College boss spent £4k on business class trips as 21 staff were laid off
A COLLEGE paid for its principal to take business class flights despite having to sack 21 members of staff to cut costs.
Dr Margaret Cook, who spoke recently about the need to cut spending at Perth College, claimed more than £4,000 for two return trips to China in 2018-19.
On one trip she was the only member of staff to fly business class. She and other senior management officials made multiple long-haul flights to Asia during that academic year. Earlier this year the college closed its three learning centres in Perthshire, blaming ‘significant financial challenges’ and in October, Dr Cook announced 21 staff redundancies.
Speaking at the time, Dr Cook said: ‘Absorbing the operating costs has become extremely challenging and we need to identify ways of reducing our costs going forward.’
Dr Cook, who is paid £108,000 per year by the college, claimed £4,100 for two return trips to China in 2018-19 and was also part of a group booking of £2,049.71 when she was the only member of staff to fly business class, while her colleagues sat in economy.
The reason for all flights was ‘student recruitment’, according to the response to a Freedom of Information Act request. A spokesman for teachers’ union EIS-attending FELA, whose members voted unanimously in October to back a vote of no confidence in senior management, said: ‘There are transparency issues relating to who sanctioned this spending and was other vital spending withdrawn as a result? EIS have questioned the necessity of the principal and vice-principal both a graduation ceremony in China at a time when we are facing a financial catastrophe, with budgets for teaching being slashed and staff facing the risk of redundancy.
‘Why are teaching staff travelling economy to China... whilst the principal travels business class for what is essentially a meeting?’
A Perth College spokesman said: ‘The college’s international activity is funded commercially.
‘The revenue generated from this international business is in excess of £700,000 annually.
‘These average £50,000 per annum travel expenses are legitimate business expenses that support the generation and delivery of this revenue.’