June 2022
Public Consultation Report Outcome Greater Brighton Metropolitan College and Chichester College Group Consultation feedback
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WELCOME Contents Introduction.......................................................................2 Background.......................................................................2 Responses to consultation questions...............................3 Merger advantages............................................................5 Potential disadvantages....................................................6 Suggestions.......................................................................8 Summary and next steps...................................................9
Introduction
Background
We would like to thank everyone who contributed to the public consultation on the proposed merger of Greater Brighton Metropolitan College (GB MET) and Chichester College Group (CCG).
The Corporations of GB MET and CCG held a joint public consultation from 25 March 2022 until 27 April 2022 on the proposed merger between the two institutions.
During the consultation period we engaged with all our stakeholders, and we are satisfied that everyone had the opportunity to comment.
A consultation document was produced called ‘Proposed College Merger and Consultation Document’ that set out the context for the merger, the proposal, and the benefits.
The feedback we received has reaffirmed our ambition to merge as planned. We have listened to the positive comments, the concerns raised, and the questions asked, and all these points will feed into our ongoing, detailed planning. We recognise that this is a starting point, not an end. There is a lot of work to do to ensure the merger is implemented successfully for the benefit of our students, staff, employers, and the community, but we believe that this exciting new partnership is the best way to achieve our goals. Sue Berelowitz Chair of the Corporation Greater Brighton Metropolitan College Dr James Sarmecanic Chair of the Corporation Chichester College Group 2 2
The consultation proposal was available to download from each of the colleges’ websites and copies of the proposal were emailed to schools, colleges and academies, local authorities, MPs, the Local Enterprise Partnership, key employers, universities, trade unions, staff, and students, as well as the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA), the Department for Education (DfE) and the Secretary of State. Details of the consultation were also sent via a press release to local media to raise awareness amongst parents and the wider community. In addition, staff from both corporations received information about the consultation via internal briefings. A statutory notice of dissolution was placed in both The Telegraph and two local newspapers (The Argus and The Brighton & Hove Independent) on 25 March 2022. This report sets out and analyses the responses received during the consultation period.
Responses to consultation questions We received 71 responses from individuals and organisations to our merger consultation: either by letter, email or by completing the consultation response feedback form within the consultation proposal document.
The distribution of the 71 respondents were as follows:
Parent/carer/ guardian | 6%
Sixth form college | 6%
CCG staff | 7%
Local government | 4% Informed citizen — personal capacity | 1%
CCG students | 27%
HE institution | 4% Grandparent to prospective student | 1%
CCG student, Parent/carer/guardian, School, Local government, Government body | 1%
GB MET student | 27%
CCG student, Trade Union representative | 1% Employer / Local business, Employer association | 10% FE institution | 3% GB MET staff | 3%
Former staff member | 3%
In summary:
50%
14%
14%
9%
50% of respondents were from CCG and GB MET students (35 out of 71 responses)
14% of respondents came from employers/local businesses and local government (10 out of 71 responses)
14% of respondents were from CCG and GB MET staff (10 out of 71 responses)
9% responses were from other educational institutions (HE, FE and Sixth Forms) (6 out of 71 responses) 3
The breakdown of the responses received were as follows:
Unsure 26%
Do you agree or disagree that the proposed merger of GB MET and CCG will deliver the best provision for education in the region? Agree
Disagree
Agree 56%
Disagree 18%
Unsure
The table below shows the distribution of responses by category: Number
Agree
Disagree
Unsure
Staff
10
4
4
2
Student
35
21
5
9
Employer/Local government
10
9
0
1
Educational Institution
6
3
3
0
Other (parent, local citizen, former student, trade union rep)
10
3
6
1
Total
71
40
18
13
4
56%
In total, 56% of respondents (40 out of 71 responses) agreed that the proposed merger of GB MET and CCG would deliver the best provision of education for the region, 25% disagreed (18 out of 71 responses) and 18% were unsure (13 out of 71 responses).
90%
90% of employers/local business and employer associations/local government who responded agreed that the merger would deliver the best provision of education (9 out of 10 responses).
62%
50%
GB MET students were the main group that stated that they were unsure (62%) whether the merger would deliver the best provision. (8 out of 13 responses).
50% of responses that disagreed that the merger would deliver the best provision of education for the region were received from CCG and GB MET staff and students (9 out of 18 responses).
