Building on her in-depth knowledge of the apprenticeship programme as director general for skills, Rachel will play a major role in establishing the IfA, which is due to launch in April 2017 and be an essential part of ensuring the quality of apprenticeships in support of the government’s target of delivering 3m apprentices by 2020.”

Ms Sandby-Thomas was unavailable for comment on her reason for leaving the IfA, but was quoted on her new role in a press statement released by Warwick University as saying: “I’m really delighted to be joining Warwick.

“It is a fabulous university and I am really looking forward to joining its ambitious and dynamic team.”

Ms Sandby-Thomas joined the government legal service in 1993 from the City, where she worked as a solicitor with Linklaters, and has since advised at, HM Treasury, the Cabinet Office, the Attorney General’s Office, and Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency.

Her most recent role was as director general for skills, deregulation and local growth at BIS.

Vice chancellor professor Stuart Croft at Warwick University said: “I am delighted to welcome Rachel to Warwick.

“She brings to the role of registrar considerable experience of heading large teams with large budgets, and much of that experience has been in the department of government, responsible for higher education and skills.”

The Association of Colleges (AoC) has announced David Hughes as its new chief executive – just five months after he oversaw the launch of the Learning and Work Institute following a merger between two influential sector bodies.

He was chosen after the AoC was forced to re-advertise for the post – because it failed to find a suitable candidate from the initial applicants who were interviewed in March.

Mr Hughes (pictured above) told FE Week he did not apply when the vacancy was first publicised in January.

This was because he felt it would have been inappropriate as he was overseeing the launch of the Learning and Work Institute in the same month, following the merger of the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE) and Centre for Economic & Social Inclusion.

But FE Week reported exclusively on March 9 that no-one had been appointed to replace Martin Doel from the first round of applicants — and Mr Hughes felt the time was right to move on when the vacancy was subsequently re-advertised.

The AoC said Mr Hughes was due to start in September and when asked what changes he had planned for AoC, he said: “Part of the process will be meeting with Martin [Doel], staff, and members to make sure I understand what the colleges want and need.

“One thing I know is that Martin is leaving behind a strong AoC. I always try to be an optimist and I said in my interview that I saw this as a time of opportunity for colleges, firstly with the apprenticeship levy.

“It will bring in more money for colleges, attract employers to apprenticeships that wouldn’t have considered it otherwise, and underline the government’s commitment to skills training.

“Other opportunities I see for colleges will, for example, come through the extension of FE loans, the Sainsbury Review and new technical and professional education routes, and it’s obvious that the economy is going to need more of the higher level qualifications that colleges offer.”

Carole Stott, AoC chair, said: “We are delighted to welcome David at such an important time for our members.

“The board and I are confident that his high level skills, energy and commitment will enable him to lead AoC — as it continues to represent, support, and promote our colleges.

“We are very much looking forward to working with him as he takes on the mantle from Martin Doel, who has successfully led the organisation for the last eight years.”

FE Week reported in November last year that Mr Doel would be standing down from September 1, to move to a new professorship of FE and Skills at the Further Education Trust for Leadership (FETL).

Mr Hughes, who started at NIACE five years ago and made guests laugh at the Learning and Work Institute’s launch event by calling its new website “sexy”, was previously provider services director at the Skills Funding Agency from 2010 to 2011.

He held a series of senior roles with the Learning and Skills Council before that.

When questioned further about the timing of his move to the new post, which it is understood will pay around £135,000 a year, he said: “The problem is that jobs at this level don’t come up very often — the AoC job hadn’t for years.

“I didn’t apply the first time it was advertised in January, as that would have been too soon after the launch of the Learning and Work Institute. But by this point I feel it is in a strong position with a really good team in place.

“I will be sad to leave and would have liked to stay on for another year in an ideal world, but you can’t always choose the ideal timing.”

Maggie Galliers CBE, chair of the Learning and Work Institute, said: “On behalf of the board and staff, I would like to thank David for the hard work he has put in and the leadership he has shown to help secure the future of the Institute.

“He leaves behind a strong organisation with great staff.”

She added: “We will start the search for a successor straight away and I look forward to announcing a new CEO in the coming months.”

Mark Dawe, chief executive of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, said: “We warmly welcome David’s appointment and look forward to working with him in his new role.”

 

Mr Hughes has featured regularly in FE Week during his time with NIACE and the Learning and Work Institute, often in cartoons. Here’s a selection of our favourites:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A principal who lodged a formal complaint with Ofsted after the education watchdog branded his college inadequate has stepped down, along with his deputy.

