Up to 50 members of staff, including 26 teachers, face redundancy at a recently merged college group.

Staff at Stockport College and Trafford College based at all three sites in Altrincham, Stretford and Stockport face redundancy, according to the University and College Union (UCU).

The union, which represents teachers at the college, said it was surprised to see 26 teaching jobs at risk in areas such as English, maths, gas and plumbing, considering the demand for people to take those classes and in light of the region’s construction boom.

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Background: Stockport and Trafford colleges announce merger plans

The news comes less than a year after the merger of Stockport and Trafford colleges, which was intended to bring stability.

At the time, the college said the move would “create a single, larger and more sustainable college better able to meet the current and future needs of students, employers and the local community”.

UCU regional official Martyn Moss said: “Less than a year on from a merger the college said would bring stability and allow it to better serve students, businesses and the local community, it is announcing plans to scrap jobs.

'No rationale'

He added: “There is no rationale for axing jobs in areas like English, maths, gas and plumbing, and the move appears to be directly at odds with what the students, businesses and the local community actually need. UCU will resist any compulsory redundancies among our members, and we will be meeting in the coming days to discuss this news and how best to respond to it.”

A spokesperson for Trafford College Group said: "Each year we review our plans to make sure we can provide high standards of teaching and learning to the community we serve.  As part of this year’s review, we have seen that there are some areas that need to be addressed in terms of staffing levels and how we operate some of our services.

"In many cases, this simply means that we will not be recruiting for new vacancies but we are also consulting with our trade unions on a proposal to, unfortunately, reduce approximately 27 full-time equivalent posts from the staff body representing a little under 5 per cent of the college group.  We hope that these changes together with a number of other initiatives will help us to continue to serve our students more effectively in the future."