Merger advantages The following comments were noted regarding the advantages of the proposed merger:
Improved quality of education across the region Enhanced pathways between Higher Education (HE) and Further Education (FE) across the region and the potential to help address some of the issues associated with a lack of social mobility Increased scale, certainty, sustainability, and financial stability Gaining knowledge and sharing expertise in one group Greater pool of resources in terms of knowledge, sharing best practice and the number of courses on offer
Expansion of the student voice framework will give students more say over their education
Synergy from forming a larger group
For employers, increased responsiveness, a greater range of products and services, new delivery modalities and a greater geographic delivery of provision
Becoming a part of a bigger community
The larger group will be able to facilitate meaningful collaboration and share best practice (which sits at the heart of the Future Sussex Skills Improvement Framework), and be able to drive forward the priorities and actions within the Framework The larger group will be able to work closely with key local stakeholders to both develop and deliver an education and skills strategy and associated plans
Enable employers to more effectively engage with designing future courses and a curriculum that will meet the needs of local businesses The complementary strengths of both organisations will be used for the benefit of wider skills needs of regional employers More opportunities for different show productions, increased budgets, and the possibility to improve facilities at Northbrook MET sites
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Potential disadvantages Whilst the consultation confirmed that the merger was supported by the colleges’ stakeholders, it also provided the opportunity to capture and understand more clearly any questions from those directly involved in the merger. These will be considered as we move forward with merger plans.
The potential disadvantages that respondents could foresee with the proposed merger are detailed below along with our responses:
Themes
Response
Negative impact on the local identities of the colleges.
The CCG brand strategy emphasises the individual colleges’ identities, ensuring each college retains its own unique identity, specialisms and offering, and is marketed using its own visual identity within their local community. We will ensure through our marketing and branding strategy that there is no negative impact on the local identities of the colleges.
The weaker college could negatively impact on the stronger college.
Both organisations have strengths which complement each other. We believe that bringing together two partners will build capacity, create new opportunities and growth. We also have robust financial plans in place to ensure that our merged colleges are financially resilient and able to support our plans for growth.
Desire for the MET to remain independent.
The proposed merger is an exciting opportunity to reinforce and celebrate the positive aspects and mutual benefits of the merger to GB MET and CCG staff, learners, business customers and local communities. Key to delivering this is a recognisable cross-group visual identity and a brand approach that ensures our creative images, ethos, and messages support both our group priorities and ensure that our colleges are unique, and truly ‘colleges for their local communities’.
The merger could result in job losses.
The focus of the merger is to bring together two partners and build capacity, looking for new opportunities and growth. We will work hard to mitigate any potential redundancies.
The merger could result in a high turnover of staff to the detriment of the quality of education and student support.
Both organisations have a shared vision of providing excellent technical, vocational, and professional education. Our priority is to deliver the best support and quality of provision to our students, our employers, and our communities. Our staff are our greatest asset and are key to delivering this priority. We have comprehensive plans in place to ensure staff have the required continuous professional development and infrastructure to be able to carry out their roles effectively. We will continue to monitor our turnover of staff and ensure any issues that arise are addressed promptly.
The organisation becoming too large and not having meaningful close contact between the executive team and staff.
Key to the success of the new organisation is our staff and their expertise. Currently, both organisations have a range of communication channels to keep their workforces updated and to gain feedback from staff on issues important to them, including staff committees, surveys, staff roadshows, briefings, and visible leadership teams. Post-merger, best practice from both organisations will be harnessed to maintain and improve cross-group communications, and the leadership team will work closely with both curriculum and business support staff to maintain communications and build relationships across the group.
The merged college would create a structure that is too top heavy.
Management structures are being reviewed to ensure the organisation has the right levels of support where required. The governors and leadership team are committed to ensuring that there is enough resource in place, with appropriate structures and support, to make the merged group a success. As a combined group, the management structure overall will be smaller than the two separate organisations combined.
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Themes
Response
There would be an increase in the number of students and not the infrastructure and resources to support them.
The merger is about growth and strength. Colleagues within existing colleges will be reviewing structures and identifying best practice to ensure we can continue to provide high quality support for our students moving forward. The financial strength of the new group will also allow us to invest more in our facilities and equipment for the benefit of our students.
Loss of services, such as SEND and wellbeing, that are not profitable.
