Merger Consultation Contents
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HEREFORDSHIRE & LUDLOW COLLEGE AND NORTH SHROPSHIRE COLLEGE MERGER CONSULTATION CONTENTS A letter from College Governors..................................................................... 3 Key facts........................................................................................................... 4 What are we proposing?.................................................................................. 5 What is our vision for the new college?........................................................... 5 Why merge?..................................................................................................... 6 Who will benefit from this proposed merger?............................................. 7- 9 What will be the benefits of this merger?...................................................... 10 What will be the name of the new college?................................................... 11 How to respond to this consultation.............................................................. 13 Who to send your reply to.............................................................................. 14 “This proposal will deliver a bright future for our learners, staff, employers and wider community.” 1 2 A LETTER FROM COLLEGE GOVERNORS KEY FACTS Dear Stakeholder, 2016/17 North Shropshire College Herefordshire & Ludlow College The governors of North Shropshire College and Herefordshire and Ludlow FULL-TIME STUDENTS 820 2,150 College are proposing a merger partnership to create a new institution: Herefordshire, Ludlow and North Shropshire College. PART-TIME STUDENTS 1,590 8,370 This new College will be able to thrive during the present challenging financial circumstances facing many colleges of further education, and build on much TOTAL STUDENTS 2,410 10,520 outstanding practice to ensure the very best education and training for every single student we serve. We believe it is imperative that the communities of north HIGHER EDUCATION 50 550 Shropshire be served by a resilient, ambitious and successful college – and that STUDENTS this proposal will deliver a bright future for our learners, staff, employers and wider community. APPRENTICES 400 1,300 This brief document provides a compelling vision of our future together. We are STAFF (FULL-TIME 187 384 sharing our plans with you to enable you, as an important stakeholder, to influence EQUIVALENT) and support us, and shape the future. Please take a few minutes to consider our STAFF 313 526 proposal and respond. (HEAD COUNT) Thank you for your participation. OFSTED GRADE Requires Improvement Good TOTAL INCOME £9,024,000 £18,638,000 Gillian Richards Igor Andronov EBITDA SURPLUS (DEFICIT) (£962,000) £776,000 PRINCIPAL CAMPUSES Oswestry, Walford Hereford, Holme Lacy & Ludlow Chair Chair North Shropshire College Herefordshire & Ludlow College 3 4 WHAT ARE WE PROPOSING? WHY MERGE? We are proposing to create a new College of further education on 1 August North Shropshire College provides vital education and training services, 2018 by merging North Shropshire College with Herefordshire & Ludlow drawing students from throughout Shropshire and the surrounding areas. College by the dissolution of North Shropshire College Corporation and the transfer of its property, rights and liabilities to Herefordshire & Ludlow In recent years, given the relatively College Corporation to form Herefordshire, Ludlow & North Shropshire modest size of the institution and College. tightening financial constraints in the further education sector, it has All current students of North Shropshire College will be able to complete their become clear that these important programmes of learning as part of the newly merged college. local services can only be sustained in the long-term by partnering with a financially strong and high quality WHAT IS OUR VISION FOR THE NEW COLLEGE? College. To provide outstanding education, training and personal support for young people and adults in Shropshire and Herefordshire so they can: “We believe it is • Gain employment in their chosen vocation. imperative that the • Further develop their career. communities of • Realise their full potential. north Shropshire be served by a • Make a positive contribution to the community. resilient, ambitious and successful college.” 