A COLLEGE faced a forecast deficit of almost £2 million and received most of its income through Government funding as it approached a large merger, The Argus can reveal.

East Sussex College Group recently revealed it was talking to all of its staff about the possibility of redundancies being made where roles have been “duplicated” following the merger between Sussex Downs College and Sussex Coast College Hastings.

The Argus has seen a letter sent from the former CEO of Sussex Downs College (SDC), Mike Hopkins, to all staff, highlighting the financial difficulties the college faced ahead of the merger.

The letter states: “As we approach merger, the SDC February management accounts have been published and show a forecast deficit of some £1.9 million.

“This is a very substantial sum and explains the support we need from the ESFA [Education and Skills Funding Agency].

“Our initial modelling indicates that pay savings to achieve a sustainable business model in line with the Transactions Unit expectations are some £1.7 million, to be completed by July 2018.”

The college’s financial reports show that in 2016/17 further education funding bodies provided 78 per cent of its total income.

Mr Hopkins also wrote that significant shorter term changes to staffing arrangements need to be made across the whole college group to maintain funding levels.

Sussex Downs College’s response to a freedom of information (FOI) request showed Mr Hopkins previously received a total annual salary of £208,000.

A response from Sussex Coast College Hastings to another FOI request revealed that the college group’s new CEO Clive Cooke receives a salary of £150,000 and the salary range for the tier two executive team at the group is £90,000 to £110,000.

A teacher at Sussex Downs College, who asked to remain anonymous, said: “Concerned members of staff have all expressed outrage and disbelief at the large sums of (public) money received by the executive team and chair of governors.

“The whole thing seems grossly unfair and something more akin to stories we hear from the private sector.”

Two of the college group’s campuses are based in Hastings, with one each in Lewes, Newhaven and Eastbourne.

The college group said it will continue to talk with staff and their unions to ensure a “positive financial future” and did not wish to comment further.