GB MET is extremely proud of its Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) provision. We offer a range of courses specially tailored to SEND students’ needs in addition to an Additional Learning Support department which is dedicated to supporting students with a learning difficulty or disability to achieve. CCG also offers a wide range of provision and support tailored to students’ needs. Integrated processes are in place to support and identify students’ requirements, which our dedicated Additional Learning Support team manage alongside tutors, pastoral support, and student services. Across both organisations there are no plans to change the range of services in place to support our diverse student population. Wellbeing is a core value of CCG, and the group recently won an Association of Colleges’ Beacon Award for Mental Health and Wellbeing. The award recognised and celebrated the important work the group is undertaking to support both staff and students. GB MET has also developed a range of health and wellbeing resources which will be shared with CCG. This important work will continue and be further developed post-merger.
Concerns over courses not remaining local and the result of students having to travel further.
If there is demand for a subject presence in a particular geographical location, then we are committed to maintaining this provision. Where there is duplication of provision in the local area, we may look to rationalise this in the future. We will always take a planned and informed approach to any future changes we make.
Concern over a further dilution HE is a strategic priority for the group moving forward. We have identified this as an of HE courses. area to develop with the view to expanding upon our existing provision. We will work with colleagues and our employer partners to identify these areas of growth and to deliver our strategic priority.
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Suggestions Several suggestions were also received as part of the consultation. The themes and our responses are as follows:
Themes
Response
Ensure that each college is marketed as a distinct entity and continue to treat campuses individually.
The CCG brand strategy emphasises the campuses’ individual identities, ensuring each college retains its own unique identity, specialisms and offer, and is marketed using their own visual identity within their local community.
Provide better and more accurate data on the skills gap.
Both colleges use a variety of sources to capture and analyse data on the skills gap. These include local demographic information and labour market intelligence, as well as market share statistics. The merged group will have access to a wider range of sources and have increased capacity to analyse and take action from the information available.
More STEM courses for Worthing and more GCSE courses for mature students (not just English and maths).
We review our curriculum annually with support from our employer partners to ensure we are delivering the skills they need for their future workforce. We will include these as areas to focus on within our future review processes.
Increase the range of extracurricular activities.
Students are at the centre of everything we do and to improve their experience whilst at college — in and out of the classroom — a wide range of extracurricular activities are delivered. These include fun events, learning life skills, awareness raising, and giving our students a strong voice so they can input and influence their campus environments. Post-merger, GB MET students will benefit from becoming a part of the well-established CCG Students’ Union and will also have access to a wider range of extracurricular activities.
A shared platform for students Both organisations already provide students with access to resources at home. to access college data from Post-merger, we will combine our expertise to develop plans to continue to improve the home. systems and services we offer across the merged college group. Ensure there is student union representation.
CCG has a well-established Students’ Union, which includes a proactive and meaningful focus on the student voice. From 1 August 2022, we will begin to map this model across the GB MET campuses.
Improve facilities at the Northbrook campuses.
Investing in our facilities is part of our group strategy. The larger group will also attract more opportunities to bid for funding to improve our facilities.
Focus on improving elements of the current campuses, including: • Study areas • Common rooms • Staff offices • Parking facilities • Employment policies
Thank you for these suggestions which we will review within our planning and development processes.
Improve recycling throughout the campuses.
Recycling is one of many sustainability factors we are currently reviewing. Both organisations are committed to the Association of Colleges’ Climate Change Roadmap which provides a framework for reducing our environmental impact. We are also reviewing the sustainability and carbon impact of all of our campuses to seek out ways we can make further improvements. Furthermore, GB MET also has a dedicated staff sustainability working group to identify and implement additional ideas.
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Proposed merger date: 1 August 2022
Summary and next steps The Corporations are grateful for all the responses received throughout the consultation process, including several letters of support from key stakeholders. The Corporations have taken account of the views of students, parents/carers/guardians, staff, the community, and other stakeholders, and have concluded that it would be in the best interests of the colleges and the local communities to proceed with the proposal to merge. The colleges are committed to merging on the proposed date of 1 August 2022. On the day of merger, all assets and liabilities previously owned by GB MET will transfer to CCG. GB MET staff will move to CCG on their existing employment terms and conditions, as per TUPE legislation. The merger pages on GB MET’s website (gbmc.ac.uk/merger) will be kept up to date on progress.
The email address merger@gbmc.ac.uk can be used to contact the colleges for any merger enquiries. 9
