‘Outrageous’ £800k spend on staff leaving art school

● Politicians question college payouts linked to gagging clauses

More than £800,000 was paid to staff leaving the Glasgow School of Art after its second devastating blaze in 2018.

The severance and redundancy payments include more than £250,000 given to former director Tom Inns, who departed suddenly after being ordered to leave his office by the school’s chair Muriel Gray.

The pay-offs, some linked to confidentiality agreements – so-called gagging clauses – come after an exodus of 70 staff in 12 months from the school, where an employee survey showed one in three staff felt “unduly stressed” at work and one in eight felt harassed or bullied.

Yesterday politicians questioned the pay-offs sanctioned by the school, which was given millions of pounds of public money after the first fire in 2014, and said the management and leadership of the school was under mounting scrutiny. Glasgow MSP Pauline Mcneill said: “I think that is an outrageous amount of money to spend at a time like this. The figures are testament to what people have long suspected – that there was a clear-out.

Joan Mcalpine, convener of the Scottish Parliament culture, tourism, Europe and external relations committee, which has investigated the events around the fire in 2018 that destroyed the worldfamous Mackintosh Building, said: “Many people will be concerned at the very significant funds being spent on redundancy pay, particularly given the circumstances around some of these departures. The Sunday Post should be congratulated for exposing this.”

Architect Gordon Gibb, who was sacked for breach of contract last month after criticising the school board, said:

“This is a huge amount of public money and, if the payments are linked to confidentiality clauses, it is hard not to suspect that money has been, in part, used to help conceal managerial failures.” In the first 12 months after the second fire, 40 staff resigned and 30 were made redundant. Six staff signed confidentiality agreements.

A spokesperson for the art school said: “In all cases the GSA follows its processes and procedures and complies fully with appropriate legislation.

“The GSA’S staff turnover is, and remains, in line with the higher education sector average and has done so for many years.”