Wearside college could lose 42 jobs in bid to make £2.4m saving

Sunderland College has confirmed that it will be undertaking a review of staffing across all areas of the business.

It comes as the Government cuts continue to hit, while a review is also being carried out of further education, which will look at making the system more financially efficient and ensure it is fit for purpose for learners in years to come.

The college is in the process of building a new £29million campus in the city centre, in a site neighbouring Park Lane and Sunderland Civic Centre.

Once finished the building will welcome up to 2,000 students and had been expected to be the base for more than 120 staff when it opens in September.

The project is funded by the Skills Funding Agency (SFA), Sunderland City Council and college reserves.

Ellen Thinnesen, the college's principal said: “As a College we need to make savings of £2.4million from our staffing budget and we therefore regrettably need to put staff at risk of redundancy.”

The college has said a consultation process has started and all members of staff affected by the changes have been informed.

It has confirmed the majority of the savings will come from within senior and middle management roles and it expects that at the end of the consultation process that there could be up to 42 possible redundancies.

Ms Thinnesen added: “This is a very difficult time for everyone working at Sunderland College, particularly those that are directly affected by the review.

"We will be working closely with those staff and face-to-face briefings have already begun in order to offer advice and guide them through the

consultation.

“We have met with the Trade Unions and we will continue to work closely with them throughout the process.

“This is a challenging time for the College but we remain fully committed to delivering the highest standard of education for all our learners.”