Art college criticised as merger goes ahead

A CONTROVERSIAL merger between Edinburgh University and the city's art college has been approved by the Scottish Government.

Education secretary Mike Russell blamed poor financial management at the college for making the merger necessary.

However, Edinburgh College of Art (ECA) denied it was financially unsustainable and blamed a lack of Scottish Government funding for specialised institutions.

Yesterday, the Scottish Government backed the merger and announced it would be supported with 13.8 million of new funding.

Mr Russell, who announced the decision in a letter to the principals of both institutions, was highly critical of the running of ECA and said he had made the decision with regret.

He claimed advice from the Scottish Funding Council (SFC), which allocates government cash to universities and colleges, said ECA could not survive long-term financially without the merger.

"This position should not have been allowed to develop, and it points towards very significant weaknesses in ECA's internal controls and governance structures at crucial stages in recent years," he said.

"Even with 13.8m of additional public money now being made available, the scale of the difficulties at ECA mean that even this significant injection of funds would not have made ECA financially sustainable.

"I very much regret that these matters have overshadowed, and had a bearing on, my decision.

"However, I do recognise the significant academic benefits of joining two institutions with outstanding reputations and histories of success."

Mr Russell made the judgment after examining the case for merger over recent months.

The controversial move had already been backed by the ruling courts of both institutions and submitted to the Scottish Government for final approval in September.

However, many feared ECA would suffer from being subsumed into the larger university.

In October, three members of the ECA board of governors resigned in protest at the planned merger. Donald Workman, chairman of the board of governors at ECA, disputed the claims by the education secretary.

He said: "The board does not accept that our financial situation is unsustainable in the medium to longer term and, indeed, this view does not appear to be reflected in the Scottish Funding Council's own advice to ministers. The financial circumstances currently faced by the college are primarily due to the government funding of SSIs (small specialist institutions] in Scotland and to our ambitious estates strategy, both of which have given rise to some short-term difficulties."

He defended the 2006 acquisition of Evolution House to expand the ECA campus, saying it was fully risk-assessed and backed by the SFC at the time.

He said: "Although fluctuations in market valuations mean that the investment currently appears to have been over-optimistic, this may change as the market changes."

The merger will now go before the Scottish Parliament and, if final approval is granted, will take place on 1 August this year.

Both prinicpals welcomed the merger.

Professor Sir Timothy O'Shea, of Edinburgh University, said: "If the merger gets the backing of the Scottish Parliament, then this will lead to a step-change in academic collaboration between our two institutions, bringing considerable benefits to students, the arts and creative industries and, more widely, to Scottish higher education."

Professor Ian Howard, ECA principal, said: "A lot of hard work still lies ahead in order to make any merger a success, but this is a very important step on the way."