Friday 26 June 2015

CEUB Issue 1


The Facts 
On Friday 20th March the University of Bolton (UoB) 



The rest of the text on this page has been deleted for legal reasons 





 


So why has this been allowed to happen?




The Numbers
On March 5th 2015  Times Higher Education reported on financial activities that many at the University thought questionable. Tax payers have a right to know how public money is being spent. Regardless of any embarrassment and inconvenience it might  cause the vice-chancellor, it is absolutely right that he should be answerable to the public, which funds the institution that pays his extremely generous salary. Embarrassment is only ever the result of poor judgement. If there has been no poor judgement then there should be nothing to hide from public view. 


The £100,000 away days
Lakeland Hotel, Windermere
The University Bolton spent £100,000 on away days for all 700 university staff at the £220 per night Lakeside Hotel in Windermere, 70 miles from Bolton. Over the course of twenty meetings vice-chancellor George Holmes presented the University’s strategic plan to staff. The vice-chancellor moors his yacht at a marina on the lake. Staff meanwhile have suffered a pay freeze.





The £960,000 loan
George Holmes' house stands in 4 acres of land

The University of Bolton loaned to vice-chancellor George Holmes  £960,000 to help him buy “a luxurious Edwardian house.” This had been reported previously by the Daily Mail on February 2015.  In 2103 it was revealed that UoB was the only higher education institution not to award staff a 1 per cent pay rise. Students meanwhile are being asked to pay £9,000 in tuition fees.






The £47,000 bonus

George Holmes with his Rolls.
The Daily Mail article also made reference to the £47,200 which vice-chancellor George Holmes received two years earlier to “incentivise” him to remain in his £199,000-a-year post. All this information is in the public domain, as such financial dealings concerning publicly funded institutions must be. 



Artist's impression of proposed Cheadle Sq development
These are vast sums of money. It is little surprise there is public concern about the way it is being used, especially when the UoB is a central player in the hugely unpopular proposals to build student accommodation on Cheadle Square.  According to the Bolton News, Bolton Civic Trust  has “campaigned against proposals by the council and the University of Bolton to build a £43 million student village.....it will destroy the view and clear space running from Le Mans Crescent towards Moor Lane and Queen’s Park.” Regardless of aesthetics £43 million is a lot of money. The public have a right to be concerned and a right to transparency.







Déjà Vu? What the Papers Say



The pay of George Holmes, vice-chancellor of the University of Bolton, climbed by 25 per cent to £229,800 (or £256,200 when employer pension contributions are included) after he was awarded a one-off retention bonus of £42,700. That payment was made by the university’s remuneration committee to “incentivise the vice-chancellor to remain at Bolton to secure stable leadership during a time of change”, a spokesman for the institution says.

The bonus was issued shortly before Bolton announced plans in November to save £5 million a year after a 25 per cent drop in its student intake compared with 2011-12 levels. At that time, the university said that about 92 employees could be made redundant, although last week a spokesman stated that the restructuring process had concluded “with only seven compulsory redundancies”.

Source:Times Higher Education March 2013

 THE vice chancellor of the University of Bolton spent close to £9,000 on hotel accommodation last year — and forked out a similar amount on air fares. A union report has revealed that George Holmes' hotel bill for the year was the seventh highest of all the respondents. The university said that the money was spent while Mr Holmes was “conducting the business of the university” — a role which involves national and international travel.
Source: Bolton News March 2015


A LECTURER has been sacked from his job at Doncaster College for the second time in three months.

Richard Browning, a former photography lecturer, was dismissed earlier this year after college managers said he was guilty of gross misconduct....

But an appeals committee, made up of five college governors, last week found that the incident and a list of minor allegations were not grounds to sack Mr Browning.

They ruled instead that a final written warning should be issued.
But directly after the hearing this week Mr Browning was given a letter from principal Dr George Holmes dismissing him again.
Deputy principal Stephen Clough said: "In the course of the investigation during Mr Browning's suspension, several other serious matters came to light.
"As a result Dr Holmes exercised his right to summarily dismiss Mr Browning."
No details of the new allegations have been released but Russ Escrit, regional representative for lecturers' union NATFHE, said Mr Browning was seeking legal advice.
Source: Doncaster Free Press March 2003


Deborah Wain, a news and feature writer on the Doncaster Free Press, won the Paul Foot Award 2007, a national honour that recognises campaigning journalism.

