“I was told a decision wouldn’t be made until after the minister has met with local MPs to discuss the best way forward. I am delighted.”
He added: “I think the governors at Northumberland College need to wake up and smell the coffee. I am amazed by some of NCG’s proposals, which just aren’t acceptable.”
A spokeswoman for NCG denied the plans had been postponed, adding it had even “written to the Secretary of State asking him to accelerate the approval of the merger so we can forge ahead with our plans to invest in Northumberland College and improve its facilities”.
But a report to Northumberland College’s governors details a number of concerns.
It says: “It has become clear in recent months that NCG do not have the leadership capacity we originally thought they had.
“The merger process since April 2011 has lacked effective project planning, while communications with the principal, chair and corporation have been very poor.”
A spokeswoman from NCG denied the claims in the report, adding: “We are totally committed to the merger with Northumberland College.
“We have put in place an attractive investment package for the Ashington campus and to support the agricultural economy and Northumberland.
“We are investing over £77m in the North East over the next four years. We are building new educational facilities and improving those which need updating.
“We believe that the North East economy needs investment in skills to enable the region to retain and create new job opportunities.”
As well as Newcastle College, NCG includes Skelmersdale and Ormskirk College in Lancashire and training group Carter & Carter plc.
Plans to merge with Gateshead College were dropped in 2006 when Gateshead principal David Cheetham pulled out.
Northumberland College declined to comment on the report yesterday, saying that NCG would be answering all questions on the report to its governors.
Council grows restless as plans hit trouble
SERIOUS concerns about the proposed merger were raised at a meeting of Northumberland County Council in Morpeth yesterday.
Labour group leader Grant Davey said there were fears that Northumberland College would be asset-stripped under the plan, and the council should do everything in its power to "pull back" from a potentially damaging situation. Without a decent college in Northumberland we would be totally lost, and it would be an extremely difficult situation for our young people," he added.
Tory group leader Peter Jackson said scaling down further education provision in Northumberland and concentrating on Tyneside was "not acceptable", and the council should bring its strategic influence to bear on the situation. Coun Robert Arckless said: "If this goes wrong it will have a very significant impact on youngsters who want to be able to access good quality further education in their home county."
The meeting agreed to lobby the Northumberland College board of governors and Government ministers to try to secure the best possible outcome for the county.
Iain Owens, regional official of the lecturers’ unions UCU, said: "We are pleased that the merger has been delayed but we would now urge the minister to look at whether it should go ahead at all.
"These leaked documents raise serious questions about NCG’s behaviour during the merger and suggest they have given little thought to the impact their plans will have on the needs of the region."
