A college has spent almost £1 million on consultants, people on fixed-term contracts and interim staff in a single year.

In an FOI request seen by Tes, Kensington and Chelsea College stated its income in 2017-18 as £8.59 million - and said it had spent £961,000, or 11 per cent of its turnover, on consultants and temps.

These costs were double what they were the previous year, when the college spent £502,000. The 2017-18 figures include £39,000 spent on expenses and £58,000 on accommodation for interim staff, consultants and fixed-term contract staff accommodation.

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This figure also includes the £143,000 paid to the college’s interim principal Elaine McMahon during her seven-month stint at the helm - had she stayed a year, her pay would have been £245,142.

A proposed merger between Kensington and Chelsea College with neighbouring Ealing, Hammersmith and West London College was called off two weeks before it was due to go ahead in January 2018. FE commissioner Richard Atkins was called in by skills minister Anne Milton to carry out a diagnostic assessment at the college following concerns expressed by the local community in the wake of the Grenfell Tower disaster.

Kensington and Chelsea College said they then had to incur the costs of recruiting a new senior management team and restoring some back-office functions. The college said it also “incurred costs from the FE structure and prospects appraisal process”, which the FE commissioner recommended.

‘Astonishing’

A spokesperson for the University and College Union (UCU) said the scale of spending on consultancy and interim staff is astonishing, “particularly as the merger proposal being consulted on at the time was eventually scrapped.

“Money spent on excessive leadership pay and external consultants could been more usefully employed to support learners and improve staff pay, and governors must ensure that future spending decisions put the interests of students first.”

On Wednesday, Morley College and Kensington and Chelsea College announced they were working towards a merger. The new college would be known as Morley College London.