 
Deborah at the award ceremony with Ian Hislop, left.

Deborah's picked up the award for exposing the failing of the biggest education project in the country, the 100m Doncaster Education City project, against competition from hundreds of national and regional titles.
She shared first prize with The Guardian team who unearthed widespread corruption in the British arms trade in the BAE scandal that led to criminal investigations across three continents.
Largely forced to use Freedom of Information legislation because of a lack of a refusal by public authorities, ranging from Doncaster Council to the Learning and Skills Council, to release information about how vast amounts of public money was being spent, Deborah's investigation revealed that what had started out as a grandiose plan to transform education for Doncaster's teenagers with a network of community colleges around a central hub building had crumbled.
Doncaster was left with an impressive college building housing an educational establishment that failed its Ofsted inspection.
Along the way she uncovered:
* A 50 per cent pay hike - from £90,000 to £135,000 - for one of the architects of the scheme, the DEC chief executive Dr George Holmes. He left suddenly as questions were being asked about the project. He is now vice -chancellor of Bolton University.
* Almost £1m paid out in consultancy fees
* A private jet chartered at a cost to the public of £1,500 to take mayor Martin Winter to a meeting
* £22,000 spent on entertaining in two years
* £7,000 spent on first class air fares for a research trip to Australia
* £399 was spent on a personalised number plate for Dr Holmes' car.
Much of what happened was conducted at behind-closed doors meetings and very few councillors had any idea of how council taxpayers' cash - that they were responsible for - was being spent until they read the Free Press.
Deborah's investigation prompted an inquiry in the council's use of public money by the District Auditor.
Doncaster Council's response was led by Mr Winter who attacked the Free Press at a public meeting called the newspaper "a riff raff" newspaper.
Other newspapers shorlisted for the award, set up in memory of the Daily Mirror's former investigative journalist Paul Foot, included the Times Higher Education Supplement and the Yorkshire Post.
Deborah is shortlisted in two categories in the Yorkshire Press Awards, News Reporter of the Year and Feature Writer of the Year for weekly papers. She is a past winner and runner-up in the feature writer category.

Souce: Doncaster Free Press October 2007




Public Institution or Personal Fiefdom?




University vehicle parked in disable space
Vice-chancellor in a Ginetta racing car
An unedifying culture of arrogance seems to characterise the leadership of University of Bolton. Security staff have been an intimidatory presence as signatures were gathered for a petition.  Joe Whittaker, a former lecturer at Bolton University and long time disability campaigner was pushed to the ground by one security worker, and later accused by the University of assaulting the same security worker.  The same arrogance and disregard for others is in the sexism underpinning the presence of scantily clothed dancers at the launch of the University sponsored Bolt racing car, (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRGSaYw2eMw) and in the use of a disabled parking spots by UoB vehicles. It’s a pattern of behaviour that is bringing the institution into disrepute.




Freedom of Information? Not at UoB.

The University of Bolton receives significant public investment. It must be held accountable for its conduct and its financial dealings. Questions about its financial management are valid and proper. Yet a similar arrogance meets Freedom of Information Requests about specific financial expenditure.  Instead of a proper and transparent response inquiries are met with a  blanket refusal, a stance unethical and probably illegal. An unsigned proforma letter from UoB solicitors not only refuses the perfectly legitimate requests, but makes it absolutely clear it considers such requests vexatious. The letter claims the UoB and “named individuals” have been subjected to “allegations (which) have taken on a sinister and threatening tone, amounting to actionable harassment and defamation.”

The UoB is a registered charity. What does the Charity Commission have to say?  "It's  a matter for the Higher Education Funding Council of England." 

What does HEFCE have to say? "It's entirely in the hands of the Board of Governors."



So What are the Governors doing?


Absolutely nothing. Chair of Governors, former Bishop of Manchester Nigel McCullough is not responding to the many letters addressed to him on these matters. He has written that he is “leaving it to the University,” a bizarre position to adopt given central role of the governors is to ensure correct and proper governance procedures are followed. Letters addressed to him have been answered by the same unsigned, proforma letter sent by UoB solicitors, Shoosmiths LLP. It’s clear that the governors are not doing what their role demands of them. Whatever the reason, it is unacceptable.  










Published by the Campaign for an Ethical University of Bolton, c/o 16 Wood St, Bolton, BL1 1DY