West Cheshire College told FE Week today that Nigel Davies and his former deputy principal Adrian Humphreys had left.

The statement said the pair had both moved on “in order to explore new career and other professional opportunities”, but gave no further explanation for their departure.

Helen Nellist, who was already a member of the college’s leadership team, has been appointed acting principal “to ensure continuity and leadership and support”.

It comes after FE Week reported six months ago that Mr Davies had hit back at Ofsted — after the college was branded inadequate overall and across four headline fields, including effectiveness of leadership and management, following inspection in September.

Inspectors found that teachers did not expect enough of learners, and that the college’s financial future was unsustainable, among a host of other issues.

But Mr Davies argued that the inspection did not “accurately reflect our achievements to date and our current position today”, and said he had lodged a formal complaint with Ofsted which included an invitation to re-inspect the college.

However, a subsequent monitoring visit by Ofsted in February found the college was making insufficient progress in almost all areas identified.

The college has also been subject to intervention by the FE Commissioner, Dr David Collins, since September 2014 — after the college was also rated inadequate for financial health by the Skills Funding Agency.

Dr Collins’ report said that the college should “complete a viability review, working with the funding agencies, into consolidating its estates onto a single campus by the end of October 2014”.

It recommended a major rationalisation programme of the college’s estate, stating: “Subject to the outcome of this review confirming that alternative provision at Ellesmere Port would not significantly disadvantage learners, the Handbridge site should be closed and mainstream provision moved to the Ellesmere Port site.”

Mr Davies’ LinkedIn profile lists his current position, as of May, as chief executive of FE Skills Academy, a consultancy firm.

When asked by FE Week why he had left the college, Mr Davies said: “I found my time as principal at West Cheshire College very enjoyable and I will take with me many happy memories and recollections from my three years at the college.

“It was a pleasure working with a group of professional and committed individuals and I definitely feel the staff and students are a credit to the college.

“Undoubtedly, college achievements and successes are well documented from during my time at West Cheshire College.

“You will also note that the corporation thanked me for my leadership, commitment and support.

He added: “I decided to leave the college and explore new career opportunities; these are not exhaustive in their undertaking and will include many different possibilities.

“There is no particular other reason why I decided to leave West Cheshire College nor is it connected to any recent event – it was purely a professional matter.”

FE Week was unable to contact Mr Humphreys ahead of publication.

Pictured above: former West Cheshire College principal Nigel Davies

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has claimed the decision confirmed today to close its Sheffield office will help save around £350m — even though a leaked document indicated the move would actually cost money.

BIS was accused of launching an “FE brain drain” after unveiling plans in January to close its Sheffield office, which it is feared could lead to around 250 civil servants with expertise on the sector losing their jobs.

The Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union claimed in March that widespread opposition to the plans to centralise policy-making in London had forced he department to delay its consultation on the move and announce a final decision on whether to proceed by two months until early May.

The department finally confirmed that it would definitely close today, and said: “This forms part of wider BIS 2020 plans to modernise the way the department works, as well as saving around £350 million for the taxpayer by 2020 in operational costs.”

But PCS disputed the money-saving claim, in light of a leaked government document, reported on by FE Week last month.

This stated that while potential savings through rent, rates and maintenance, rail travel, and hotel stays stood at £1.5m, the additional London salary costs could run to £1.6m per annum — indicating the move would result in a net loss of £100,000 for the department.

Lois Austin, the PCS full-time official for BIS covering the Sheffield office, told FE Week: “How can they possibly claim this will save all that money? All the indicators are that 90 per cent of the jobs in Sheffield will still be needed, but on London wages. You can do the maths.”

She added: “Our members are staying strong despite today’s announcement.

“We have already staged two strikes in the past two weeks and are planning further action including a withdrawal of goodwill which means we will just work our contracted hours.”

Permanent secretary Martin Donnelly said: “Creating one policy centre in London and closing the BIS office in Sheffield in 2018 is a decision that has not been made lightly.

“We have talked and listened to staff and unions. Making a decision which impacts on people’s lives and families is never easy. And we have decided that all staff will be able to stay in their current role and location until January 2018.

“After that, anyone who wants a role in London will be able to have one, with assistance towards the cost of travel for the first three years.”

A BIS spokesperson added the support package on offer to Sheffield staff affected would include “money for re-skilling, career coaching, and time off to look for other jobs”.

She added: “Anyone choosing to leave will benefit from the best exit terms currently available in the civil service.”