5 6 WHO WILL BENEFIT FROM THIS PROPOSED MERGER? Students Schools and Universities Employers • A financially stable, robust • The financial stability and quality • Employers will benefit from • The new College will work very College, well placed for a bright improvements which will result County Training (part of closely with individual employers future. from this merger will provide a Herefordshire and Ludlow and representative bodies such as high level of assurance to the College) joining forces with Chambers of Commerce, the • Preservation and strengthening partner schools of North parts of North Shropshire Federation of Small Businesses, of key education and training Shropshire College. College, particularly in respect of the Marches LEP and Business services to the young people and apprenticeship provision. This Boards, to ensure the education adults of north Shropshire and • The university partners of the will lead to rapid quality gains and training offer to employers surrounding areas. merged College, especially the and the expansion of meets their particular business University of Worcester, will opportunities to support local needs. • The new larger College, through benefit from an enlarged partner employers in developing economies of scale, will be able College. This will give further their workforces. • The merger will also facilitate the to direct the vast majority of its scope for the development of further development of bespoke resources to front line services, locally available higher education short learning programmes that supporting the development of for residents of Shropshire and meet local and regional employer its students. Herefordshire. needs. “A financially stab le, robust College.” 7 8 WHO WILL BENEFIT FROM THIS PROPOSED MERGER? WHAT WILL BE THE BENEFITS OF THIS MERGER? Staff • A financially stable, robust • Both partner Colleges work in College, well placed for a bright similar and overlapping • This proposed partnership future. geographical areas with will, in the medium term, provide comparable demographics, a sound foundation for the careers • Preservation and strengthening serving students and employers in and vocations for the staff of of key education and training relatively small population centres North Shropshire College, services to the young people and and rural communities. This will following a period of uncertainty. adults of north Shropshire and enable the sharing of excellent surrounding areas. practices between five • Staff of the new College will principal campuses and other also benefit from extensive • The new larger College, learning centres. opportunities to share excellent through economies of scale, will and good practice within an be able to direct the vast • A larger College will be better extended learning community. majority of its resources to front placed to lever in capital and line services, supporting the revenue funding, for example, The Wider Community development of its students. interim financial support from the Transaction Unit, capital funds from the Marches LEP and the • The community of north Shropshire and surrounding areas Institutes of Technology will benefit from the continuation initiative,and sponsorship from of adult and community learning, employers. which will be delivered from a number of centres in Shropshire. • Benefits will also arise from the linkages between adult and community learning at North Shropshire College and County Training. 9 10 WHAT WILL BE THE NAME OF THE NEW COLLEGE? We propose that the newly merged College be called ‘Herefordshire, Ludlow & North Shropshire College’. This name describes the geographical footprint of the new College and preserves the identities of the former institutions. The individual College Campuses will, however, retain their present appellations, that is, Oswestry Campus, Walford Campus, Ludlow College, Hereford Campus and Holme Lacy Campus. The constituent Colleges will also describe themselves locally as North Shropshire College, Ludlow College, or Herefordshire & Ludlow College. The new name will therefore only be used to describe the whole corporate entity, for example, when communicating with external agencies such as the Education and Skills Funding Agency or Ofsted. 11 12 PLEASE RESPOND TO THIS CONSULTATION PUBLIC CONSULTATION EVENTS Please could you answer the following questions and, should you wish, provide You are also welcome to attend one of our consultation events to share your any additional comments. The deadline for responses is Friday 16 March 2018. views. FULL NAME Tuesday 27th February, 2018 ORGANISATION (IF ANY) Walford Campus, SY4 2HL 3.30pm - 4.15pm EMAIL Oswestry Campus, SY11 4QB 5.30pm - 6.15pm POSTAL ADDRESS THANK YOU Thank you for taking the time to share your views. Please return the response Please select your category: form, in the enclosed prepaid envelope to Mrs Linda Watkins, Clerk to the STUDENT UNIVERSITY OTHER PUBLIC BODY Governors at Herefordshire & Ludlow College. MEMBER OF HLC SCHOOL PRIVATE INDIVIDUAL OR NSC STAFF OTHER COLLEGE EMPLOYER OR EMPLOYER OTHER REPRESENTATIVE GROUP DO YOU SUPPORT THE PROPOSED MERGER OF NORTH SHROPSHIRE COLLEGE WITH HEREFORDSHIRE AND LUDLOW COLLEGE? YES NO DO YOU AGREE THAT THIS PROPOSED MERGER WILL BROADLY DELIVER THE BENEFITS OUTLINED IN THIS DOCUMENT: YES NO PARTIALLY NOT SURE DO YOU AGREE THAT THE NEWLY MERGED COLLEGE SHOULD BE CALLED HEREFORDSHIRE, LUDLOW AND NORTH SHROPSHIRE COLLEGE? YES NO NOT SURE Should you have any comments or queries, please use the box below. All comments or queries will be responded to in writing. 13 14 Herefordshire & Ludlow College North Shropshire College Hereford Campus Shrewsbury Road Folly Lane Oswestry Hereford Shropshire HR1 1LS SY11 4QB T: 0800 032 1986 T: 01691 688 000 W: www.hlcollege.ac.uk W: www.nsc.ac.uk.